The next version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser - IE 7.0 - will be issued earlier than originally expected, and a beta release is now scheduled for the summer. The update was previously scheduled to appear as an integral part of the Longhorn version of Windows, but Microsoft said an earlier release was necessary to improve security.

Analysts, however, said the new plans will still leave many users unprotected and is primarily intended to push users to upgrade their operating systems. During his keynote address at the RSA Conference event this month, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said IE 7.0 would offer better protection, including an anti-spyware tool. "Our primary goal is to improve security and safety for all our customers," he said.

However, version 7.0 will only be available to Windows XP users with Service Pack 2 installed. This will still leave spyware with many Windows targets. A recent study by Webroot, vendor of the Corporate SpyAudit tool, found that desktop PCs each have an average of almost 18 pieces of spyware and other undesirable software installed. And the problem is growing. Research firm IDC predicts the cost of dealing with spyware will rise by 2,400 percent over the next four years.

In a research note, analyst firm Gartner said, "Spyware and other security concerns are driving many enterprises and consumers to consider switching from Microsoft's highly vulnerable Internet Explorer to alternative browsers, such as the open-source Mozilla Firefox."

Nigel Hawthorn, UK marketing director for Blue Coat Systems, said the browser upgrade would not do much to tackle spyware. "Announcing a 'safer' version of IE for just some users, delivered sometime later is like offering a vaccine for bird flu next year and only offering it to redheads," he argued.

Web traffic scanning specialist ScanSafe said spyware accounts for about 12 percent of all online attacks, and warned that IE is the most exploited application because of its inherent vulnerabilities. ScanSafe's chief technology officer, John Edwards, said, "There will be a lot of older [Windows] platforms that will not get [the upgraded] protection."

Nick Lewis, managing director at Webroot, added, "I can understand why Microsoft would want to do this, it has two-fold benefits. If it can push people on to later versions of Windows, it will benefit from upgrade revenues, while extra spyware protection will lead to big reductions in helpdesk calls."

However, Lewis argued that Microsoft ought to provide the upgrade to users of earlier Windows operating systems, "even just back to the previous version". Gary Barnett of analyst Ovum noted that many firms are still using older versions of Windows, so Microsoft should support them. "Microsoft has decided to deprecate all non-XP systems as a means of accelerating migration," he added.