Microsoft Unveils First Big Internet Explorer Upgrade In Five Years

That’s what Microsoft did. For the first time since 2001, the computer software giant has updated its widely used Internet Explorer browser.

IE 7 was released on Wednesday night and the company is hoping that it wins back many web surfers who’ve since switched to other alternatives.

Explorer has become both a bane and a boon to Microsoft.

Because of Windows dominance in the marketplace, it became the number one browser on the market.

But it also led the company into lawsuits, after users complained they were being forced to keep it on their machines as a built-in part of the operating system. And it didn’t take hackers long to find what seemed like endless holes, creating the possibility of spreading viruses or opening up your PC to intruders.

Millions changed to the open source Firefox, hoping for more security.

And now finally Microsoft has released what it calls a far safer program, with more bells and whistles. Which really means they’ve taken the best ideas of the other guys and put it in their own device.

IE 7 features tabbed browsing, which doesn’t require you to open up multiple windows to see different pages.

You can search directly from the program by choosing a specific engine, there’s a pop-up blocker to stop spam ads, and a colour-coded warning in the address bar if you happen on a site that may not be safe.

Microsoft admits it got caught with its virtual pants down and is already at work on the next version of its browser. “Should we have done more, sooner, earlier? It’s rare to not say that in hindsight,” agrees the company’s Dean Hachamovitch.

Surveys show consumers often judge an operating system by the success of its most often used program – and for many, that’s the browser that lets them access the Internet.

Meanwhile, the competition doesn’t seem to be quite as scared of the monolithic manufacturer as they used to be.

“It’s exciting to see Microsoft reenter the browser space after leaving for five years,” notes Christopher Beard of Mozilla, which makes Firefox. “It’s great to see that IE is adopting the features that we popularized.”

And it appears this million-dollar war for the hearts and minds of consumers is far from over. Mozilla plans to introduce an upgrade to Firefox in the next few weeks. And it could put Microsoft right back at the drawing board.

Firefox 2 will feature an email and blog spell checker, an updated search feature and the ability for users to recover work done online if their PC crashes.

If you’ve signed up for Microsoft’s automatic security updates, you’ll receive the option to install the new free IE7 on your machine. But if you’d like to get it now, click here.