(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-06 15:17

Microsoft will release the Internet Explorer 8 browser this summer, which is aimed at a wider audience, media reported Thursday.

Microsoft announced an unexpected US$ 44.6-billion bid for Yahoo Friday, as a latest move by the software giant to challenge Google's dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets. [Agencies]

The IE 8 beta will run on both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1 as well as Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 and 2008.

In designing the browser, general manager Dean Hachamovitch said Microsoft is trying to find ways to both be more compatible and add features. On that latter front, he pointed to a consumer feature known as activities, which allows users to select a block of text and have it, say, looked up on Dictionary.com or mapped with Microsoft or Google's services.

"Right now, the Web for a lot of people is 'some assembly required,'" he said. "This integrates the services you use with the sites you visit."

"It's public," Hachamovitch said of the Beta 1 released Wednesday. "It's out on Microsoft.com somewhere. Anyone can download it."

Although features like Web Slices may appeal to consumers, Hachamovitch said that "the (current) beta really is for developers."