The latest version of Microsoft's Web browser is now available to the
vast audience connecting to the Internet on personal computers running
on the Windows 7 operating system.
The redesigned browser, Internet Explorer 10, made its debut last
month when Microsoft released Windows 8, which makes dramatic changes
to an operating system that has been powering PCs for decades.
Internet Explorer 10 initially is being introduced Tuesday to
Windows 7 users in a "preview," or test, mode. The new browser isn't
compatible with XP, Vista and any other older Windows version.
Although Microsoft is staking its future on Windows 8, far more PCs
rely on Windows 7. Microsoft Corp. says more than 670 million licenses
for Windows 7 have been sold since its release in 2009. Windows 8 is
unlikely to approach that level of usage until at least 2014, based on
analyst forecasts.
Desktops, laptops and tablet computers running on Windows 8 are
sold with Internet Explorer 10 already installed. Those with older
Windows versions will have to download and install the new browser
separately.
Although Internet Explorer 10 is supposed to process Web pages
more quickly and smoothly than its predecessors, it may have limited
appeal to Windows 7 users.
That's because Microsoft primarily designed Internet Explorer 10
for tablet computers and other devices, including a new breed of PCs
that have touch-screen displays. Relatively few Windows 7 PCs can be
controlled with fingers on a display screen.
Microsoft is hoping many website developers will download and
install Internet Explorer 10 on their Windows 7 machines and see the
browser's potential for making online services more compelling and
dynamic. If that happens, more websites may include features that take
advantage of Internet Explorer 10's full capabilities on the bevy of
Windows 8 machines expected to be sold during the next year, said Ryan
Gavin, Microsoft's general manager for the browser.
Internet Explorer 10's main purpose is to make viewing websites
as enjoyable and convenient as using applications tailor-made for
specific mobile devices.
For instance, when reading an article on a news site, users of
Internet Explorer 10 can just swipe across the screen to continue
reading the next page instead of having to scroll down to click on a
link, as most browsers require. Microsoft also says games such as
"Contre Jour" played on Internet Explorer 10 will work as well, or even
better, than those packaged in applications.
Realizing that goal is crucial to Microsoft as it tries to make a
bigger splash in the smartphone and tablet markets. It probably will
take years before mobile devices running on Windows 8 boast as many
applications as their competitors, giving Microsoft an added incentive
to build a superior Web browser. The mobile operating systems designed
by Apple Inc. and Google Inc. each boast more than 700,000 applications.
Microsoft also hopes Internet Explorer 10 can reverse recent
trends in the Web browser market. By some estimates, Google's Chrome
browser has supplanted Internet Explorer as the world's most popular
browser. Other research firms still assert that Internet Explorer
remains the most widely used, although all measures show it has been
losing market share to Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari.
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