If Microsoft wants me and others like me, to take IE 8 seriously, I expect them to treat our intelligence with some respect. Anything less, and after a while, we’ll have been taught to discount their bold claims.

Were you ever worried that the internet could be controlled by single vendor technology? That there is certain information that you can only see and get when using one specific browser? That interoperability is at risk?

You are certainly not paranoid if you have such worries. Microsoft Australia now gives an example for what is possible and done by offering the chance to get $10,000 by finding information on some website - WHICH CAN ONLY BE VIEWED USING INTERNET EXPLORER 8 !!

But... consider the situation in Europe where Windows 7 will be supplied sans browser.

• Microsoft Pulls a “Get the Facts” on Rival Web Browsers
• Microsoft Uses Sentimental Blackmail, Kickbacks to Promote IE8, Shoves it Down People's Throats Regardless
• The More Aggressive They Get, the Most Troubled They Are
• Microsoft's Assault on the Web, Rival Web Browsers, and HTML