In the crazy history of internet browsers (dating all the way back to the days of Netscape) companies have been trying to get to the top of the heap and dominate the users’ browser experience. New stats out now show that Firefox 3.5 is now the most popular browser world wide, having edged past Internet Explorer.
Microsoft has spent massive resources and money over the years to get IE to the top of the heap and dominate the browser experience but now Firefox has risen to take top spot. IE 8 may be hot on its trail and over take it but you have to admit that it is quite an achievement for Firefox to out muscle Microsoft if even for a short time. Not being backed by a major corporation or having integration into OS installs makes it tough to grow large but Firefox seems to have done by providing a quality user experience.
Are you confused about social media? Does it not register why all the buzz? Well there is certainly a lot of information going around. But you should know that the we are in a new era and social media should be part of your company strategy.
Watch this video for a bit of an eye opener with regard to social media.
Let me help you set up your social media implementation starategy. I can design you a personalized Internet Marketing and Social Media Blueprint aimed at guiding you to marketing success for your business. – Kevin
This just in from the world of the web. The search engine war heats up, or does it?
Microsoft and Yahoo made it official on Wednesday. The two companies announced a 10-year pact where Microsoft will power Yahoo search. Yahoo also becomes the sales force for Microsoft’s premium properties.
The companies said the search deal will accelerate innovation and bring more value to advertisers and Web users. Yahoo and Microsoft also get to focus on their core strengths. Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz says there will be “boatloads of value for our users and industry.” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the Yahoo deal gives Bing the scale to compete.
It’s inhumanly early in California, but it’s already a great day at Yahoo!. We’ve just signed a major search deal with Microsoft. Under the terms, Microsoft will become the search engine behind Yahoo! and we will become the worldwide exclusive relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. — Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz
What does the Yahoo exec have to say about competing?
Better competition: Competition equals innovation. But with one player dominating 70% of search, that field has been pretty lopsided. This transaction will create a healthy competitor that’ll keep everyone on their toes.
The deal is not slated to close till early next year but both companies seem to exude confidence it will go through. But will the regulators go along with it? That remains to be seen. Surely Google is licking its chops at the chance to take on this consortium effort.
Google appears to be taking on Microsoft in many ways these days. Email, applications such as Google Apps for business, the Android operating system for mobile phones, and now they are close to launching their own operating system for computers under the Google Chrome name.
Google Chrome will be primarily aimed at netbooks (small portable computers) initially and will provide a fast, secure, and better way to access Web-based applications. This OS will eventually be set up to run a whole range of computers from laptops to desk tops.
This is a direct launch against Windows 7 which is Microsoft’s response to the whole Vista situation which has not gone well for MS. MS is hoping to launch Windows 7 in the fall.
We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don’t want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.
Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.
Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.
