Microsoft (MSFT) Becoming a Browser, Search Gorilla?

It seems just when everyone is about to count Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) out, they do just enough to show they still have some spark left deep in them, like they did at the end of 2010 with Kinect.

Now it seems like they are doing it again with the upcoming release of its Internet Explorer 9 and Bing search redesign, which is increasingly thought of as a legitimate alternative to Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) search. March 15 has been put forth as the probably release date for the products.

"Internet Explorer 9 and the redesigned Bing are inextricably linked, both in function and in the marketing-speak that is being used to introduce them. For obvious business reasons, Microsoft wants to ensure that any user of one is inclined to use the other. To further complicate matters, the new products also depend on HTML5, the updated standard for Web display, for maximum impact," says Minyanville.

"...Both products are faster and are visually stripped down, so that the user can focus on content rather than functionality. But the changes to Bing are dramatic - at least in video previews - that can utilize all the bells and whistles of IE9 and HTML5.

"The new Bing doesn’t look like anybody else’s search engine. It looks like a pretty slick multimedia magazine, created on demand for an audience of one, with the top-ranked result as the “lead story.” Other related choices are grouped into sections along the side, and other media, like videos and images, are accessible in one click from tabs along the top."

Microsoft was trading at $25.89, up $0.17, or 0.64 percent, as of 1:52 PM EST.




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Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) IE Drops out of 1st Place in Europe, Mozilla Firefox Takes Lead

Mozilla Inc.'s Firefox has been nibbling away in the browser wars for years against Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and their tenacity has paid off as they've taken over the No.1 spot for browsers in Europe.

That's the first time in a decade that Microsoft hasn't been the No. 1 browser in the region.

According to StatCounter, Firefox had a share of 38.1 percent in Europe for December, while Microsoft's Explorer fell to 37.5 percent.

Globally Microsoft continues to hold a solid lead though, as they hold a 46.9 percent share as of December. Firefox was second with a 30.8 percent share, and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) had 14.9 percent global share.

Microsoft closed Tuesday at $28.09, gaining $0.11, or 0.38 percent.