Microsoft has recently updated a test release of its new Internet Explorer 9 browser with a seventh platform preview, this time showing off developer related enhancements in features like Java Script. Microsoft say that the new release which is available to download from the Internet Explorer Test Drive site, is geared up to provide ‘real-world’ performance improvements to sites across the web. Ke features include a new user interface and support from HTML5 and CSS3
These real world improvements were revealed by Dean Hachamovitch, corporate Vice President for Internet Explorer, to be developments in Microsoft’s Java Script engine, Chakra. He stated that engineers have been tuning Chakra to corroborate more with the patterns found in real-world sites, observing attentively the way web sites actually use JavaScript in response to input from users, relocate objects and manipulate strings. What we might be asking though, is why weren’t these improvements, which sound more like commonsense than innovation, implemented much earlier.
Although Microsoft have again declined to announce even an approximate date of release for the new browser it is reported that there have been over 13 million downloads of IE 9 beta since it was released in mid-September.
What also transpired within the last few days was that Microsoft has already added stability fixes to the download. One update provides stability fixes and the second is said to address issues with the user feedback tool of Windows-Live-Essentials 11 on 64-bit machines.
Consumers have expressed particular appreciation for the new user interface in what have so far been largely developer based previews of the platform. Users with automatic updates can sit back and wait for the updates to be automatically installed. As for the short term future IE9, watch this space, insiders have stated that a launch could be set to coincide with the International Consumer Electronics Show in early January next year.
Is aggressive marketing and technological firepower enough to dethrone a market leader and alter the habits and inclinations of millions?
This is the problem that Microsoft have faced since the launch and promotion of its Bing search engine and while Bing has made some progress in clawing back a little of the market share from its competitors it is still a long way off become a real contender to Google’s crown.
At a recent panel discussion at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco senior Vice President of Microsoft’s Online Audience Business, Yusuf Medhi admitted that his company has, “a long ways to go in terms of what we want to accomplish.”
Google’s position as, essentially what is for many, a default search page has a significant effect upon the way people search the internet and Medhi admitted that it would be extremely challenging for Microsoft to turn the heads of users who utilize the service so frequently, a habit ingrained upon the social consciousness, even the term ‘to Google’ is now a verb recognised in the English Dictionary. Medhi stated that, “It’s a hard thing. Habits die hard,” but he and the rest of Microsoft will certainly hoping that they don’t die too hard as they look to increase Bing’s market share.
In September in the U.S, Google handled 66.1 percent of search queries as opposed to 16.7 for Yahoo and 11.2 for Bing. Microsoft’s search partnership with is being established globally to assert Bing as the back end search engine for yahoo sites.
Although these statistics may sound healthy for Google, the U.S market share is relatively competitive compared to UK data which shows that over 91 percent of all searches go through either google.co.uk or google.com.
Medhi stated that Bing’s offline and online marketing campaign has been geared towards highlighting the system’s capabilities to perform tasks or collect information within the framework of the Bing interface.
Google’s Nikesh Arora, President of Global Sales Operations and Business Development, sat a matter of feet away from Medhi at the same conference seemed to set Google’s targets squarely on developing the company’s capacity for display advertising. Not known traditionally as a significant display advertisement provider Google has been busy working on its technologies to simplify the process of devising display ad campaigns as well as buying up advertising space on thousands of sites.
This confrontation is only one part of the increasing war between Microsoft and Google which has recently seen Facebook brought into the fray. In alliance with Microsoft, Facebook’s impending message platform which, despite Mark Zuckerberg’s protestations, is set to challenge Gmail as one of the major online communication networks will also have Facebook Docs fully integrated into the system. Facebook docs represented the first ever opportunity for users to use a web browser to access Microsoft’s Office Web Apps. As what looks to be a direct challenge to Google Docs the tussle between these two titans looks set to go on for a long while to come.
Now users of Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail, who number well over 350 million are capable of enhancing the security of their entire Hotmail session with HTTPS data encryption, via SSL, a feature which is already used to help bolster the Hotmail sign-in process. This update coincides with a series of recent security based improvements to the Hotmail service, which included the purging of hijackers from legitimate accounts that had been compromised and legal action against domains frequented by hijackers. It is hoped that the increased IT support will not only help to prevent hijackers gaining access to Hotmail login details, but ensure that in such a case a more secure recovery path will be available for you to regain control of your account.
Also included in the initiative are Windows Live SkyDrive, Photos, Docs, and Devices pages which will all automatically be equipped to transfer their data via HTTPS. Microsoft is hopeful that this overhaul will give users more confidence that their accounts will be secure as popularity in rival email services, particularly Google’s Gmail continues to grow.
To activate HTTPS security for your Hotmail account go to your account live login and search for Manage SSL. Once this feature is enabled all of the connections you make in future will be delivered by SSL. The upgrade does not cover all connections though, including Outlook Hotmail Connector, Windows Live Mail and Windows Live app for Windows Mobile.
Once the changes have been in use for a reasonable period and proven stable Windows may decide to make HTTPS encryption a default setting for Hotmail Live accounts. The update has not been without its bugs though, with some customers complaining that they are having trouble accessing their mailbox
It was revealed recently, to no real surprise, that the popularity of Apple’s iPad tablet PC has sky rocketed since it’s launch in April of this year to take a 95 percent stranglehold over the tablet PC market.
Overall the market interest in tablet PCs seems to be undeniably on the increase, recent reports suggesting that shipments of tablet related products rose by 26 percent in the third quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter.
The main reason for the iPad’s dominance has to really come down to a lack of viable competition; like the company’s release of the iPod in late 2001, which today sees other industries bending over backwards to utilise the AAC audio format used by the devices, very few other products have become available to consumers as a rival to Apple’s multimedia tool.
Recently, Dutch company Ambiance technology launched their own 3G tablet, a move that hailed a congratulatory phone call from Microsoft bosses because the product, dubbed the AT Tablet, is the first 3G tablet PC to support Windows 7 Home premium software. With specifications that include 3G mobile broadband connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ports for USB, card reader, mini-VGA and LAN, an impressive 160 GB hard drive and, unlike the iPad a camera, albeit only 1.3 mega pixels. The Dutch outfit believes that allowing customers to enjoy the same Windows software they use on their home computers with the freedom of the portable tablet should appeal more than having to get to grips Android based alternatives. Samsung’s own Galaxy tab , released recently with the Android 2.2 operating system has been widely received with average to good reviews.
Whether or not the AT or the Galaxy tab can topple Apple’s newest flagship product remains to be seen. More of a reason for the iPad to be looking over its shoulder is not however specific rivals in the market place but the sheer volume of Android based products that are to be unveiled in the near future. Although according to research currently Android systems share a lowly 2 percent of the tablet PC market, with new releases planned by the likes of Hewlett-Packard, ViewSonic and Research in Motion the selling ground for these portable devices could become considerably more competitive. With the overall sale of tablet PCs predicted to rise to over 54 million in 2011 and Christmas just around the corner it will be down to consumers themselves to speak with their hard earned cash, whether or not the iPad’s market dominance can be challenged.