Microsoft adds shortcuts, security to new browser

Microsoft Corp released a new version of Internet Explorer Thursday, adding features meant to speed up common web surfing tasks and bringing the browser’s security measures in line with those of major competitors.

The number of browsers has grown to a dizzying array, from Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox, the two most popular, to Apple Inc’s Safari, Google Inc’s Chrome, the Norwegian entrant Opera and others. Each is using speed, security enhancements and new features to fight for a share of web surfers’ growing time online. Microsoft remains the dominant player, but Firefox’s influence is growing.

Dean Hachamovitch, the IE group’s general manager, said that the free browser is important to Microsoft because the company simply wants PC users to have a “great experience every day” when surfing the web. For Microsoft, as for Apple and Google, the browser is one more way to build relationships that could sway other decisions, like whether to buy a Macintosh or a Windows computer, or whether to use Google’s Gmail instead of Microsoft’s Hotmail.

Google’s entry into the market last year also shows the web search leader believes owning the browser can help it better understand web users’ behavior and advertise to them more effectively—an area in which Microsoft is struggling to catch up.
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