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Browser Wars Resume as Microsoft, Firefox Prep Updates

Time: 13:50 EST/18:50 GMT | News Source: Redmond Magazine | Posted By: Kenneth van Surksum

Microsoft is queuing up a beta one release of Internet Explorer 8 for the first half of 2008 while beta 3 of upstart Firefox 3 hit the Web last week, just in time for the holidays.

And, the Mozilla folks behind Firefox last week also started talking about a new project, called Weave, to make it easier for developers to build dynamic applications and for users to control their personal data.

The goal is to furnish a set of basic, optional Mozilla-hosted online services and make sure people can set up their own services using open-standards tools, according to the Web site. The organization wants to demonstrate a "consistent model" for users who want to open up their browser metadata to friends and third-party applications. And, Mozilla.org wants to enable such sharing while also protecting privacy -- using client-side encryption by default but allowing the user to delegate and control access rights.