Battle of browsers heats up with IE9
Microsoft marked yesterday's launch of the latest version of its web browser with a party at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.
Yesterday's unveiling of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) marks the latest update from the three most popular browsers around the world, as they jostle for share of how consumers will view the internet as it moves into the next generation of HTML 5.
A decade ago, the browser was used to look at simple text and images. Now they are shifting to deal with HTML5, an advanced set of web commands that allow a browser to show streaming media and animation without tools such as Flash. A senior manager at Microsoft said: "The vast majority of people will soon have a HTML5 browser. This will be a big development in the history of the web." As the browsers adapt, the market is more competitive than ever as use of the internet rises. David Smith, an analyst at Gartner, said: "Things are happening in the browser space now as more and more people are using browsers for more and more."
