Microsoft (MSFT) Becoming a Browser, Search Gorilla?

It seems just when everyone is about to count Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) out, they do just enough to show they still have some spark left deep in them, like they did at the end of 2010 with Kinect.

Now it seems like they are doing it again with the upcoming release of its Internet Explorer 9 and Bing search redesign, which is increasingly thought of as a legitimate alternative to Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) search. March 15 has been put forth as the probably release date for the products.

"Internet Explorer 9 and the redesigned Bing are inextricably linked, both in function and in the marketing-speak that is being used to introduce them. For obvious business reasons, Microsoft wants to ensure that any user of one is inclined to use the other. To further complicate matters, the new products also depend on HTML5, the updated standard for Web display, for maximum impact," says Minyanville.

"...Both products are faster and are visually stripped down, so that the user can focus on content rather than functionality. But the changes to Bing are dramatic - at least in video previews - that can utilize all the bells and whistles of IE9 and HTML5.

"The new Bing doesn’t look like anybody else’s search engine. It looks like a pretty slick multimedia magazine, created on demand for an audience of one, with the top-ranked result as the “lead story.” Other related choices are grouped into sections along the side, and other media, like videos and images, are accessible in one click from tabs along the top."

Microsoft was trading at $25.89, up $0.17, or 0.64 percent, as of 1:52 PM EST.




Source