The two leading web browser applications, Mozilla’s Firefox and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, independently announced plans to improve their products before the end of 2008.

Mozilla reported that they will introduce a significant performance enhancement to Firefox, which will be part of the anticipated 3.1 upgrade to be released before the end of the year.  This new enhancement, called “TraceMonkey”, will enable Firefox 3.1 to boost execution of Javascript on web pages “by an order of magnitude or more.”  Many web pages use Javacript programs to present content, but many web browser programs manage Javascript content relatively slowly.  TraceMonkey will enable Firefox 3.1 to compile Javascript as much as 30 times faster than current browsers, in some circumstances, making for a much smoother and more user-friendly experience.

Microsoft’s program manager for Internet Explorer version 8 (IE8), Andy Zeigler, announced that the next version of the browser, expected by the end of the year, will provide a new feature, called InPrivate, which will enable users to use the web anonymously.  With InPrivate turned on, users will be able to control the recording of browsing history, cookies, and other personal Internet usage data.

We think that salespeople should plan to use both web browsers on their computers.  Firefox offers great speed and very efficient use of memory resources, as well as one of the easiest to use browser interfaces.  Internet Explorer 8, when released, promises to be fast, too - but it also should provide a safe backup for browsing some sites that require IE compatibility.  And the ability to browse anonymously could also be very useful in some situations - such as when conducting competitive intelligence, for example.

Tags: anonymous web surfing, Firefox, IE8, InPrivate, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, TraceMonkey

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