Open source Chrome vs. No advertising IE 8

Microsoft has already won the desktop battle, but a new war is looming and in a connected world the ultimate end point is the browser, the most intimate interface that people use to surf the web. Whoever wins this round of what is popularly referred to as the browser wars wins the most valuable real estate of the connected economy. As IE and Chrome do battle it is interesting to see what strategies Microsoft and Google are using to try and take the victor’s crown in the battle of the browsers.

What’s key about Google’s open source offering is that it addresses the consumer need for speed and appears to answer the problem many users have with their browser grinding to a halt at the end of the day, or freezing or failing. A frustration that’s becoming increasingly common place because of the myriad of applications and media that browsers now have to deal with as the web leaves text behind and moves into richer and more varied environments. Google’s offering will have an ability to view web pages as thumbnails and a host of other features built for speed in a multi-media environment.

Microsoft isn’t taking the open-source slap in the face lying down. They know Google’s business model is built on the back of an advertising platform and MS are hitting back with a browser that features the ability to block advertising. Still in beta, Internet Explorer 8’s “InPrivate” feature has the advertising and publishing world in a flurry. Imagine the potential harm an opt-in or opt-out type browser could do to the $21.2 billion-plus interactive ad industry? Microsoft Internet Explorer general manager Dean Hachamovitch says that’s not the point: “The point isn’t to block content or ads. The point is to put users in control of what they’re sharing.”

Early days yet in the browser wars, but the first punches have been thrown and it appears that blood has been drawn. There will be one clear winner though and in my mind that will be browser users who for years have been desperate for a solution that speaks to speed and intrusive advertising.

Posted on Marklives.com by Mandy de Waal. Mandy de Waal is a former broadcast journalist who now writes for a broad range of local media. A columnist for MarkLives, de Waal microblogs at Twitter, vlogs at Zoopy and authors her own blog, Artificial Intelligence.