Microsoft speeds up Internet Explorer

Microsoft is taking 5.7 million measurements a day to help it make Internet Explorer the fastest web browser on the market.

Microsoft had been panned for its years of neglect of the Internet Explorer web browser and letting it become a security nightmare. 

In an attempt to show how seriously it takes Internet Explorer development today, Microsoft said it is running round-the-clock tests in its Internet Explorer Performance Lab as it rather belatedly tries to make its browser the fastest on the market.

For Microsoft, Internet Explorer is one of the firm's major consumer facing applications and with rival outfits Google and Mozilla promoting faster web browsing, Microsoft knows it can't be left behind again. 

The firm claims to measure Internet Explorer's performance loading content and web applications through peusdo real-world testing down to the nanosecond level.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer Performance Lab uses over 120 machines of varying hardware specifications to try to resolve Internet Explorer's performance issues. 

Curiously Microsoft decided not to connect these machines to the internet but to its own managed network, where it tries to simulate different connections, effectively creating a little version of the internet.

There's little doubt Microsoft is taking Internet Explorer performance seriously. 

Its considerable resources should mean it can outspend some of its rivals, however with Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome eating up Internet Explorer's market share, all this testing is perhaps five years too late.