Google has released a customized version of Microsoft's IE7. The customizes browser uses Google as the default search engine, not Windows Live Search. Google also released a customized IE7 browser with the Google Toolbar and a user customizable Google Home Page.
Apparently Google, Yahoo and other big name corporations simply used the Internet Explorer Administration Kit to customize the home page for their users. It is a free download by Google, and is probably not what Microsoft expected from their new Internet Explorer 7 browser.
Microsoft Group Program manager Tony Chor addressed the new Google customized IE7 browser on Microsoft's IEBlog,
"Microsoft released the toolkit so developers could customize IE, as well as to provide companies with help to configure and deploy the browser through the enterprise..."
Maybe Microsoft needs to take notes from MAC and start developing tools that can't be integrated into every other technological outlet available. Or, maybe the exposure will be a great tool for them.
Hopefully the IE7 browser won't have any bugs, because we all know how Microsoft likes to release brand new versions of their products instead of fixing the problem...Always leading to more Beta Bugs. We'll see, but one thing I know for sure, if Google's on board with IE7, it can't be all bad!
Read ITWorld's Story: Google releases customized version of IE 7
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Google Customizes Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7
Sunday, December 03, 2006
A Likely Alliance: Yahoo advertising IE7 by Microsoft on it's Search Results Page
The media alliances are growing, and in my opinion, proving more predictable than ever. While there is no question that Google pushes it's ever expanding and extremeley vast user base to use Firefox by including it in Google bundles, offering it's services through firefox toolbars, advertising Mozilla firefox through it's search results, etc. Yahoo seems to have found a nice, comfortable little buddy in Internet Explorer, developed by Microsoft.
The Yahoo search results page advertises the IE7 browser as it's default browser of choice. The bottom of the search results page contains an input search window and a link to download the IE7 search browser. Hmm...maybe Internet Explorer just found Yahoo on adsense and thought, hey, I'll buy a few ad spaces from yahoo, why the heck not? Unlikely scenario. Looks like an alliance, smells like an alliance, and while the advertisement is subtle and tasteful, it is definitely going to speak worlds for those keeping up with the internet media conglomerates.
It's safe to say that Google, Firefox, Youtube are all the more forward thinking companies, also thought to possess a brighter future than most of their competitors. But, if the lagging few combine and strive to obtain their own level of recognition and usefulness, maybe they will find a way to catch up. Internet Explorer still dominates a majority of browser users, but their popularity is dwindling. Don't believe me? Here's a snapshot from recent report on the statistics of it all taken from This Article:
"There's a new version of Internet Explorer coming this month, complete with tabbed browsing and built-in antiphishing technology, but will the new features be enough to shore up the browser's flagging support? According to information from NetApplications.com, Internet Explorer's market share has dropped to 82 percent, with Firefox's rising to 12.5 percent, Safari's rising to 3.5 percent, and all other Internet browsers holding steady at 2 percent of the browser market."
For the original article concerning this yahoo browser phenomena (um...I guess I'm reaching with phenomena, but hey, it's interesting) Click Here
