Five ways Microsoft can save Internet Explorer

The most recent figures show that Internet Explorer continues its long, steady decline in market share, with no end in sight. But it need not be that way. Here are five ways Microsoft can save Internet Explorer and gain back market share.

Computerworld reports that NetApplications' most recent data shows that Internet Explorer ended January with a 62.2% market share. Chrome jumped into third place, with a 5.2% market share. Gregg Keizer notes:

IE, meanwhile, lost half a percentage point to end January with a share of 62.2%, another record low in a long decline that cost Microsoft's browser 10% of its share in the past year alone. If IE maintains the pace of the last three months, the browser will slip below the 50% mark in April 2011.

IE need not fall to under 50%. Here are five things Microsoft can do to save Internet Explorer.

Speed it up

Compared to Firefox, Chrome, and Opera, Internet Explorer is simply too slow. In my tests, it was slower than all those browsers by a wide margin in the SunSpider JavaScript tests. You can see the results below. Browsing the Web isn't all about JavaScript, of course, but in general I've found it's more sluggish than other browsers in Web browsing, especially Chrome --- and Chrome is the browser that's gaining the most market share. So Microsoft needs to speed up Internet Explorer.

Support add-ins and extensions

Many of Firefox's best features aren't built into the browser; they're added by independent developers who create free add-ins. Chrome now supports extensions, and these extensions add similar capabilities to the browser. Internet Explorer supports neither, and has a very small universe of developers writing for it. Microsoft needs to support add-ins or extensions, and help support an ecosystem of developers to write for it. After all, it has the biggest market share --- it should have the most add-ins, not the least.

Tie Internet Explorer to Windows Live Sync and Live Mesh

Windows Live Sync and Live Mesh are two of Microsoft's great, unheralded, free products. They synchronize files and folders among multiple PCs and Macs, allow you to remotely access and control PCs over the Internet, and more. Microsoft should tie Internet Explorer to them, and even build those capabilities right into Internet Explorer. No other browser has this kind of capability; it could become Internet Explorer's killer feature.

Improve the Address Bar

IE already does some nice things with the Address Bar, such as highlight the current domain, so that if you're visiting a long URL, you can see at a glance the domain. The Address Bar also does double-duty as a search box. Those features are a great foundation. It's time to get creative and add more tricks to the Address Bar.

Up the "coolness" factor

IE is a perfectly serviceable browser --- but in order to stop its decline, it needs to be more than that. It could use an overhaul, with a niftier interface. I can't say that I know what that should be, but Microsoft has shown that it can get creative when it wants --- just look at the wallpapers that shipped with Windows 7. To borrow a phrase from a competitor, when it comes to IE's design, it's time for Microsoft to think different.