Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) seems to be reversing itself a little lately, as evidenced by the latest move with one of its flagship products. That is, the world's largest software maker is not requiring the pesky "Windows Genuine Advantage" product authentication when customers of its web browser, Internet Explorer 7, are upgrading to the latest version of that software.Usually, Microsoft is incredibly paranoid about verifying authenticity of its Windows operating system (not a stolen or hacked copy) and will only allow bug fixes and upgrades to Windows software installations that have been 'authenticated' using Microsoft's online verification system. Internet Explorer, the company's market share-leading web browser product, seems to be deviating from that past stance, however. Why would Microsoft stop forcing customers who are upgrading the Internet Explorer program on their PCs to verify if their Windows software is 100% legit?
Microsoft officials give the reason that the software maker is trying to promote the Internet Explorer product to a wider audience. Does this make sense, though? Internet Explorer program manager Steve Reynolds posted to his blog that "We're updating the IE 7 installation experience to make it available as broadly as possible to all Windows users." Apparently, that includes windows users not using a paid-for copy of the operating system. At least, that is what I read here.
Is Microsoft afraid of web browser competitors like Mozilla Firefox and Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Safari web browsing products? Even with the release of Internet Explorer 7 last year, the browser's market share has seen losses from the other web browser players. Sources indicate that Internet Explorer's market share fell from 81.3% of the market in October 2006 to 77.9% in September 2007.
Is Microsoft afraid of web browser competitors like Mozilla Firefox and Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Safari web browsing products? Even with the release of Internet Explorer 7 last year, the browser's market share has seen losses from the other web browser players. Sources indicate that Internet Explorer's market share fell from 81.3% of the market in October 2006 to 77.9% in September 2007.
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