HUA HIN, Thailand - Microsoft upped the
ante in the browser wars this week when it
released the latest version of the world's
dominant web browser Internet Explorer (IE): IE8.
Despite still having the lion's share of the
browser market, IE8 has a lot of work to do, with
an estimated one in five Microsoft users still on
version 6 and an increasing numbers of users
switching to alternative browsers after the slew
of problems with version 7.
The latest IE
iteration first appeared last year and has endured
months of beta testing, with the software giant
wanting to get it right this time. Finally the
company will be releasing a browser it claims will
not break the page layouts of the thousands of
websites designed for previous versions or current
alternatives. This is the claim and we will soon
find out when it gets installed
on computers across the
globe.
Web developers had always struggled
with cross-browser compatibility with IE usually
the cause of their pain - what looks right in one
browser will not in another. Its all about
standards, something which until now Microsoft has
ignored. However the fact that IE8 will have a
compatibility function allowing users to view
websites how they would appear in IE7 seems to
indicate there will likely be the usual glitches
with rendering websites. The Internet may need to
adapt to planet Microsoft once again, at least all
of those webmasters that have written sites
specifically for earlier versions of IE will.
The download has been made available here this
week and, as the default browser in Windows, it
should start showing up in automatic updates next
month. This practice has landed Microsoft in hot
water on a number of occasions, especially from
the European Commission, which believes that the
company should not be choosing peoples' browsers
for them.
There are a number of new
functions in IE8, many of which we covered in
detail here
, but the emphasis this time around is security.
The new browser's web attack countermeasures
consist of a barrage of blockers and an arsenal of
alerts that would make even veteran Internet users
paranoid. There are also some new gizmos under the
hood to prevent data theft and "click-jacking", a
practice which spoofs links from genuine looking
websites to malicious ones.
As IE has the
biggest market share, it stands to reason that it
is the biggest target for hackers, crackers and
all manner of other net nasties. This is one of
the major reasons that people have decided to use
alternative browsers such as Firefox, Chrome,
Opera and Safari - speed and stability are among
the others.
Competitors Google have been
trying to keep up the pace by releasing another
version of its Chrome browser. However, this just
seems to be a marketing ploy, as version 2.0 beta
of Chrome does not have the full array of new
functions expected from a major upgrade. Speed is
the selling point here, as Google are claiming
that the new version has a 25% faster Javascript
engine, enabling it to render pages quicker than
the previous version.
Chrome's popularity
has been slow but it is gathering pace. Although
it only had 1.15% market share last month this is
climbing and it has overtaken rival Opera, which
had a 0.71% share. With Internet Explorer's total
share falling to 67.26% in February the climbers
in the browser race at the current time are
Firefox with 21.82% and Safari with 8.15%,
according to research firm Net Applications.
Also unveiling beta browser releases
recently were Apple and Mozilla with Safari 4 and
Firefox 3.1 respectively, they are both claiming
to be faster than their competitors so it will be
an interesting race between the top four. For many
speed is the most important issue, especially for
those that are not blessed with high speed
Internet connections or refuse to wait for more
than two seconds for a page to load.
Security should be more of a concern, as
the web browser is usually the primary gateway for
malware, trojans and viruses to enter your
computer. Security contests or "hack-offs" held
this week have highlighted the weaknesses in
browsers, one of the most commonly used pieces of
software on computers. At the CanSecWest
conference in Vancouver security researchers were
pitted against each other and the software to see
who could hack what the fastest.
The first
to fall was Safari on a MacBook which took
security expert Charlie Miller less than 10
seconds to crack using an hole he had found in the
software; so he scooped the $5,000 first prize.
IE8 was not far behind and the last two browsers
to be cracked were Firefox and Chrome. Organizers
of these events pay the researchers the prize
money in exchange for details of the
vulnerabilities, which the software companies can
then patch. This year the conclusion was that
browsers are far easier to hack than mobile
devices, which stood up pretty well in comparison.
With an ever-rising tide of malicious
software (and people) lurking in the digital
depths of the Internet it pays to use the safest
browser available in conjunction with a good
third-party firewall. Vulnerabilities in browsers
will always be found and those looking to exploit
them seeking wealth or notoriety will target the
one with the biggest impact - which at the moment
remains Internet Explorer. Although IE8 has been
revamped, and is the most secure browser from
Microsoft to date, the reality is that the company
will forever be chasing security shadows when
dealing with the public domain.
Telecoms Apple gave software
developers and tech journalists a sneak peek at
the next generation software for their
trend-setting iPhone this week. IPhone OS 3.0 will
support some long-anticipated features and offer
developers a wide range of new options for
upcoming applications. Strangely one of those long
sought features is the ability to cut and paste
text, something that competitors Research In
Motion, Palm and Microsoft have had for a while
now.
The App Store has been the pioneer in the
mobile applications industry and it looks like
Apple have still got their foot on the gas. The
iPhone is now officially for sale in 80 countries
and over 17 million units have been sold since its
launch in June 2007 and the end of last year. A
staggering 800,000 downloads have been made of its
software development kit which has helped to
create over 25,000 applications that are currently
available at the online store. The competition has
a lot of catching up to do.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
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Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights
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