Web wars redux
Last Wednesday, Microsoft released a major update to Internet Explorer, the world’s most-used Web browser. Then, earlier this week, Mozilla made a new version of Firefox, a popular alternative, available for download. The browser wars are back.
Microsoft has announced the first new version of Internet Explorer (IE) in more than five years as rival Web browsers Firefox and (to a lesser extent) Opera turn up the competitive pressure on the world’s biggest software company.
Microsoft still controls the browser market — more than four in five computer users browse the Web using IE, in large part because it comes with Windows. But Firefox, in particular, has been eating away at IE’s market-leading position.
Recent research shows that Firefox has secured 11,5% of the browser market; IE’s market share is about 86%, according to data from Web analytics firm OneStat.com. In some markets, including Germany and Italy, Firefox has overtaken IE in popularity. That’s impressive if one considers that Firefox is an open-source software product developed by enthusiasts scattered around the world.
This renewed battle of the browsers is great news for computer users. After trouncing Netscape Communications in the late 1990s, Microsoft had all but abandoned development of its flagship browser — proof, if it were needed, that monopolies don’t innovate.
Only last year, after a mass defection of users to Firefox scared it into action (Firefox has an estimated 75m users), did Microsoft reconstitute its IE development team. The result, IE 7, is a Web browser that has finally caught up with Firefox. But it doesn’t trounce Firefox on features and it’s unlikely that those who have already made the switch to the open source browser will go back to IE. What IE 7 may achieve, though, is to put the brakes on Firefox’s market share gains.
In IE 7, Microsoft has copied many of the features that have made Firefox such a compelling product. The most important of these are tabbed browsing, an integrated search bar and support for Web feeds used by bloggers and popular news websites. Anyone who has used these features will testify that they have an immediate and positive impact on their productivity when using the Web.
Tabbed browsing, for instance, allows users to open multiple websites in one browser window. Each Website gets its own tab inside the browser window, making it easy to flick quickly between websites (by using a mouse or by pressing Ctrl-Tab on the keyboard). Tabbed browsing also helps avoid clutter on the task bar by reducing the number of open windows. Keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl-W (close tab) and Ctrl-T (new tab) make working the Web quick and easy.
The integrated search bar in Firefox and IE7 makes it easy to find information using search engines without first having to load up the Google or Yahoo home pages.
The new features in IE 7 finally put Microsoft back on a competitive footing with Firefox. However, the most important changes in IE 7 are related to security. Microsoft’s new browser has components that will help stop malicious software from infecting users’ computers.
It also warns people when they open a website that tries to trick them into divulging their personal data, such as their bank account details, a practice known as phishing. The new version of Firefox also includes anti-phishing technology.
Both browsers contain pop-up blockers. Hopefully this will put an end, once and for all, to pop-up ads, which have become a plague in recent years.
Do note that IE 7 works only on Windows, and only the most recent versions of the Microsoft operating system at that. If you’re using Windows 2000 or 98, or if you’re running Linux or using an Apple Mac, check out Firefox or Opera instead. They’re both very good.
Loading ...