Germany Urges Ditching Internet Explorer

New set of standards could make email more trustworthy

(NEWSER) - A new anti-phishing effort, backed by the big email service providers as well as banks, PayPal, social networks, and other companies, could dramatically reduce the number of scam emails you get in your inbox. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL are backing the new plan; 15 companies in total have come together to create DMARC.org, which officially launches today and will promote standard technologies to authenticate email. The hoped-for end result? If you get an email that claims to be from paypal.com, you could trust that it is actually from paypal.com. If it works, companies would be able to communicate with customers in new ways, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

Facing Microsoft, search giant aims to expand market for Chrome

(NEWSER) - Google Chrome, languishing in the browser wars, will get a substantial boost thanks to a deal with Sony—which is shipping new Vaio PCs with Chrome pre-installed. Google is also talking to other computer manufacturers, the FT reports, as it attempts to weaken the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which commands 68% of the field. Google Chrome, despite good reviews from techies, has only a 2% share after a year. More»

(NEWSER) - European Union regulators are taking yet another shot at Microsoft, and this time they’re hoping to do more than fine the software giant, the Wall Street Journal reports. Their latest strategy: forcing Microsoft to bundle alternative web browsers with Windows, thereby diluting Internet Explorer’s inherent advantage. They may also demand a “ballot screen” that would ask new users which browsers they’d like installed. More»

Nokia, IBM, Oracle join EU antitrust case over Explorer's dominance

(NEWSER) - A technology consortium whose members include IBM, Nokia, and Oracle has joined the European Commission’s antitrust case against Microsoft, the Financial Times reports. The consortium, Ecis, joins Google and the Mozilla Foundation in accusing Microsoft of using Windows to distort the web browser market in favor of Internet Explorer. Ecis member firms will testify against Microsoft, which was notified of the complaint by the EU's executive branch in January. More»

Safari isn't good enough vs. spyware and IE is still in development

(NEWSER) - Mozilla, Apple, and Microsoft are in the final stages of developing new versions of their Web browsers, and Firefox 3 is the winner over spyware-susceptible Safari 3.1 and work-in-progress IE 8. The new Mozilla product has outstanding memory management and speed, boasts great groundbreaking bookmark features, and is impressively secure, Erik Larkin writes in PC World. More»