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by Josh Baltzell.
Original Post: IE Blocking Pop-Ups
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There was a time when I was a download.com junkie. I don't know why, all I ever downloaded was total junk, but still to this day I browse the site when I am looking for an obscure program. I also still receive a newsletter with a brief article written by Wayne Cunningham about some facet of the computer industry. Usually he is trying to drum up conversation and the newest one that came in to my email box is no different. He refers to Microsoft as “Microsloth” and is commenting on why they have not come out with a pop-up blocker yet.
The reason he is talking about an IE pop-up blocker is because Microsoft announced that a new feature in IE will be just that. Apparently sometime next year in a Windows Update the feature will be added to Internet Explorer. Here is what he said in the newsletter (Sorry, I can't find a permalink.)
Microsoft charges to the forefront of innovation once again, with the promise to add pop-up blocking to Internet Explorer next year. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Microsoft consistently comes late to the party. We currently have more than 150 pop-up blockers listed on Download.com, and that doesn't include other Web browsers that come with built-in pop-up blocking.
Even such big players in the Internet business as Yahoo and Google released pop-up-blocking add-ons to Internet Explorer. So what's taken Microsoft so long? The company certainly has software developers and money, and, judging by the popularity of pop-up blocking, it's a feature users desire.
Well, I don't really see eye to eye with Wayne's comments, here is what I emailed back as a comment on the topic:
There are a couple of reasons why MS is getting in the game so late. One is the fact that they dominate the browser industry now without much of an effort. They control the browser that more people develop for than any other. Also they have said in the past that IE6 would be the last new version until Longhorn, so if they really do come out with something I would be happy.
Microsoft has a history of being sued for including applications with their OS, so what is their reason for developing something like this? The best they can do is make it an additional item on a list of XP features that is too long to read already. On top of that it is another piece of software that costs real money to manage and support. Not to mention the possibility that it will open a security hole. Really there is no financially sound reason for MS to be in a hurry.
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