July 9 - 10:30pm EDT   Microsoft tonight launched the public version of Silverlight 3, its animation and video plugin for the web. The rival to Flash is the company's first to use hardware graphics acceleration both for 3D and for offloading the work of decoding video from the main processor. Regardless of graphics power, the update is also the first to promise a near-seamless HD video experience: a "smooth streaming" technique that automatically lowers the bitrate to start playback immediately and quickly brings it back up to provide the maximum quality the connection allows. [full story]

July 8 - 4:50pm EDT   Microsoft is planning a "big" announcement on Monday that may have forced Google's hand in launching Chrome OS, tech pundit and Rackspace blogger Robert Scoble claimed today. While a non-disclosure agreement prevents him from providing further details, he implies that the news will have something to do with web apps, which will be the way software can run in Google's upcoming platform. [full story]

June 12 - 8:45am EDT   Microsoft's decision to pull Internet Explorer from Windows 7 in Europe isn't enough to address EU antitrust complaints about the company's abuse of the market, the European Commission said Friday. The continent's officials now say that Microsoft's proposed solution would actually hurt competition as it would leave the five percent of those buying retail copies of Windows each year with few options. Instead of having an immediate choice, buyers would have to resort to obtaining a physical copy of a web browser or else some alternative. [full story]

June 11 - 1:30pm EDT   Windows 7 will ship to Europe without a copy of Internet Explorer, a leak has revealed this afternoon. Since confirmed by Microsoft, text obtained by CNET shows that PC builders will have to include a browser themselves, including Microsoft's, and will have the option of installing more than one. The new version should be titled Windows 7 E and would ship both to all EU countries as well as Croatia and Switzerland. [full story]

June 3 - 9:45pm EDT   Adobe has unveiled its newest application, BrowserLab, releasing it as a free downloadable preview. The program, originally code-named Meer Meer, is used to compare webpages in Safari, Internet Explorer, and Firefox to ensure designs remain consistent between each browser. The program uses virtualization technology hosted through a cloud-based application, eliminating the need to install all three browsers. [full story]

June 2 - 2:40pm EDT   Microsoft today ended speculation and said it would ship Windows 7 on October 22nd. The launch applies to all versions and confirms statements from Acer that it would have the new OS preloaded on its PCs just a day later. Pricing for individual upgrade and full installs hasn't been mentioned. [full story]

May 4 - 1:30pm EDT   A date has been set for Microsoft to defend itself against European antitrust charges, Reuters reports. Between June 3rd and the 5th, representatives for Microsoft are expected to testify in a closed hearing before the European Commission, elaborating on the outlines of a written response submitted on April 28th. The company was originally ordered to reply by March 12th, but was granted two extensions, first to April 21st and then the 28th. [full story]

April 21 - 3:35pm EDT   Google this afternoon took the covers from an early version of O3D, a new standard for controllable 3D on the web. The format is intended to be a truly browser- and OS-independent format that supports truly modern 3D graphics and which runs well when interacting with the modern web. It takes advantage of the shader (visual programming) effects of current graphics chipsets to produce visuals such as rippling water, reflections and fire, all while properly supporting JavaScript for elements such as real-time changes to the 3D world. [full story]

April 15 - 3:40pm EDT   Microsoft today said it had been given a second extension by the European Commission to prepare a response against antitrust charges that it has unfairly controlled web browsers. Having already been given a first extension that gave it until April 21st, the American firm has until April 28th to provide its own stance and early defense against the claims. Why the added time is required hasn't been formally explained. [full story]

April 1 - 2:15pm EDT   Firefox 3 has overtaken Internet Explorer 7 in Europe according to data from StatCounter. Although IE still leads when counting all versions (IE 8IE7/IE6), the current Mozilla-based Firefox usage has surpassed IE 7 by a percentage point. Ars Technica has reported that IE 8, released two weeks ago, has pulled over two percent of IE 7 users from its ranks, dropping it beneath Firefox. [full story]

March 20 - 3:25pm EDT   The release of Internet Explorer 8 hasn't had any significant impact on Firefox or any other competing browser, data collected by StatsCounter shows. While the final release of IE8 increased its market share slightly on launch day to 1.39 percent, Firefox 3.0 grew more quickly and reached 25.38 percent. The most significant losses were for Internet Explorer 7: the outgoing browser lost 0.4 percent of the total share. [full story]

March 19 - 7:50am EDT   Microsoft on Thursday said it would launch Internet Explorer 8 at 12PM Eastern. The app is the company's first significant web browser release since 2006 and is partly meant to address gaps in its feature set compared to other, newer browsers: a new rendering engine makes it more compatible with true W3C web standards while still having support for IE-specific pages. It also has shortcuts to perform context-sensitive tasks through specific websites (such as a Facebook search), visual search suggestions, and a WebClip-like feature known as Web Slices that lets users bookmark specific sections of websites and see them at a glance. [full story]

March 11 - 11:50am EDT   The European Commission today said it would give Microsoft extra time to respond to its statement of objection that accuses Microsoft of breaking antitrust laws by requiring that Internet Explorer ship with Windows. The American company now has until April 21st to provide an initial response after it complained that the original eight-week deadline, or March 12th, didn't give it enough time to offer a proper answer to the charges. It's not known if the delay will affect other aspects of the case. [full story]

March 5 - 10:50am EST   Alltel today claimed a small victory on Thursday with the official launch of its version of the Palm Treo Pro. Beating the Sprint edition by over a week, Alltel's model is now the first Windows Mobile device to use Internet Explorer Mobile 6 and should provide much more representative views of websites, including through Flash and Silverlight support. The carrier doesn't mention any network-specific features, however, beyond supporting faster 3G over EVDO Revision A. [full story]

March 4 - 9:15pm EST   Beta testers have allegedly noticed that the recent Windows 7 build offers an option to disable Internet Explorer 8, according to CNET News. The new setting can be found in build 7048, indicating that the company added the feature after releasing the public beta known as build 7000. The browser is included in the list of components found in the "Windows Features" dialog box. [full story]