Microsoft has announced that a new standalone Internet Explorer 7.0 browser (beta) will be available this summer, reversing their previous stance that no new upgrades to IE would roll out in advance of the long-awaited Longhorn operating system.
According to an article on CNET, the decision was made because, “I think it’s a response to both the delay of Longhorn and the challenge of Firefox,” said NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin, who added that Firefox was probably the sharper spur. “Were there no Firefox, they’d have more leeway to sit on it until Longhorn.”
But according to Mike Nash, an executive in Microsoft’s security business and technology unit, the move is all about security and not competition. IE 6.0 has been trashed by Webmasters and the media for all sorts of security leaks and in particular its vulnerability to Phishing scams. IE 7.0 is supposed to tackle both Phishing and spyware and other security leaks not addressed by IE 6.0.
Even Bill Gates himself conceded, “Browsing is definitely a point of vulnerability.”
The details of how the roll out of Internet Explorer 7.0 is to happen is unclear at this point in time. It could be part of a service pack release or another avenue. But, what clear is that Firefox is chipping away at the IE empire and Microsoft is starting to respond like a nimbler, smaller company instead of a huge corporate behemoth. The response by Microsoft is more customer-focused, than me-focused and if it takes a little competition to make this happen, then we all benefit from this kind of competition.
In any event, if Internet Explorer 7.0 is able to eliminate Phishing, then there will be more time to hang the “Gone Fishing” signs on all of our doors.
