Browser Security News

The next release of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer continues to concern Google Inc., which nonetheless has no plans to develop a competing browser, Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said Wednesday. Microsoft is currently beta testing IE7, which contains a search box with a drop-down menu set by default to use the company’s search engine, but which includes other options. Google executives have in recent months complained about this, and Schmidt reiterated their concern on Wednesday.

"We want to make sure that the use of the power of Windows is done in a correct and legally appropriate way," Schmidt said in a question-and-answer session with financial analysts and investors that the company broadcast over the Web.

Google complained to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the European Commission about this issue. However, the DOJ this month dismissed the concerns as groundless.

Google critics have also pointed out that the company’s grievance is inconsistent with the fact that Mozilla Corp.’s Firefox browser has a similar search box which defaults to the Google search engine.

Schmidt also said Google has no intention of developing its own browser because it doesn’t see a user need for it, since there are many good options available in the market, such as Firefox, IE, Apple Computer Inc.’s Safari and Opera Software ASA’s Opera. Google CEO restates concerns over IE7 | InfoWorld | News | 2006-05-31 | By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service