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Microsoft set to unleash Internet Explorer 8

LAS VEGAS--Aiming to better compete against a growing list of rivals, Microsoft on Thursday is launching Internet Explorer 8, the latest version of its Web browser.

IE 8, as the browser is known, was first shown a year ago and has been in testing for months. The new browser adds security improvements, a private browsing option, as well as the ability to save pre-defined "slices" of a Web page for at-a-glance viewing.

But perhaps the biggest change in the browser is one made behind the scenes--the decision to make the browser better adhere to Web standards. That should … Read more

IE 8, Silverlight 3 on tap for Microsoft's Mix

A correction was made to this story. See below for details.

The expected release of Internet Explorer 8 is likely to be the biggest headline out of Microsoft's Mix conference this week, though the company is likely to spend at least as much time talking about Silverlight 3, the next version of its would-be rival to Adobe's Flash.

Microsoft has already released a near-final release candidate version of IE 8 and is widely expected to declare the browser done as it prepares to address a crowd of Web developers in Las Vegas starting on Wednesday. Microsoft used last … Read more

Microsoft gets extension in EU antitrust case

European antitrust regulators have granted Microsoft's request to extend the deadline for responding to allegations that the company violated antitrust laws, setting a new deadline of April 21.

The European Commission in mid-January notified the software giant that it objected to Microsoft bundling its Internet Explorer browser in with its operating system.

Microsoft was initially given two months to respond in writing to the allegations, but requested additional time.

A spokesman for the European Commission said it's not usual for companies to request and receive extensions to their response to the Commission's statement of objections.

Since the … Read more

How did we rediscover competition in Web browsers?

Reading through The Wall Street Journal's interview with Mozilla chair Mitchell Baker, I was struck by her suggestion that (gasp!) we finally have a competitive browser market again:

I would say there's a real active back and forth now in core performance, JavaScript performance [between competing browsers]....[T]here's no question that having competition in that space pushes us even faster than we would push ourselves....

Of course, that's not comfortable. It will be uncomfortable when there's some feature and we say wow, we should really have that too, but it's also the case … Read more

Not enough IE integration

We found it ironic that an app called Bookmark Killer actually adds a desktop display of your Internet Explorer Favorites. When we get rid of unused links in our Favorite's menu, the idea is generally to reduce the clutter, not add to it.

At first run, Bookmark Killer locates IE Favorites and displays them in a left-hand sash on your desktop. You can see entry details or just the clickable bookmark name and the date the entry was added. The latter makes the program's interface slightly smaller, but it's still a lot of desktop real estate to … Read more

Three-in-one Web browsing with Lunascape

If there is one battle that continues to rage, it's the war for browser supremacy.

While exact market share figures change on a daily basis (and vary widely from site to site), Microsoft's Internet Explorer commands about 65 percent of the market, Mozilla's Firefox about 20 percent, Apple's Safari about 8 percent, and Google's Chrome about 2 percent.

There are three main rendering engines:

Trident, from Internet Explorer, is used by many applications on the Microsoft Windows platform to render HTML, including the minibrowsers in Winamp and RealPlayer. Gecko, Mozilla's open-source rendering engine, is used by a variety of products derived from the Mozilla code base, including the Firefox Web browser. WebKit, originally from Konquerer, and currently best-known as powering Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome Web browsers.

Different engines mean that developers (and users) are still forced to contend with Web sites that are designed with one specific browser in mind. This often means a lack of functionality or a flat-out inability to use a site with the wrong browser.

Lunascape, (currently Windows-only) is a triple-engine browser that has a new take on the "browser wars." Launched in November 2008, Lunascape continues to push the envelope with its latest beta. In addition to improving the core triple-engine technology, new features include toolbar shrinking, appropriate for Netbook users who require low CPU usage. With this update, Lunascape claims to have the fastest JavaScript execution, according to the SunSpider JavaScript test. … Read more

Browser boosts, open source on Microsoft's list

Microsoft hasn't had appreciable competition for its two cash cows, its Office productivity suite and its Windows operating system, in more than a decade. Recently, however, Apple's Mac OS X and Linux for Netbooks have given Windows a run for its money on the desktop, and Google, Zoho, and other software-as-a-service providers have mounted a challenge to Office.

But the real competition is in the browser, which increasingly displaces the traditional desktop operating system, and through which businesses and consumers reach their preferred applications. This is perhaps why Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer highlighted Microsoft's need to improve … Read more

New Google toolbar for IE includes desktop search

Correction:This post initially misstated where sponsored results show up. Sponsored results show up in toolbar searches and Google.com searches only.

Google on Tuesday released a new version if its software toolbar for Internet Explorer. Included is a feature carried over from the company's desktop search product--a search box that runs whether or not you have your browser open. This special box sits next to the Start button on your taskbar, and lets you search the Web, your browser bookmarks, and any files and applications you have on your PC.

In a blog post, the company said … Read more

Safari challenges Chrome on Web app speed

Google's latest version of Chrome has claimed the lead in my JavaScript speed tests, but Apple's new Safari 4 beta is the first browser to challenge it on Google's own performance benchmark.

JavaScript is a programming language that powers not just innumerable ordinary Web sites, but also many Web-based applications such as Google Docs. With the computing industry's major push to cloud computing, Web application performance is increasingly important, and there's a race on to see who's got the best JavaScript engine. JavaScript engines even have become a named feature, with Chrome's V8, Firefox's TraceMonkey, Opera's Futhark and upcoming Carakan, and now the Safari's newly branded Nitro, which is Apple's version of WebKit's Squirrelfish. … Read more