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Programmer adds IE 9 graphics acceleration to Firefox
Not so fast, Internet Explorer! We know that you have great things in the works for IE 9 -- including Direct2D GPU acceleration, the 2D / vector graphics API that we first laid eyes on in Windows 7. And believe us, that got our attention -- as well as the attention of Mozilla programmer Bas Schouten. It seems that over the weekend, the young man successfully loaded Direct2D support into an alpha build of Firefox 3.7 -- just days after you announced its inclusion in the next version of your web browser. "Things are looking very promising for Direct2D" and Firefox, said Schouten, although "older PCs with pre-D3D10 graphics cards and WDDM 1.0 drivers will not show significant improvements." And we thought that accelerometer support was wild!
Zune HD's browser previewed, sounds just as sexy as the hardware
The folks over at CNET got a quick look at a recent build of the Zune HD, and the player seems to be getting rather close to a final product. Among praise for the hardware, video playback and a quite refined music player and music discovery experience, they found the Zune HD's browser to be particularly excellent. It's been built by the IE team, which bodes well for prospective Windows Mobile 6.5 users, and it's apparently very comparable to the iPhone in features and speed. There's pinch to zoom, accelerometer-based reorientation, and a good onscreen keyboard -- no Flash, but from the pain it's inflicting on the Android browsing experience, perhaps that's a good thing.
Microsoft giving Europeans with Windows XP and Vista choice of browser, too
As it turns out, it won't just be Windows 7 that'll be giving Europeans a choice of what web browser to use. In fact, the lengths that Microsoft is going to appease the European Commission is quite extreme. Ars Technica did some digging and here's the fine print of the proposal. Within three to six months of the EC's approval, an update will be sent out to Europeans with Windows XP and Vista, labeled "high priority" or "important." User who install the update and have Internet Explorer as the default browser will see the ballot screen on next log in, which will show up to ten different browsers with at least a 0.5 percent share of the market in the European Economic Area (EEA). Users can then choose to download something new, ignore the screen, or defer until an indefinite time in the future. Windows 7 users will get the ballot update within two weeks of the Commission's decision or by its October 22nd launch, whichever comes second. Extreme? You betcha -- but we can't argue over having more choice. [Thanks, Adrian]
Microsoft relents to European Commission, will give users browser freedom in Windows 7
It looks like Redmond is backing slowly away from its previous IE-or-else stance on Windows 7 for European markets. According to an article just published, the OS giant has apparently caved to pressure from the European Commission over "monopoly abuse" (practices which essentially force users into Internet Explorer as their main browser). The last we'd heard on this story, the company was considering shipping the new operating system without a browser altogether, but it looks like those plans have changed. Microsoft has relented and will now offer consumers a "ballot screen" on first boot, allowing purchasers to make their own (we're hoping informed) decision about which window into the web they'll be looking through. Additionally, while Windows 7 will still include an install of IE, users will have the option to disable it, and computer-makers will also be allowed to pre-load any browser they see fit for their systems. We're glad that Microsoft is taking the inclusive approach here, though there are lots of good arguments against the EC's actions. We don't see Apple getting the same heat for Safari, though Apple doesn't currently hold the lion's share of the market. At the end of the day, we're personally just happy to not be using IE -- no matter how you slice it.
Windows 7 E coming to Europe without Internet Explorer
Likely being mindful of the ever-watchful eye of the European Union, Microsoft's announced its Euro version of Windows 7, affectionately and officially dubbed Windows 7 E, will not come packaged with Internet Explorer, or any other browser for that matter. Of course that's not the whole story, as OEMs will be provided free copies of IE8 to bundle themselves alongside / instead of other browser options, and consumers can pick up their own copies via CD, FTP, or retail channels. This is undoubtedly in response to the antitrust cases the EU keeps throwing Microsoft's way, and while we wouldn't be surprised to see it end up on almost every European computer sold, we do wonder if this will at all speed up IE's already rapidly diminishing share in the war of web browsers.
Microsoft says no "6 on 6" upgrade for current devices
Answering questions posted by users on Microsoft's official Windows Mobile Team Blog, an employee has laid down a nasty reality check that's going to piss off a user base that's already salty from years of being underserved: Internet Explorer Mobile 6 will not be made available as an upgrade or download for existing handsets. The alleged reasoning is that "the rich media experiences that IE Mobile 6 enables require more powerful, advanced devices," but let's get real here -- competitors like Opera and Skyfire already manage to match what Microsoft's new browser is trying to do and they work like champs on the latest round of hardware. Internet Explorer requiring more horsepower than the Touch Pro or the X1 has to offer? Please, Microsoft -- just give it to us straight, this was a business decision through and through.[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]
Internet Explorer Mobile 6 coming soon, emulator out now
In all honesty, Internet Explorer Mobile would've done good to come out yesterday (or the day / week / month before), but we guess the slow and steady approach may pay off eventually. Hot on the heels of Mobile Firefox comes word that the Internet Explorer Mobile 6 Emulator is available now for developers to tinker with, which is sure to excite throngs of coders across the web. For all of you out there simply waiting for a better browsing experience within IE Mobile, you're treated to yet another "coming soon" message. Still, we're totally looking forward to support for "full fidelity desktop rendering," enhanced Script / AJAX support, improved handling of multimedia and touch / gesture support, we just wish all of this was available already.[Via UnwiredView]
Opera files EU antitrust suit against Microsoft for bundling IE
Oh man, here we go again. Opera just filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft in Redmond's least favorite place to litigate, the EU. The suit claims that Microsoft is stifling competition by distributing Internet Explorer in its Windows OS. The Norwegian company, backed by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), a long-time opponent of Microsoft, is asking the EU Commission to force Microsoft to comply with industry standards for web browsers and either unbundle IE from the OS or include other browsers along side IE. That would be the Opera Browser we presume, eh Opera (wink, wink). Unlike Apple, Nokia/Symbian, and others who also bundle a browser with their OS, Opera argues that web designers build their sites with IE in mind due to its dominant position in the marketplace and non-compliance with industry standards for web browsing. As such, other browsers won't render some pages correctly -- a disincentive for users to browse with anything other than Microsoft's IE. Sit tight kids, this ride will be bumpy.Update: Here's Opera's press release on the matter.
Run IE on your Intel Mac, if you absolutely have to
If you're a Mac-based web developer, a sysadmin at SomeBigCo, or an Outlook Web Access user, you might find yourself needing to use MS Internet Explorer from time to time. No, not IE for Mac OS X, frozen in amber within Applications folders around the globe; I mean IE for Windows, the hairy scary Active-X enabled browser that for better or worse represents a huge chunk of the web-surfing world.Getting 'real' IE on the Mac, up until now, has meant OS emulation (Virtual PC), virtualization (Parallels/VMware), API translation (Wine/CrossOver) or remote access (RDC). Now there's another option for Intel Mac owners: ies4osx, a Mac port of the ies4linux package. Built on top of the Darwine version of the Wine Win32 API translation layer, ies4osx downloads and installs an official version of IE (you pick from v5, 5.5, 6 or 7) and then runs it inside the X11 environment on your Mac. The resulting browser looks a little weird -- almost like a Bizarro version of IE, with the slightly altered type and menu look of the X11 windowing system -- but this bear can dance. OWA runs nicely, with full rich-text editing and message search, and the administration pages for MS Virtual Server also work pretty well. I wouldn't depend on ies4osx in a production role, at least not with the current build, but for one-off testing of websites in IE it's worth the (free) download. The ies4linux developer plans to roll the Mac-specific fixes back into the main package, so the next version of ies4 will probably support both Mac and Linux users from the same codebase.[via MacApper]
Is Apple aiming at Firefox?
John Lilly, COO of Mozilla, has a bone to pick with Steve Jobs and Apple. As you might imagine, John keeps an eye on the browser market space, and he was interested to see Apple port Safari to Windows. This was a big deal, but the slide above had John worried. As you can see the pie chart shows Internet Explorer's market share and what Apple would like Safari's market share to be. Notice anything?That's right, Firefox is no where to be found. John Lilly argues that this wasn't an oversight on Apple's part, but rather a glimpse into their intentions. They want Firefox users to switch to Safari and have the web controlled by 2 dominant products coded by the two dominant OS makers. John seems to think this would be a bad thing, and I agree with him. Having a choice of browsers is good for the web, and good for people who use the web (like you!). As John points out, Safari for Windows is a good thing since it offers uses another choice, but if Apple hopes to use Safari to stifle competition... well that's not very good at all.What do you all think? Is this a paranoid dream, or a valid worry?[via CNET]
Wal-Mart adds insult to injury with IE-only website
We've known all along that the Wal-Mart Video Downloads service was going to be a Windows-only affair. It's sad, but that's the way that goes sometimes. Is it really necessary, however, to lock the website to Internet Explorer 6+ only? On Tuesday, TechCrunch reported that some coding mistakes on Wal-Mart's page prevented the CSS from loading in Firefox; today, Design by CSS reports that rather than fix the errors, Wal-Mart chose to block other browsers from even trying to load the page. Classy. Other XP-only movie sites like Movielink or CinemaNow have accessible home pages, or at least a universal splash page to let you know that you can't have the sweet, chewy filmic center without IE. Naturally, Amazon Unbox is accessible with any browser, even though the downloads are locked to XP... and, in a quick reality check, one guess which mobile video player (compatible with none of the above, but only with iTunes) shows up at #1 on the bestseller list. The current ranking for the best-selling portable player (Creative Zen Vision: M) that works with Amazon Unbox movies? #63 -- and behind such barnburners as a 50-pack of CD-Rs and the iPod Power Adapter, for crying out loud.OK, Wal-Mart, go ahead and hide your light under an IE-only bushel. Not only will we not know what we're missing, most likely we won't care, either.[via Digg]
Important or not, surfing the net on your 360
Today news broke that the beta version of the Nintendo Wii's internet browser became available, which got us a thinking. Early next year Wii owners will have access to a fully functioning internet browser and the Playstation 3 has had a browser built-in since day one. Our questions is rather simple, do you desire internet surfing capabilities on your Xbox 360? To us it seems a tad odd that out of all the next gen consoles the 360 is the only one that lacks the ability to surf the net. It isn't like Microsoft doesn't have instant access to an internet browser and a bajillion lines of code, but maybe they didn't include it on purpose. Maybe Microsoft has been focusing solely on creating a video game media hub all along and doesn't want to taint the console with internet capabilities, which would make it seem more computer-like. Whatever the reason is we can't surf the net on our 360, but I ask again ... would you use the internet browser if it were available in the near future or is the lack of this feature really not that big of a deal to you?
Firefox commercial pokes fun at the competition
A viral Firefox commercial poking fun at its browser competition features the anthropomorphized icons of Internet Explorer, Netscape and Apple's own Safari acting, well - somewhat silly. No matter which browser you're a fan of, it's a pretty funny spot and one of the better offerings I've seen from the Firefox Flicks campaign.[via Netscape]
Safari need not apply to Yahoo's preview
Downloadsquad reports that Yahoo! is previewing their new look. Click here to check it out, as long as you are using Firefox 1.5. At the moment Yahoo! isn't supporting any browsers other than IE 6 and Firefox 1.5 (not even Camino, which is just a Macish Firefox).I know it is just a preview, but it still irks me. Feel free to mock me in the comments.
No IE in Tiger
Well, imagine that! You end-of-life a program on the Mac and BOOM, Apple stops including it with the release of their newest OS. According to readers of Accelerate Your Macintosh, who received their copies of Tiger early, there is no Internet Explorer included in the installation.My take: thank you, Apple! I don't have much use for a browser that U.S.-CERT considers a risk.There's also unconfirmed rumblings that both Stuffit Expander and Acrobat Reader are missing from Tiger as well. Can anybody confirm?ps—I've included a subtle subliminal message in this post. Can you spot it?!
