Internet Explorer: Asking the right question
MS-Watch | at | by Mike
Ask not whether standalone IE is dead. Instead, ask if it's just one of many technologies that will only be available embedded in Windows. Folks seem surprised that Microsoft is admitting that it has no plans to continue to do separate versions of Internet Explorer post IE 6, service pack 1. I'd actually be more surprised if Microsoft were going to perpetuate IE as a standalone browser.
Microsoft spent a lot of time and energy during the Department of Justice antitrust case to "prove" that Internet Explorer and Windows are inextricably joined. In the end, the feds went along with Microsoft's argument. So, how would it look if Microsoft continued to market IE as a standalone product, after it claimed it was not?