IE8 RC1 released

..and it is super-fast compared to IE7!! Here is finally a product from Microsoft that might actually give Google Chrome a run for its money. I switched to Chrome 3 days after it was released and have not touched IE ever since except when I had to login to some Java enabled sites that simply won't work on Chrome. And I was of the opinion that IE lost me forever. But looks like v8 might actually succeed in winning my respect back. (A bit of history here - I was virtually married to IE all my life and had never used any other browser till Chrome came along.)

IE8 has bundled some cool features like Web slicing, suggested sites, InPrivate browsing (like Incognito mode in Chrome) but the true difference is in the speed. As someone who has used IE long enough to crib, I must say that it doesn't feel like IE at all, if you know what I mean:)!
However, I am really not sure about the timing... what is microsoft gonna do to reclaim its lost share in the browser market? More marketing? More bundling with the operating system? Or does M$ even care that it lost a few hundred thousand users to other browsers? Probably not. That said, I can't decide whether I will switch back to IE8 after becoming so accustomed to Chrome's speed, omnibox and quick find. For one, there is a strong association of IE with "slow" in my mind - just like many others who have moved away from IE.

But if Microsoft is to meet the competition that is popping from unprecedented avenues, it cannot go on ignoring lost customers. The world is moving online and if MS is losing its share in the very browser market that enables the world move online, it is a serious issue to be considered. IE may not be a money maker but it completes the vision of "seamless experiences that combine...software with..internet across a world of devices" (More info here). With Firefox, Safari and Chrome at 22%, 8% and 1% shares respectively (Source: NetApps), MS must work harder to retain its two-thirds of the pie. If it doesn't, it is probably digging the first feet of its own grave.

20 days to go...

It's a hot summer evening and am in one of those unusually stock-still state of mind. Just realized that starting today, I have exactly 20 more days left at ISB. Boy.. that was one quick year that just zapped by! It feels like yesterday when I was standing in the endless queue for getting my educational loan approved and scurrying around the main building of my would-be alma mater doing the different things that were required to be done before I could officially get started at the school.

Now, here I am in the last term and all mails of graduation, vacating and packers n movers have started flowing in. At some level I feel extremely nostalgic - not just bcuz I am leaving ISB but I am gonna leave the city which has been my home for the past 4+ yrs. It wouldn't be a far cry if I said that life at Hyderabad has made me the person I am. This is the place where I started afresh n learnt to deal with things on my own, where I lived away from my lovely family, where I made great friends, where I laughed, cried and learnt some hard lessons. 

These four years have taught me the alphabets of being an individual and am sure I will remember those wherever I go from here. I do not know my destination but I know where I am starting - this journey forward will definitely be worth my while or so I hope!