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

According to the All About Microsoft blog, the software giant has confirmed that a new version of its web browser application, Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), will be released to general availability before the end of 2008. Microsoft’s Senior Vice President of Online Services and Windows, Bill Veghte, mentioned to a gathering of financial industry analysts that Microsoft will release IE8 “later this year.”

An early version of IE8 was made available for testing by software developers in beta form earlier this year, and a second beta release is set to be provided in August. The new version is reported to include significant performance improvements, and more compliance with Internet website standards.

By far, still the most widely used Internet web browser application, Internet Explorer is also the most widely supported by website and software application developers.  Even though Firefox 3.0 may still be faster, salespeople should also plan to have a copy of IE8 on their computers, when it becomes available, for those rare websites that do not perform adequately in Firefox.

UPDATE: IE8 to support anonymous web surfing

Tags: All About Microsoft, IE8, Internet Explorer 8