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The market share of Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) dropped under the 70 percent mark last month for the first time since Web metrics vendor Net Applications started keeping tabs on browsers, the company said Monday.

Mozilla will probably add a third beta to the development schedule for Firefox 3.1 to get a better handle on remaining bugs and give several new features, including a faster JavaScript engine and a private browsing mode, more testing time, the company's browser director said Tuesday.

For the second time in less than two weeks, Apple updated its Safari Web browser by issuing version 3.2.1 Monday.

Not Sarah Palin!

Microsoft Thursday said it would issue a release candidate (RC) for Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) in the first three months of 2009, indicating it will ship its newest browser sometime in the first half of the year.

Microsoft faces a tough sell with its latest mobile browser, Internet Explorer 6, since consumers will need to buy more powerful handsets to run it.

Google has been undergoing some aesthetic overhauls lately. First they whip iGoogle into a themed, paneled frenzy. Now Google has added a splash of color to the Gmail inboxes.

Mozilla Tuesday unveiled a Web application that speeds Firefox customization by offering users several sets of pre-selected add-ons.

Apple Friday added anti-phishing protection to Safari, the last major browser to receive the feature that blocks known identity-stealing sites. The company also patched 11 security bugs in the program, the bulk of them specific to the Microsoft Windows version.

Google has announced a new layer for its Google Earth application: Ancient Rome 3D. The layer allows users to move through a virtual rendering of Ancient Rome as it looked in 320 AD. The new historical layer sports information about locations of historical significance and even full interiors of some buildings.

People who download Sun's Java Runtime Environment will be offered the MSN Toolbar as well, through a search distribution deal Microsoft has struck with Sun, the companies will announce Monday.