Google has announced a new format for the HTML5 video war, called WebM and using the VP8 codec.

The new video format is royalty free and designed specifically for use on the web. The WebM project is sponsored by Google, Mozilla, Opera, AMD, Nvidia and Oracle amongst others and is aiming to become the standard way we view video on the web in years to come.

All major browser have announced support for the format, except for Apple.

“In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video as well as VP8 video when the user has installed a VP8 codec on Windows” commented Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch.

“Video will finally become a first-class citizen of the Web. This is a big deal, and the day will be remembered in the history of the Web” wrote Håkon Wium Lie, CTO, Opera Software. Opera also have preview builds of the browser available which support the WebM video format.

Mozilla was also quick to follow, with preview builds of Firefox that also include support for WebM. Chrome builds should follow in the coming week.

Apple has been very quiet on the matter, not stating whether it will support the format in it’s Safari browser, and whether this format could make an appearance on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches.

This is a great day for open web standards.

Microsoft Australia has launched its own campaign against Internet Explorer 6, declaring the browser as “off” and urging lingering users to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8.

“You wouldn’t drink 9 year old milk, so why use a 9-year-old browser” asks Microsoft.

“When Internet Explorer 6 was launched in 2001, it offered cutting–edge security – for the time. Since then, the Internet has evolved and the security features of Internet Explorer 6 have become outdated. With the latest state–of–the–art security features, Internet Explorer 8 is designed to cope with today’s modern cyber crime” says Microsoft’s introduction.

The campaign is aimed at existing IE6 users, which still make up 17.58% of the web browsers world-wide according to Market Share by Net Applications.

Microsoft Australia’s campaign can be seen here, along with some very interesting fraud facts.

Internet Explorer 9 Project Manager Sharon Newman has revealed in depth the upcoming browsers support for CSS3 selectors.

“CSS3 Selectors enable complex styling of webpages using simpler CSS and less script than previously possible” wrote Newman.

“Our goal is to enable new selectors in your webpages in a way that lets the same markup work across browsers […] IE9 now passes 100% of test cases on css3.info, 100% of the W3C CSS3 Selectors Test Suite, and Acid3 tests 34 through 37 and 39 through 44” continued Newman.

Interested users can test out a developer preview of Internet Explorer 9 by downloading it from the test drive site.

A full list of CSS3 selectors supported by Internet Explorer 9 can be found after the break.

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Microsoft has made available a second release of its Internet Explorer 9 platform preview, with early results showcasing many improvements in the browser over the first platform preview that was released in March 2010.

“Today’s release builds on the first Platform Preview, delivering improvements to IE9’s performance, support for standards, and hardware acceleration of HTML5.  We’ve also updated the test drive site with a new set of developer samples to show what developers can do with GPU-powered HTML5. As part of our commitment to enabling developers to use the Same Markup – the same HTML, CSS, and script – on the web, we have contributed many new tests to the W3C for HTML5, as well as CSS3 Media Queries and DOM. The Developer Tools in this preview include some new features to make finding and fixing markup issues easier” wrote Internet Explorer’s General Manager Dean Hachamovitch.

Microsoft testing shows the browser is also slightly faster in SunSpider JavaScript benchmark test then the previous preview release, with the browser still being faster than Firefox 3.6 and Firefox.Next builds.

The release come days after figures show that Internet Explorer’s market share has dropped below the 60% mark for the first time since late 1998.

Windows users wanting to test Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview #2 can download the browser from ietestdrive.com.

Opera has told The Register it is still unhappy with Microsoft’s new browser ballot screen.

The problem according to Opera, is that the ballot screen is completely obstructed when a user opens Internet Explorer for the first time on a fresh installation of Windows.

Opera fears that users will just ignore the ballot screen, and continue to use Internet Explorer without realising they had a choice.

Microsoft has dismissed the claims. “This scenario is very easy to reproduce in a test lab, but would occur only in unusual cases in the real world. For it to occur with the Browser Choice screen, the user would need to have IE set as their default browser and have never configured it for use. Opera’s example, where a Windows XP user has rejected installation of IE 8 for the year it has been available but suddenly decides to install it is not realistic” said a Microsoft spokesperson.

Opera has alerted the European Union of the problem.

New images have emerged over on Chinese site LiveSino which appear to be a leaked Internet Explorer 9 interface.

The interface appears to resemble the new minimalistic Metro interface found in the upcoming Windows Phone 7 series.

Microsoft has been tight lipped about the images, and has not yet released a statement. It is uncertain whether they are real, or part of an elaborate April Fools prank.

A second screen shot can be seen after the break.

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Microsoft has released an out-of-band update to fix a security issue in both Internet Explorer 6 and 7.

Internet Explorer 8 is safe this time, while the vulnerability could allow for remote code execution when a user visits a website with the malicious inserted in it. Full details on the issue can be seen in Microsoft Security Advisory (981374).

The update is included with Security Bulletin MS10-018 and the flaw is rated as critical, and was originally expected during the 13th April update cycle.

“The Internet Explorer team accelerated testing of this update due to the growing attacks against the publicly disclosed vulnerability” wrote Microsoft Security Response Center Group Manager Jerry Bryant.

The update is available from Microsoft Update, or will be pushed out to Windows users who have automatic updates turned on.

Opera have announced that downloads of their browser are up a whopping 53% on average after the roll-out of the browser ballot screen for Windows users in the European Union.

The above numbers are a sample of the percentages of each country downloads of Opera 10.50 that originates from the Choice Screen, as part of the total Opera 10.50 numbers for desktop.

Full stats for European Union countries are available from the Choose Opera Blog.

A better idea of how the browser ballot screen in the European Union has affected worldwide market share will be known at the end of March.

Microsoft has clearly been heard at work, and announced today at MIX10 the availability of Internet Explorer 9 “test drive” (IE9) Developer Preview.

The browser, which is clearly still in its early stages, is missing the expected Internet Explorer interface such as tabs and address bar, but it does allow users to test and see the new JavaScript and rendering engine in action.

Available at ietestdrive.com, the browser includes support for some HTML5 and CSS3 features, including the new video element and CSS3 border radius tags.

Video tag support appears to be limited to the H.264 and MPEG4, while audio is limited to MP3 and AAC, totally ignoring the OGG format for both video and audio.

Microsoft really seems to be pushing standards compliance, and performance with this relase, and it shows. While not perfect, the browser is already leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, IE8. With the aid of the new JavaScript engine (codenamed Chakra), the early release browser is able to complete the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark test with a score of 598.80, slightly faster than Firefox 3.6. The browser also scores 55/100 in the ACID3 test, while IE8 only scores 20/100.

Internet Explorer 9 will be limited to only Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, while XP users will miss out on release.

All round, Microsoft really seem to be putting in a lot of effort with Internet Explorer 9, and it really shows. The Internet Explorer 9 “test drive” is available from the Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive website.

Microsoft has announced that it has discovered a new zero-day exploit in Internet Explorer.

The vulnerability is being exploited in the wild, and allows remote malicious code to install itself on a users system.

Currently, it appears only Internet Explorer 6 and 7 are affected while Internet Explorer 8 is safe this time around.

No word from Microsoft on when we will see a patch, but users are urged to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 to protect them from the current vulnerability.