Browser wars continue to intensify

Stan Beer
Monday, 31 July 2006 05:01

Your IT - Home IT

Two reports over the past week, plus one in the previous two weeks, add to the growing recognition that the internet browser space is the theatre upon whose stage the battle for IT marketshare will be fought in future.

A report from Zdnet in the UK suggests that just one month after the release of the new browser from Norwegian-based Opera Software, Opera 9, the company is already talking about Opera 10, which it wants to work on any device, mobile and fixed.

Two weeks ago, a report from Web analytics company, Onestat.com, showed that the market share of Mozilla Firefox had risen to nearly 13% globally, nearly 16% in the US and more than 39% in Germany.

The stunning rise in popularity of Firefox has alarmed Microsoft so much that last week the software giant announced that it would not only release its browser catchup project Internet Explorer 7 early, but it would make the download an automatic update for its users.

IE 7 is a virtual knock-off of the Opera and Firefox browsers, with many of the same features, such as tabbed browsing, and some extra security enhancements, such as inbuilt anti-phishing intelligence, which warns users away from suspect websites.

Microsoft understands all too well that the biggest asset it has in arresting the outflowing tide in the browser space is its vast user base. It is banking on the fact that a large proportion of its user base will automatically download IE 7 which has been labelled a high priority security update by Microsoft.

While some sections of the user community have already cried foul over Microsoft's intention to foist IE 7 on unsuspecting users, Microsoft can legitimately claim that IE 7 is a necessary security update. Gaping vulnerabilities have been uncovered in the current version of its browser IE 6.

Back in 1995, Bill Gates clearly recognised and identified the future platform of computing and set about to kill off the then browser leader Netscape. He succeeded and managed to buy a full decade for Microsoft to consolidate its market share on the desktop. This time round, however, with the onset of search, web services and open source, Microsoft has to fight the battle on many fronts and against far more powerful foes than in the past. What's more, Bill Gates may not be around to defend the fortress.