Microsoft have come out publicly saying they are unhappy with Chrome Frame, as it will leave the browser open to twice as many vulnerabilities.

“Given the security issues with plugins in general and Google Chrome in particular, Google Chrome Frame running as a plugin has doubled the attach area for malware and malicious scripts. This is not a risk we would recommend our friends and families take” said a Microsoft spokesperson.

Google has hit back, with the following statement.

“While we encourage users to use a more modern and standards compliant browser such as Firefox, Safari, Opera or Google Chrome rather than a plug-in, for those who don’t, Google Chrome Frame is designed to provide better performance, strong security features, and more choice to both developers and users, across all versions of Internet Explorer.”

“Accessing sites using Google Chrome Frame brings Google Chrome’s security features to Internet Explorer users, providing strong phishing and malware protection (absent in IE6), robust sandboxing technology, and defenses from emerging online threats that are available in days rather than months.”

That settles that – for now.

The Google Chrome development team have released a new tool called Google Chrome Frame.

“Google Chrome Frame is an early-stage open source plug-in that seamlessly brings Google Chrome’s open web technologies and speedy JavaScript engine” and currently works in Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8.

This plug-in would allow organisations to keep Internet Explorer 6, but still allow users to see pages that use HTML5 and advanced CSS features.

More information can be found on the Google Chrome Frame website.

Mozilla has responded to Microsoft’s proposal for a browser ballot in Windows and they are not satisfied.

Mozilla VP and General Counsel Harvey Anderson believes that various mechanisms in the operating system that are controlled by Microsoft could create conditions that encourage users to unintentionally reset their default browser to Internet Explorer.

“Our most urgent concerns in the EC investigation related to protecting a user’s choice of a non-IE browser. The proposal largely addresses those concerns and should merit support if certain deficiencies are corrected” said Anderson.

Anderson is quick to criticise, but offers little in the way of suggestions to ease his concerns. Full details on Anderson’s concerns can be read in his blog post.

Microsoft is set to support Internet Explorer 6 for a while longer according to a post on the companies IEBlog, despite a renewed effort demanding it be scrapped and users forced to upgrade.

“The choice to upgrade software on a PC belongs to the person responsible for the PC” said Microsoft’s Internet Explorer boss Dean Hachamovitch.

“We’ll continue to strongly encourage Windows users to upgrade to the latest IE. We will also continue to respect their choice, because their browser is their choice. Dropping support for IE6 is not an option because we committed to supporting the IE included with Windows for the lifespan of the product. We keep our commitments.”

Hachamovitch’s comments come after Digg’s proposal to remove support for IE6, and a new ‘IE6 No More‘ campaign.

Hachamovitch also points out that the large majority of IE6 users don’t have the ability to upgrade, but are rather bound by the software their organisations allow them to use.

It appears IE6 is still here to stay – for now.

Microsoft has finally jumped onto the HTML5 bandwagon, providing feedback on the current draft version.

Up until now, most of the HTML5 draft has been worked on by rivals Apple, Mozilla, Opera and Google.

According to reports, Internet Explorer Program Manager Adrian Bateman has sent a letter to the World Wide Web Consortium, with Microsoft’s thoughts and queries on the current editor’s draft.

“As part of our planning for future work, the IE team is reviewing the current editor’s draft of the HTML5 spec and gathering our thoughts. We want to share our feedback and discuss this in the working group. I will post our notes as we collect them so we can iterate on our thinking more quickly. At this stage we have more questions than answers, but I believe that discussing them in public is the best way to make progress” said a letter from Bateman.

Microsoft hasn’t completely ignored HTML5, with Internet Explorer 8 including support for the DOM Store, Ajax Navigation, Cross Document Messaging and Cross Domain Messaging, all components of  HTML 5.

More developments are sure to continue.

Web browser market share results for July 2009 have been released thanks to Market Share by Net Applications, and for another month Microsoft Internet Explorer is down again.

Internet Explorer dropped almost half a percent to 67.68%, while Firefox was up 0.04% to 22.47%.

Other winners for the month were were Safari up from 3.79% to 4.07%, and Google Chrome up from 2.40% to 2.59%.

Opera had another bad month falling from 2.03% to 1.97%.

Interesting results for Firefox, with the release of 3.5 seems to have failed at attracting any more market share. Full results for June and July 2009 are available online.

After announcing that Windows 7 would ship in the European Union without Internet Explorer, Microsoft has done a back flip and will once again include the companies web browser.

Microsoft released the following statement:

In the wake of last week’s developments, as well as continuing feedback on Windows 7 E that we have received from computer manufacturers and other business partners, I’m pleased to report that we will ship the same version of Windows 7 in Europe in October that we will ship in the rest of the world.

One reason we decided not to ship Windows 7 ‘E’ is concerns raised by computer manufacturers and partners. Several worried about the complexity of changing the version of Windows that we ship in Europe if our ballot screen proposal is ultimately accepted by the Commission and we stop selling Windows 7 ‘E’. Computer manufacturers and our partners also warned that introducing Windows 7 ‘E’, only to later replace it with a version of Windows 7 that includes IE, could confuse consumers about what version of Windows to buy with their PCs.

A ballot screen update is still said to be on the cards for all Windows XP, Vista and 7 European Users if the EU accepts Microsoft’s proposal.

Microsoft has finally craved to pressure from the European Union, and instead of offering no browser in Windows 7 E in Europe, the company will offer a ballot screen which will allow users to choose a web browser.

This is a big win for consumers, with the EU acknowledging the decision. “The European Commission can confirm that Microsoft has proposed a consumer ballot screen as a solution to the pending antitrust case.”

“We believe that if ultimately accepted, this proposal will fully address the European competition law issues relating to the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows and interoperability with our high-volume products,” said Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith.

A proposed ballot screen can be seen below:

Microsoft has revealed that it will charge €4 for a copy on Internet Explorer 8 on CD, after announcing that Windows 7 will ship in the European Union without Internet Explorer.

The move to remove the browser from the operating system is a direct result of action taking against Microsoft by the European Union with companies such as Opera and Mozilla.

Internet Explorer 8 will however remain free for users to download, along with competing browsers. The biggest issue that most will face is the inability to browse to websites on a fresh install of Windows 7 to download a browser of their choice.

This is not expected to be a problem for those who buy their PC’s from manufactures such as Dell and HP, as they are still expected to bundle browsers with new systems.

Microsoft has announced that a serious exploit in Microsoft’s Video ActiveX Control can allow hijackers complete access to a remote system.

The zero day exploit affects Internet Explorer 6 and 7 users when they visit an infected web site if they are using either Windows XP or Windows 2003.

Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8 users are safe for now. No patch is currently available but Microsoft has posted a workaround for the exploit.

A patch is in the works, but no details on when it will be released have been announced.

Links:

• Enable workaround
• Disable workaround