Paranoid, Perverted or Pragmatic: Why IE 8 is Good for Business (unless your name is Google).

First, let’s remember that this is a business technology blog. What you do in the (relative) privacy of your own home, on your own time, is your business. Sort of.

Let’s really talk about the business of browsing at work or on behalf of work-related interests. In general, we at Nextrio have favored using Firefox for all your Windows surfing needs wherever possible (there are many web-based applications that require Microsoft’s Internet Explorer). Our major concern has been the security features, or lack thereof. Microsoft’s impending release of Internet Explorer 8 is the closest we’ve come to recommending their browser. It looks like they are finally catching up to the competition (including Opera and Safari) and spackling over those known security deficiencies.

The feature garnering the most press is the InPrivate functionality (nicknamed “porn mode”, wink, wink). InPrivate really has two parts:

1. InPrivate Browsing which allows users to surf websites without leaving a trace. No browser history, no cookies, no cached files, no saved passwords from forms, nada. Unless you are a criminal investigator by trade, your secrets are safe with IE.
2. In Private Blocking which prevents users from being “tracked” across websites. In the past, although a website may not know exactly who you are (your address, phone or SSN#), it could tell if you were the same visitor that has been there 22 times before. Frequently, the site could tell what other sites you went to just prior to or just after visiting there. That tracking information turns into Internet gold when you are attempting to make money by placing targeted ads, based on browsing patterns, in front of users.

Clearly this is a huge win for those trying to buy a surprise gift or trying to make a secret rendezvous using their spouse’s computer, however I don’t believe Microsoft would have put this much effort into protecting the art of gift-giving or ensuring marital harmony. This is a chess move intended to put Google on the defensive, timed around the announcement of Google’s new browser, Chrome, to take some of the wind out of their sails. With the largest ad revenue business in the world, Google (DoubleClick) is the company most often “tracking” users’ surfing patterns. Feature #2 effectively shuts them out, at least for now.

So what does all this mean for business?

Sorry, but if you are surfing at one of the larger businesses that has any sort of web content filtering solution which watches users’ activities – you still should not be surfing inappropriate sites at work. They will know and you will be fired.

If you’re using Google Analytics to track visitors to your own website, you will likely see a change in data trends. Google will not be able to track them in quite the same way as before. On the bright side, if you are researching a competitor, you can dig through their website without the competitor catching on.

Also a plus, you can more freely and confidently surf and/or retrieve web information while at Internet cafes or other public kiosks. However, I still would not conduct my online backing on any machine that I didn’t own and could not physically secure.

IE 8 is not yet released for the general public, and in the end, any small advantage it may have established will likely be quickly attacked by thousands of hackers and panned by many more critics.

The browser wars continue, dear colleagues, but at least now you can hide which side you’re on.