WebMink
Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Objective secured, troops withdraw [WebTech]

So what's happening at Microsoft over their Internet Explorer browser? You may recall that the IE Product Manager let slip during a webcast the idea that IE is dead as an independent entity, and since then Microsoft has been out to lunch on the subject - even Robert would prefer not to comment. If I had to guess, this was part of an exercise to wave a flag over the edge of the trench and see who shoots at it.

Personally I have never doubted that IE was a tactical response to a deadly market trend which, once the trend was controlled, would no longer be needed. Presumably the AOL settlement (which looks more like AOL making restitution to MSFT than the other way round) means that that's the case on the monopoly desktop, and that fighting on the marginal desktop (Mac, Linux, old Windows) is no longer deemed cost effective. There's more analysis in Jupiter's new Microsoft Monitor Blog, but I'm assuming the "saw it coming" response is being received loud and clear.

posted at 4:10 PM (UK) | |