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Internet Explorer 9 on Microsoft’s Drawing Board

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) just shipped in late March, so why is Microsoft already asking users for input on its replacement? The company has said it is trying to release updates to its venerable browser much more quickly than in the past. Meanwhile some long-time Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) watchers contributed their own feedback as to […]

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SJJ

Stuart J. Johnston

May 9, 2009

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Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) just shipped in late March, so why is Microsoft already asking users for input on its replacement?

The company has said it is trying to release updates to its venerable browser much more quickly than in the past. Meanwhile some long-time Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) watchers contributed their own feedback as to what users should ask for in IE9.

Microsoft has not referred to this “next” version as IE9, at least not yet, but it’s the designation that Web denizens immediately slapped on the future release.

In fact, however, Microsoft recently posted a notice to users who had both been participants in the IE8 beta test and also had access to the company’s Connect downloads Website during the update’s testing. The company is asking those users to provide feedback on what they would like to see in the next version of the browser.

“We have added a new feedback form on Connect designed specifically to handle improvements for the next version of Internet Explorer. This includes not just feature requests, but all types of feedback including issues that currently exist in IE,” according to the posting on the Connect site earlier this week.

The request for feedback is actually a predictable move, given that Microsoft had promised users it would release much more frequent updates to IE than it has in the past. One benefit of shortening the development time is to enable IE to compete more effectively with rival browsers that have severely eaten into its market share over the past few years. Nearly all of Microsoft’s main competitors are much smaller and, thus, more nimble about getting new browser releases out.

Technology enthusiast site Neowin.net published the note from the IE development team on Wednesday.

Microsoft has dominated the browser arena since the mid-1990s, although lack of focus on keeping IE up-to-date eventually led to sluggish response to innovative and relentless competitors in the form of Mozilla Firefox, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Safari, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chrome, Opera Software, and others.

The company issued IE6 in 2001 and, other than minor updates and bug fixes, did not release a significant upgrade until 2006, when it shipped IE7 — promising at that time not to take as long between releases. It made good to a certain extent on that with IE8, which launched in late March.

Now, it’s trying to get caught up to those same competitors, and for good reason.

According to Web metrics tracking firm Net Applications, Microsoft’s share of the global browser arena has now slipped to 66 percent, whereas only a few years ago it was at more than 90 percent. Firefox is clearly the biggest beneficiary, garnering 22.5 percent. All the other browsers had single digit shares.

Since Microsoft is just getting started gathering input, three veteran Microsoft analysts voiced their thoughts on what they’d like to see in the next major IE update.

Matt Rosoff, a research vice president at Directions on Microsoft, would like to see tangible changes such as faster installation, a simple way to enable and disable browser plug ins, an integrated Twitter client, smoother importing and organizing of favorites, and a link to Microsoft’s Live SkyDrive.

“[W]hat about a ‘save this page to SkyDrive’ menu item?” Rosoff said in an e-mail to InternetNews.com. (SkyDrive is a Windows Live service that provides users with 25 GB of free online file storage.)

“This could be useful for archiving permanent copies of pages that change or disappear frequently,” he added.

Meanwhile, Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies, has his own priorities.

“I personally would like to see better engineered keyboard shortcuts that allow you to do common tasks with fewer keystrokes and not have to touch the mouse as often,” Kay told InternetNews.com in an e-mail.

Overall, however, he has one big gripe.

“Browsers in general have become humongous pieces of software … in fact, you could argue that browsers are over-featured,” Kay said.

Competitive factors come into play as well, of course.

“Make it a better application front end,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the InternetNews.com.