Do you remember the “Good Old Days” of internet browsing?
When AOL was the only competitor to Internet Explorer?
When AltaVista was the most popular search engine?
When you can build your own website using HTML and GeoCities?
Ah the good old days….
Move forward a decade and oh how things have changed! Google has cornered the search engine market, Firefox has taken over from Internet Explorer and of course the Mac has taken a huge chunk out of Microsoft’s fortunes.
Whilst Vista was meant to be an improvement on XP quite frankly it was anything but. So is IE8 and improvement on the rather dissapointing IE7?
he US software giant says IE 8 is faster, easier to use and more secure than its competitors.
“We have made IE 8 the best browser for the way people really do use the web,” said Microsoft’s Amy Barzdukas.
“Microsoft needs to say these things because it continues to lose market share to Firefox, Chrome and Safari,” said Gartner analyst Neil MacDonald.
Recent figures have shown that Microsoft’s dominance in this space has been chipped away by competitors.
At the end of last year, data from Net Applications showed the software giant’s market share dropped below 70% for the first time in eight years to 68%.
Meanwhile Mozilla broke the 20% barrier for the first time in its history with 21% of users using its browser Firefox.
The beta version of IE 8 was released last March and today the company has put out its first release candidate for the public. This is the last stage for the browser before it is finalised, although very few changes are expected.
Ms Barzdukas told the BBC: “What we are seeing for many consumers in particular is that their computing experience is a browsing experience.
“The role of the browser has become more and more important. Our focus is on delivering the best experience possible and one that is faster, easier and more secure.”
To that end IE 8 offers performance upgrades to speed up page loading, new navigation features and tab isolation so that if you hit a bad site only that tab closes and not the whole browser.
WebSlices will give users a way to keep updated about a particular item on a web page like stock prices, the weather or an eBay auction.
Accelerators let users access Web services like maps or translations in a small window without having to leave the page.
“We believe with IE 8 much of the performance discussion is off the table,” said Ms Barzdukas.
“Microsoft needs to say these things because it continues to lose market share to Firefox, Chrome and Safari,” said Gartner analyst Neil MacDonald.
Recent figures have shown that Microsoft’s dominance in this space has been chipped away by competitors.
At the end of last year, data from Net Applications showed the software giant’s market share dropped below 70% for the first time in eight years to 68%.
Meanwhile Mozilla broke the 20% barrier for the first time in its history with 21% of users using its browser Firefox.
The beta version of IE 8 was released last March and today the company has put out its first release candidate for the public. This is the last stage for the browser before it is finalised, although very few changes are expected.
IE 8 offers performance upgrades to speed up page loading, new navigation features and tab isolation so that if you hit a bad site only that tab closes and not the whole browser.
WebSlices will give users a way to keep updated about a particular item on a web page like stock prices, the weather or an eBay auction.
Accelerators let users access Web services like maps or translations in a small window without having to leave the page.
“We believe with IE 8 much of the performance discussion is off the table,” said Ms Barzdukas.
Microsoft is making much of its security enhancements, which Ms Barzdukas said makes IE 8 “hands down the most secure browser on the market.”
These include “InPrivate Filtering” which means users can see and block when a third-party content provider might be tracking their activities on the Web in an effort to target advertisements.
Web publishers and online advertisers have in the past expressed concern over this feature because it could “frustrate the business model”.
“InPrivate Browsing” is also being touted as a major improvement which allows a user to start a browsing session during which the history of sites viewed will not be recorded.
Some bloggers have nicknamed the feature “porn mode” because it keeps online activity a secret and prevents those with access to a PC from seeing where other users of the same PC have been.
Online privacy advocates like the Centre for Democracy and Technology have called the features “a great step forward in terms of giving users more control”.
So will I return to my once status as IE fan? Not from what I have seen but they are moving in the right direction.