It’s the end of the line for Internet Explorer, with reports indicating Microsoft’s next browser Internet Explorer (IE) 8 will be the last traditional version of its web browser.
It is understood that the next web browser after IE8 will be based on a promising Microsoft Research project codenamed ‘Gazelle.’
Gazelle relies on a browser kernel of 5,000 lines of C# code, and instead of content interacting with the actual operating system (OS), all communications go through the sandboxed kernel, which takes care of all resource protection and sharing.
Gazelle also takes the multi-process approach used by Google Chrome and IE8 a number of steps further by not only running each tab in a separate process, but by giving separate parts of each site their own process.
It is understood that the new browser line will not use the IE brand.
There is a consensus that the new Gazelle browser will be more secure than Firefox or Chrome because of its use of sandboxing to keep plug-ins isolated and the overall browser process model protected.
Another idea being mooted – but thought less likely – is that Microsoft will go with WebKit, which, thanks to the popularity of Apple’s Safari browser and Google Chrome, is becoming a de facto standard for all non-IE and Firefox browsers.
By John Kennedy
