Microsoft on Thursday started featuring a small advertisement on its Bing home page for Internet Explorer 8 in an apparent effort to encourage more people to migrate to the latest version of its browser.

The results are out from the latest Net Applications survey of Web browser market share, and Google continues to capture market share and headlines with its Chrome Web browser. Drilling down into the stats, though, and looking behind the curtain reveals that real winner in the market share department is Internet Explorer 8.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8, not Apple's Safari, will be the first browser to fall in next week's Pwn2Own hacking challenge, the contest organizer said today.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 rated tops among five browsers tested by NSS Labs for effectiveness in protecting against malware and phishing attacks--though NSS Labs acknowledges Microsoft paid for the tests.

Microsoft's decision to make Internet Explorer 8 the default browser on computers where the user elected an express installation raises questions about the software giant's compliance with a 6-year-old antitrust settlement, a lawyer for some of the plaintiffs in the case said Thursday.

Microsoft, in response to complaints that Internet Explorer 8 was being designated as the default browser during some installations, will change the installation process starting this week, the software giant told a U.S. district judge.

Microsoft on Thursday bowed to critics involved in the company's European antitrust case who have accused it of silently changing users' default browsers, a move that may be aimed at Brussels-based regulators.

Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) were the big winners last month in the browser share sweepstakes, according to Web measurement company Net Applications.

Internet Explorer 8, the latest update to Microsoft's venerable Web browser, introduces several features intended to provide greater security and ease of use. New security settings in IE8 allow for more privacy, new add-ons allow quick access to Web-based information and services, and a new browsing mode changes the way you interact with your browser.

It looks like the image of a woman throwing up after inadvertently viewing pornography was too controversial for Microsoft.

While it's easy for Firefox die-hards like me to turn our noses up at Internet Explorer, the fact is that Microsoft's browser has made a lot of progress. You've no doubt heard about newfangled features like Accelerators and Web Slices (see Preston Gralla's full IE8 review for more details), but IE8 also has plenty of small but worthwhile usability improvements.