While IE 6.x is ancient in browser terms, MS keeps insisting that there won’t be another major IE version
outside of a full operating system upgrade. Which will be released…eventually. Internet Explorer long ago lost the respect of web designers, who’ve had to waste huge amounts of time accomodating its aging standards support and working around its various quirks and bugs. After a flurry of recent security problems it’s now losing the public trust as well. And now that there’s a serious competitor in Firefox it’s finally losing market share.
So, Microsoft’s reaction? A "secret webcast" with select partners to discuss the problem and consider solutions. Now, I don’t expect MS to make every planning meeting into a press conference, but the problems with IE are longstanding and well known. MS needs to stop discussing this stuff among partners in private and start discussing it with their customers in public. Or those customers will move on.
If MS is really smart they’ll ditch the current IE codebase and license the Geko engine used by Firefox for a new MS-branded browser.
(Via Sharp as a Marble)
UPDATE: Oops, looks like I missed my recommended daily allowance of Slashdot this afternoon. Bill Gates has announced that there will be an IE7 release for XP SP2. More info here. I dearly hope that this isn’t just a glorified security update. IE needs better standards support ASAP if it’s going to thrive outside of mandatory corporate environments.
Holy hell!
I can’t believe that Microsoft is actually listening to the community at large and has decided to take action on it.
I’ve never viewed Microsoft as this giant evil corporation hell bent on ruling the world. I’ve always thought, rather, that they have some kind of plan in mind for themselves and they don’t seem often willing to bend on that once they’ve set their corporate mind to it. Maybe this shows a shift from previous Microsoft ways of thinking.
I hope so too. MS did a really good of adapting during the early days of the Internet. IE came out of nowhere and to almost everyone’s shock it became a very good browser. That’s why it captured almost the entire market. Since then they’ve sort of coasted along. That’s not like the quick and nimble Microsoft of old.
Could also just be an attempt at a firefox killer too.
Attempt sure, but thats a good thing.
It means improvment in IE, hopefully.