It seems Microsoft have been using MSN Search as a stick with which to beat users of Mozilla Firefox. Firefox users who try to submit web sites to MSN Search receive a message telling them, "Please Upgrade Your Browser". This message is not sent to users of other alternative browsers, including current versions of regular Mozilla, Konqueror and Opera, whose users fell foul of similar tactics in the past. The implication is that Microsoft are more concerned about the success of Firefox than they have been letting on.

Since the release of Firefox 1.0 in November 2004 there have been millions of downloads and many positive reviews in the press. IE's grip on the web seems to be weakening for the first time in it's history, ostensibly as a result of Firefox's rapid growth. It appears that the browser wars might be hotting up again. However, Microsoft don't seem to be in much of a hurry to release a new version of IE, promising the next installment with Longhorn, whose release isn't slated until the end of the year (some industry pundits don't expect to see it until well into 2006). It's hard to know what new innovations might be worked into future version of IE, but it's a good bet that close integration with the Windows operating system is likely to continue, raising difficult questions about security.

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