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Internet Explorer's arrested development

November 17, 2004 › Sandy McMurray | comment

When the U.S. Department of Justice went after Microsoft for alleged anti-trust violations, the company argued that Internet Explorer was an integral part of the Windows operating system. It would be impossible to "de-couple" Internet Explorer from Windows.

Although Microsoft's claim was debatable at the time, the company has since made this true. Internet Explorer has been a component of Windows since the release of Windows XP (at least).

Ironically, that integration is now causing a problem for Microsoft. Although the company can make changes to Internet Explorer by updating Windows, any improvement reduces the incentive for people to buy future Windows upgrades.

Long wait for Longhorn
Part of the problem is the long wait for "Longhorn" (the code name for the next version of Windows system software). The ship date for Longhorn has slipped more than once, pushing back any major updates for Internet Explorer.

That's not to say that IE development has stopped entirely. Some new features were added to Internet Explorer in Service Pack 2, the recent security update for Windows XP. Unfortunately, these useful new features are not available as a stand-alone update for Internet Explorer. If you want a better browser, you have to get Windows XP.

Or you could try using one of the Web browsing programs available for Windows. Although they're not integrated into the operating system, they work just fine. You might even prefer one of these to Internet Explorer. Your options include Firefox, Maxthon, Opera, and many others I'm probably forgetting. (Suggest your favourite browser in the Comments section below.)

Recommended Reading: IE, I'm Leaving You.

November 17, 2004 › Sandy McMurray | comment on this item