One now can download IE version 7 from Microsoft. Ironically, it was Yahoo that launched its own version of a "Yahoo-optimised" IE 7, a day before Microsoft could do it. It has features like Yahoo home pages, Yahoo as the default search engine and a Yahoo toolbar.
Microsoft reportedly plans to push down IE 7 via automatic updates to IE 6 users starting next month, though users can decide whether they want to install it. This is the company's first major overhaul of the browser in years.
IE 7 adds features such as tabbed browsing, built-in RSS reader and improved printing. The company has included a number of security enhancements as well, including an anti-phishing filter.
IE 6 has been compared to 'Swiss cheese' by critics due to its numerous security vulnerabilities. The major thorn in IE's side has been Firefox.
Mozilla, an open-source software foundation formed by Netscape (remember the browser wars of the 90s when Netscape was King?), launched Firefox 1.0 in November 2004, after recording over eight million downloads of its test version.
Measurement firms such as WebSideStory and Dutch market researcher OneStat.com began releasing data tracking Firefox gains and IE falls. Even though Microsoft is dominant, Firefox has grown in popularity. Firefox's success partly is because it's not from the Microsoft stable.
Second, it has the tabs function, which Microsoft is not incorporating. And it has an automatic pop-up blocking function. Most of all, it is perceived to be very secure (an issue that has always bugged Microsoft).
That may not be the case, though. Firefox's popularity too may malicious code writers trying to exploit security holes. Besides, there was the recent discovery of a potentially damaging software flaw suggested the potential for Firefox attacks.
Coming back to IE7's features, Microsoft is trying to catch up in many areas. It has added support for Web standards, RSS Web feeds and tabbed browsing. The new browser also offers protection against phishing sites-malicious Web sites designed to trick users into handing over their personal information.
Recent figures from OneStat reveal that Internet Explorer has nearly 86 per cent share of the market. Firefox has 11.5 per cent of the market (other browsers like Opera cover the rest of the arena).
However, the Mozilla Foundation is getting closer to the launch of its own revamp, Firefox 2, which has hit the 'release candidate' stage. We haven't seen the last of the browser wars.
