[sf-lug] IE

[Tony]

While we are not linux, we are impacted by Windows.
Here is the latest on IE

Here is the latest on Windows IE.

Big makeover for IE browser
October 19, 2006 - 1:58PM

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 7, the first
major upgrade to its web browser since 2001 with new
features aimed at preventing online fraud and
improving ease of use.

Microsoft's IE remains the most widely-used software
to surf the web, but the long gap between major
releases allowed for the emergence of the company's
most formidable browser competitor since it vanquished
the once-dominant Netscape.

Mozilla Firefox, a free open-source browser, has
steadily gained users since its introduction in 2004
with features such as an integrated search window to
allow users to do a web query without opening another
page, tab browsing to toggle between different sites
and a pop-up window blocker.

These features are included in the new Internet
Explorer and Microsoft also touted the security
improvements to the browser including color-coded
warnings in the address bar to indicate whether a
website can be trusted.

IE 7 is available immediately to Windows XP users and
it will eventually serve as the default browser for
Microsoft's much-anticipated Windows Vista operating
system, due out to consumers in early 2007.

According to analysts, consumers increasingly identify
the quality of an operating system with the quality of
its browser and that makes a well-received browser
important for Microsoft - even if it is not sold as a
separate product.

"How would it look if Microsoft didn't have a good
browser as part of Windows? It wouldn't look good,"
said Forrester Research analyst Colin Teubner.

Microsoft said it is already at work on the next
version of Internet Explorer to ensure that long gaps
between updates do not occur again.

"Should we have done more, sooner, earlier? It's rare
to not say that in hindsight," said Dean Hachamovitch,
general manager of the Internet Explorer team at
Microsoft.

Internet Explorer registered an 86 percent global
share in October, Mozilla Firefox 11.5 percent and
both Apple Computer Inc.'s Safari and Norway's Opera
Software, less than 2 per cent, according to
OneStat.com.

"It's exciting to see Microsoft reenter the browser
space after leaving for five years," said Christopher
Beard, vice president of products for Mozilla. "It's
great to see that IE is adopting the features that we
popularised."

Mozilla said it also plans to release an upgraded
browser, Firefox 2, within the next few weeks.

The upgrade will include a feature to allow users to
restore work done online if the browser or PC crashes,
a spell check function for e-mails or blog postings
and suggestions for search queries.

Microsoft's Windows Live is the default search engine
on Internet Explorer 7, but users will have the option
to change to competing search engines. In Mozilla
Firefox, the default search engine in the US is
Google.

Competitors raised objections to Microsoft making its
own search engine the default setting over concern
that it would unfairly drive traffic to Windows Live,
but analysts said consumers will eventually gravitate
toward the search engine that produces the best
results.

The new browser will be sent as an automatic security
update and then users will have an option to install
the new Internet Explorer onto their PC. Companies
also have the option to block its workers from
installing the new browser.

IE 7 is available for download at
http://www.microsoft.com/ie.

Reuters
Reference for this article: 
http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/ie-browser-gets-a-big-makeover/2006/10/19/1160851046679.html