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IE7 - Operation MS Counter Strike

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IE7 - Operation MS Counter Strike Friday morning, 24 March 2006

The new Internet Explorer has become an uncharacteristically open affair, with MS doing blogs, talking to web developers, hosting conferences, announcing open bug tracking and so on.

I’m sure most of you realise it’s been a while, a while since Microsoft did anything with their web browser. Maybe they want their share of the browser market back, you postulate, maybe they want to entice users to go over to Vista when it comes out?

I don’t believe that’s what this is about, but I think i know a man who does - Tim O’Reilly. Something Tim likes to talk about is technology commoditisation. Remember, Microsoft is a business, it is their job to make money. Currently what makes the most money for Microsoft is Windows and Office. The problem for Microsoft is that Windows is no longer the platform of choice for people to use. It’s certainly not linux, it’s not even OSX; it’s the internet.

When I heard Tim give a presentation for the first time he asked a question - “How many of you use Linux?” A few hands here and there went up - “How many of you use Google?” I think everyone’s hand went up “...then you use Linux”

Microsoft is worried that as web applications become more sophisticated and the internet as a platform grows, they are going to lose out on sales of Windows, and possibly even Office some day in the future. That is why, since winning the browser war, Microsoft hasn’t been interested in improving Internet Explorer.

I think there are two strategies going on at Redmond.

1. To get a piece of the Web App pie. With ‘Live’ Microsoft is trying to weave web applications into tighter integration with the operating system, i.e. Windows. From Gates himself: “We will definitely have a comprehensive model that if you want to take our framework to write a Live application, there will be a benefit, an integration benefit for letting you do that.”

2. More worryingly, if Live doesn’t come off as expected, I suspect Microsoft’s motive may be to gain back a great enough percentage of the browser market to freeze development again. Just as other browsers are offering even better capabilities and even more standards support, just as the capabilities of web apps begin to exceed those of desktop apps in more ways IE will freeze. And because most people will be using it Microsoft will effectively put a limitation on the progress of Web Apps and the internet as a platform. Conspiracy theory? Yes. In fitting with previous Microsoft tactics? Yes.

So enjoy IE7 and it’s much improved CSS support and other toys that bring it to about the level Firefox, Opera and Safari have been at for years now, but let’s keep supporting 3rd party browsers so that we can secure an internet of cool Web Apps well into the future.

 

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