Design Thinker • Innovation Strategist • UCD Consultant
I was pleased to hear the good news that Apple launched their Safari browser for Windows XP and Vista. I am surprised but happy that the Windows version has finally arrived. Does this mean the beginning of the end for its closest rival Firefox? we’ll have to wait and see.
Not amongst those willing to wait, I have installed Safari and I am writing this blurb from it. You can get the latest Public Beta 3 from this place and have fun!
Atleast that’s what this website wants us to believe. It’s offering a browser called Microsoft Firefox 2007 for download along with a complete feature list! The design looks much similar to Microsoft’s IE 7 spotlight. Even the favicon is similar to Microsoft’s. So shall we term it as a website rip, an attempted phishing or simply a figment of somebody’s wild illusions? you can decide for yourself. But IE married off with Firefox is a dangerous proposition to even imagine :-)
The web has become increasingly powerful and dynamic and we need to adapt to the newer technologies. That was the broad message given at the IndiMix 06 – The Next Web Now event which was organized by Microsoft in Mumbai. The highlight of the show was the introduction by none other than Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft Corporation. He set the tone for the day by introducing the audience to WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) and the next version of .NET Framework including an enthusiastic “hallelujah” on announcing the release of Windows Vista.
It all began when YouTube offered free video upload and streaming through Flash. One could now subscribe to RSS feeds and also embed the video on their blog or website. The contest for capturing this exciting space (and thus the imagination of the user) had now begun in earnest. Just recently, Yahoo announced it’s arrival on the scene by taking over the online video sharing website called JumpCut.
Microsoft also is ready with it’s reply to YouTube and its ilk. The video upload & streaming project is codenamed “Warhol” but is finally going to be known as Soapbox, although features do not seem to be much different from YouTube’s. Only time can tell if Soapbox succeeds in its endeavour or melts with time.
Zune would signal Microsoft’s foray into the music player arena, already dominated by Apple’s iPod family.