The Associated Press
SEATTLE — The next version of Microsoft Corp.’s Web browser makes it easier for people to surf the Internet without leaving a trace.
Companies that sell advertisements online — including Microsoft — can electronically gather tidbits about Web surfers’ habits, and then use that information to help decide what kinds of ads to show.
However, in the newest “beta” test version of Microsoft’s forthcoming Internet Explorer 8, which was made available Wednesday, a mode called InPrivateBrowsing lets users surf without having a list of sites they visit get stored on their computers.
The program also covers other footprints, including temporary Internet files and cookies, the small data files that Web sites put on visitors’ computers to track their activities.
Both Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft’s current browser, and Mozilla’s recently released Firefox 3, already allow users to block cookies.
The top two browsers also let users delete private information such as temporary files and browsing history after the fact, but they can’t turn off collection entirely
