IE7, which will be available in beta this summer, will not be available to users of Windows 2000.
Asa Dotzler, the community coordinator at the Mozilla Foundation, said in an interview published on Tuesday that he hopes to attract many corporate Windows 2000 users to the Firefox browser, as they will be unable to take advantage of the improvements in IE7.
"We have high hopes that we'll do better and better in [the enterprise] space with Windows 2000 users," said Dotzler. "We're excited about Microsoft launching IE7 -- it will remind a lot of people that if they want better features they have to spend hundreds of dollars upgrading [to Windows XP]."
Nearly half of all Windows-based business desktops are still using Windows 2000, according to a recent survey by AssetMetrix, meaning that there is a big market for the Mozilla Foundation to tap into.
Firefox 1.1, which is due for release this month, will include a range of features to encourage companies to migrate to the open source browser, including an auto-update and preference locking feature.
The auto-update system, which Dotzler described as a "world-class update system", will allow users to automatically install patches and updates, rather than needing to re-install Firefox each time an update is released. Version 1.1 will also include improved tools to lock-down browser preferences, he said.
Improvements in Firefox, along with IE7, could lead to a dramatic increase in the open source browser's market share, according to Dotzler. "As we improve our tools for corporate deployments and people feel they're being left behind on Windows 2000, hopefully we'll see a real domino effect," he said.
ZDNet UK's Ingrid Marson reported from London. For more coverage from ZDNet UK, click here.
Windows 2000 has started to reach end of life, the obvious thing to do is start migration to XP or Longhorn. Why stay on the old platform when there is a much better place to go. Choose the browser that meets the corporate standard