Microsoft Officially Releasing New Internet Browser >MSFT
--Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is giving its Web browser software its first major upgrade in years, amid signs that Internet Explorer's market share is eroding.
The release late Wednesday brings Microsoft's browser more in line with competing products such as Opera Software ASA's (OPERA.OS) Opera and Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox. Internet Explorer 7, or IE7, adds features such as tabbed browsing, which lets people open several Web pages without cluttering their desktop with multiple open browser windows.
Microsoft has been heavily testing the new browser, releasing five beta versions over 14 months, and has periodically offered security updates for IE6, first released in 2001.
Still, a lag of more than five years between official releases has cost the company. Web analysis company WebSideStory estimates that Internet Explorer's U.S. market share is about 86%, while Firefox commands about 11% of the market and smaller offerings account for the rest. Two years ago, IE had about a 93% share.
Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft's general manager for Internet Explorer, acknowledged the company could have done more sooner, but he said the new version should address users' concerns.
"We did have active development," he said. "The question is whether it was enough."
Matt Rosoff, analyst with independent researchers Directions on Microsoft, said Internet Explorer is important to Microsoft's business because most people believe an operating system should include a way to immediately access the Web.
Still, he said, Microsoft may not have seen much reason to spend a lot of money upgrading sooner since most people continued to use the older version.
Rosoff said the new product includes enough improvements to lure back some users.
But Colin Teubner, an analyst with Forrester Research, said people already using Firefox and rival products might not immediately come back. That's partly because those users have soured on Microsoft, he said, and partly because IE7 doesn't break much new ground.
"A year ago, Firefox was head and shoulders above Microsoft's current offering, and I think even with IE7 it's mostly playing catch up," Teubner said.
But he does recommend that IE6 users upgrade, and he believes Microsoft may surpass competitors with future improvements.
Besides tabbed browsing, Microsoft has improved security to help keep users from falling victim to things like malicious software attacks and phishing scams. Microsoft products are a near-constant target of Internet attackers, and some people have recommended switching browsers because a less high-profile product might be more secure.
The Redmond software maker also has added a box in the browser that lets people search the Internet without going to a separate Web page, much like competitors.
In a last-minute change, people who are upgrading from the previous version of the browser will now have a clearer way to choose whether they want to use Microsoft's search engine or a competing one from companies like Google Inc. (GOOG) or Yahoo Inc. (YHOO). The change announced Friday was one of several aimed at soothing antitrust worries in Europe, where Microsoft faces a long-running regulatory battle.
IE7 will be available as a free download beginning Wednesday evening. Next month, the company also will begin delivering it to Windows XP users who have signed up to automatically receive security fixes. Hachamovitch said that's because the product makes major security improvements.
Such distribution also will provide a powerful tool in countering competition from rival browsers.
Security updates typically download with little or no user intervention, but with IE7 people will get an extra opportunity to elect not to upgrade. Also, even people using automatic updates will have to agree to let Microsoft check whether their copy of Windows is pirated before they can get IE7.
Microsoft expects that it will take months to gradually release IE7 automatically. The browser also will be an integral part of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, due out for big businesses in November and for consumers in January.
微软正式发布新的网页浏览器
微软(Microsoft Corp.)对Internet Explorer(IE)浏览器进行了数年来的首次大规模升级，因有迹象显示IE浏览器的市场占有率正在下滑。
微软在周三晚间新发布的IE将使得微软浏览器同Opera Software ASA (OPERA.OS)的Opera以及Mozilla Corp.的Firefox等竞争对手产品之间的竞争更加激烈。IE 7新增的功能包括选项卡式浏览，即在单个浏览器窗口查看多个站点。
微软已对新浏览器做了大量测试，在过去14个月中发布了5个试用版本，并定期对IE 6进行安全升级。IE 6于2001年推出。
不过，由于距上次浏览器正式发布已有超过5年的时间，这令微软付出了一定代价。据网络分析公司WebSideStory估计，目前IE在美国的市场占有率约为86%，Firefox约为11%，还有一些小型浏览器占据了其余部分。而IE两年前的市场占有率为93%。
