Internet Explorer 8: se mai poate face ceva?

Microsoft a lansat oficial Internet Explorer 8, noul browser cu ajutorul caruia vrea sa concureze mai bine cu rivalii sai Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome sau Opera, primul browser Microsoft care va putea fi dezinstalat usor din Windows 7 si primul pentru care exista optiunea sa nu fie instalat deloc.

Mai are insa Microsoft, pe termen mediu, sanse sa conteze in lumea browserelor? Asta e o intrebare foarte dura pentru cel mai mare producator de software din lume. Personal cred ca nu. Dupa ce browserul nu va mai fi obligatoriu, standard si preinstalat in sistem, nimeni nu se va chinui sa-l mai foloseasca. Generatia tanara a adoptat deja Firefox sau Chrome. Deci sansa Microsoft ar fi rebranding si realizarea unui produs nou, cu adevarat bun.

Dar este capabil Microsoft sa ia astfel de decizii? Sa gandim realist, cat de flexibila e corporatia? Ce sanse sunt sa angajeze un tinar care o fi realizat deja avansuri tehnologice in domeniul browserelor dar care acum este un anonim absolut?

Daca ar fi interesata de segmentul browserelor, poate ca Microsoft ar putea face asta. Dar eu nu cred.

Cred ca Microsoft se va orienta spre platforme, tehnologii de top, tehnologii business, iar browserul va ramane o istorie. Cred ca asta se va intampla cu multe aplicatii Windows pe care le faceau in-house. Pentru ca nu mai are rost. Pentru ca nu mai sunt o afacere, pentru ca nu fac altceva decat sa dauneze Microsoft.

Microsoft plans to make its Internet Explorer 8 browser available on Thursday, along with a company-commissioned report claiming IE8 is more secure against malware than rival browsers from Mozilla and Google.

Users will be able to download IE8 in 25 languages at 12:00 noon Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday from Microsoft’s IE Web site and its online download center.

Microsoft has been preparing users for IE8 for a good year now, stressing performance improvements, better support for Internet technology standards, the addition of new features to help people keep track of most visited sites and favorite sources of information, and of course, security, as highlights of the new browser.

According to the report Microsoft released Thursday, based on research conducted by NSS Labs, IE8′s Release Candidate 1 was 69 percent effective at catching malware before it did damage to a user’s system. Mozilla Firefox 3.07 came in second with a 30 percent effectiveness rate, with Apple Safari’s 3 in third place with a 24-percent rate and Google’s Chrome 1.0.154 in fourth place with 16 percent effectiveness rate

NSS Labs said in the report that the data was collected from tests conducted in just over 12 days from Feb. 26 through March 10 in its labs in Austin, Texas. During the course of the test, the company said it monitored connectivity to ensure the browsers could access the live malware sites being tested, and performed 141 discrete tests. The margin of error of the tests was 3.76 percent, according to NSS Labs.

Amy Barzdukas, a senior director at Microsoft, acknowledged that it might be a conflict of interest for Microsoft to sponsor a report in which IE8 came out on top in terms of security. However, she encouraged people to “look closely at the results” before making a judgment call on the validity of the report.

IE8 will be included as part of the Windows 7 OS. However, for the first time since adding browser technology to its operating system, Microsoft will give users the ability to turn off IE8 as a feature in the system.

This decision was outlined in a blog post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog. Microsoft is under pressure from an ongoing antitrust case in the European Union to give users more browser choice in Windows.

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