21 Dec 2009

The dominance of Microsoft IE 'may come to an end'

A recent announcement by the European Commission (EC) could spell the end for the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.

Bryan Glick, editor-in-chief at Computer Weekly, said Microsoft's grip on the browser market is likely to weaken in the future, especially given the advertising campaigns launched by its competitors to coincide with e announcement of this decision.

He commented: "[The announcement by Google was] almost certainly quite deliberately timed with the EC's decision to try and make people a bit more aware of the fact that there are alternatives for them."

According to the EC, this decision will enable users of the Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems to choose which web browser they want to install in addition to - or instead of - Microsoft's browser Internet Explorer.

Other browsers that are currently on the market include Google's Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera.