"As part of the OS (operating system), IE will continue to evolve, but there will be no future standalone installations. IE6 SP1 is the final standalone installation," Countryman said in the the May 7 interview.
Microsoft issued a standalone browser with IE 6, following a court ruling that found the company had violated antitrust laws by bundling IE with its Windows operating system. The company has since settled the case with the Justice Department and most of the other parties to the suit, although a handful of holdouts continue to press for additional remedies.
In the May 7 interview, Countryman dismissed suggestions that the decision to drop a standalone browser was related to antitrust issues, hinting that planned new security enhancements for the upcoming version of its Windows operating system, code named Longhorn, was the driving force behind the move.
Longhorn is expected to include a major security overhaul dubbed Next-Generation Secure Computing Base, formerly known as Palladium.
Critics fear the technology will result in consumers losing control of their PCs and data and that Microsoft could use the technology to lock up market share. Others argue that the software and hardware could help lock down corporate data.
"Legacy OSes have reached their zenith with the addition of IE 6 SP1," Countryman said. "Further improvements to IE will require enhancements to the underlying OS."
Hardly surprising. After being found guilt of illegal conduct and given no significant punishment, Microsoft ownership of the internet and access to it marches forward.
Seems to me actual security of corporate data has never been significantly compromised, the real objective of "Next Generation Secure Computing" is to have access to all your data dependent upon MS proprietary technology. If that also happens to offer "security", then you are lucky.
Given that the push for open file formats (HTML, XML et al) is to make data more accessible, why the sudden push to lock it up with proprietary software? Especially when the US DMCA makes it illegal to even attempt to decrypt the encryption?
Think before using this stuff, there are plenty of open (and cheaper) alternatives.