Business / Technology

Update 1:52 p.m.: Microsoft has pulled its online ad for Internet Explorer 8, after complaints from viewers that it was too foul. According to a statement from the company: “We make a point of listening to our customers. We created the OMGIGP video as a tongue-in-cheek look at the InPrivate Browsing feature of Internet Explorer 8,…

To deal with European Union’s antitrust concerns, Microsoft said Thursday it would ship Windows 7 in Europe without its Web browser Internet Explorer. Today, the European Union released a statement saying Microsoft is offering less choice, not more. In its statement, the European Union said: “… the Commission has suggested that consumers should be offered a…

In the surreal, ominous style of Hulu, Microsoft has released two online ads to market its latest browser, Internet Explorer 8. Microsoft’s ads feature actor Dean Cain, who played Superman on “Lois & Clark.” Microsoft will also make donations to food banks every time someone downloads the new browser. For each download at www.browserforthebetter.com,…

Microsoft confirmed reports from CNET and Bloomberg today that the company will be shipping Windows 7 in Europe without the Internet Explorer browser in it. CNET’s report cites a memo that was sent to computer makers saying the changes were being made to comply with European Union law. Earlier this year, the European Commission notified Microsoft…

Two-and-a-half years after Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft’s next entry in the increasingly competitive Web browser market, Internet Explorer 8, is ready to go. The final version of IE8 is due to be available at 9 a.m. Thursday here.

A new, modern browser couldn’t come a moment sooner for Microsoft.

Internet Explorer’s share of the Web browser market has steadily eroded from more than 90 percent in late 2004 to less than 70 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to data from Net Applications. In that time, Firefox has skyrocketed from about 4 percent to more than 21 percent of the market. Apple’s Safari browser has also increased from less than 2 percent to more than 8 percent of the market.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer drew attention to the issue during his February strategic update with Wall Street analysts.

“[W]ith IE8 we are very focused in on a set of technology marketing programs, et cetera, to regain browser share,” Ballmer said. “We think that browser share is important. Browsers are not commodity. Browsers are key features of operating systems, and we have a lot of work that we need to do in that dimension.”

Microsoft has packed a lot of new features into IE8, some of which even have Firefox cheering.

The European Commission has given Microsoft another month to reply to the regulator’s initial finding that the company violated European competition law. Specifically, the EC said the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows since 1996 was in violation. The EC investigated after a complaint by rival Web browser maker Opera Software. The new deadline for Microsoft to respond to the EC’s “Statement of Objections,” issued in January, is April 21 after the EC granted its request for an extension, according to this Bloomberg report.

A couple of developments on the European regulatory front today. One new, one old. In a development that could have an impact on the current European Commission antitrust action against Microsoft, a build of Windows 7 has a feature allowing users to “turn off” Internet Explorer 8. The blogger who spotted the capability gets right…

“According to current planning, it should be late September or early October.” That’s what Ray Chen, president of a Tapei OEM, Compal Electronics, told Bloomberg about when Microsoft may begin shipping Windows 7. That would put it ahead of Microsoft’s officially stated schedule, which has the new OS due by January 2010. But it would match some observers’ expectations that Microsoft will have Windows 7 available in time for the 2009 holiday season.

With competition in the Web browser market continuing to mount, Microsoft is responding with more frequent releases of Internet Explorer. The company announced the first release candidate — a near-final version — of Internet Explorer 8 is available today.

The European Commission notified Microsoft on Thursday of its “preliminary view that the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows since 1996 has violated European competition law.” The notification came in a “Statement of Objections,” which was not published by the EC. Microsoft itself announced the news because of its “disclosure requirements” in the U.S. The EC’s antitrust investigation stems from a December 2007 complaint by Opera Software, maker of the Opera Web browser, which competes with Internet Explorer.