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Why doesn't the Xbox 360 have a web browser?
It's a question that has bugged us since day one, so here are out top ten reasons why Microsoft hasn't released Internet Explorer for the Xbox 360.
Written by Dave Taylor, 01 October 2009
The PlayStation 3 has one. The PSP has one. The Wii has one (now free). The iPhone has one - your phone probably has one, even if it's not an iPhone. There are probably toasters out there with them.
So why hasn't Microsoft put a web browser onto the Xbox 360? Given that it owns Internet Explorer, which it has been so keen to see dominate the browser market share, and that the code base for the Xbox is similar to a Windows PC, surely it would be that difficult? Let's take a look at the various possibilities...
1) Starting with the idea that Microsoft has useful browser code at its fingertips with Internet Explorer, could it be a technical issue that is blocking the Xbox 360 web browser?
First things first, we're not going to pretend that it would be as easy as installing the existing Internet Explorer code onto an Xbox 360 to make it work. Clearly, there are DLLs missing and code issues, so there would be some work to be done before it would function. That said, surely it has to be easier for Microsoft to get its own browser to function on its own operating system than it was for Sony to work in the code for someone else's browser onto theirs.
It's possible though, that Microsoft simply can't see the return on investment for the cost of doing this. It would cost them to develop it, but they don't think it would bring in enough new users.
2) Microsoft doesn't want to have to maintain different versions of Internet Explorer.
Really an extension of the previous issue, but given the difficulty Microsoft has had in moving Internet Explorer towards standards compliance, you can see that doing it on multiple platforms, for something that is as fast moving as the web with its technologies, could prove expensive and therefore not attractive. That said, Microsoft already supports multiple platforms for its browser with Windows and its mobile devices.
3) A web browser requires various third party add-ons to be truly usable, most notably Adobe Flash, and Microsoft doesn't want third party software running on its console.
There's certainly some possibility that this is involved. Look at the iPhone and iTouch. There's no way that Apple will open the operating system up to run Adobe Flash because the App store would collapse overnight, as many of the games and applications could be coded in Flash. Given the success Apple has had in finding a way to monetise the iPhone, it can't give that up.
Is it that Microsoft would like to only add the applications and games that it wants to see, rather than lose control? It already has various XNA and XBLA technologies out to try and get coders onto its platform, and would prefer to keep the focus there.
4) A web browser means publishers could directly communicate with gamers rather than requiring to advertise on the dashboard.
OK, so potentially Microsoft would see web advertising as a conflict of interest with its revenue model for the dashboard. It would be a fairly narrow minded view, because the dashboard is far more targeted. It could be a concern, but surely a small one.
5) With the current walled garden, Microsoft knows that the Xbox 360 is safe for families to use.
This is probably a very big concern for Microsoft. It really wants to widen the appeal and opening up to the internet would mean that parental controls, etc would be fairly impotent against the, erm , open mindedness of the web.
6) With the current walled garden, Microsoft doesn't have to worry about malware and viruses.
Again, this could well be the case. It's impossible to know whether it would be possible to code a virus for the Xbox 360, or if it would be easy to ensure any browser was blocked from allowing such code to run, but what's certain is that it would be a disaster if there were to be one, so why invite it?
7) It wants the focus to be games.
This was the initial line taken, and despite the move into downloadable movies, etc, it remains a likely truth. Once you can access the web and run web applications, what exactly is the difference between it and the PC?
8) It wants to add online applications in the way it wants.
Very true. Twitter and Facebook are being added because they are popular and developers want them, but Microsoft can do this without fully opening up the web, though how this will work when posts link out remains to be seen.
If it keeps everything under control, then it could release its own online version of Office for Xbox 360 as some form of service, rather than see people make use of the free Google apps. The last thing Microsoft needs to do is give Google more market share.
9) Because it would allow you to access media and videos without using the PC functionality that it has built in with Windows.
There's probably something to this. Microsoft wants you to run a Microsoft Media house, not start streaming Flash video from iPlayer.
10) Because it doesn't think it would be very good or used very much.
Possible again. Everyone says they want it, but everyone has plenty of other ways of accessing the web already, and with no keyboard, it's not that much use on a console.
The likelihood is that there's a combination of reasons Microsoft doesn't want to release a web browser for the Xbox 360. It wants to retain control. It wants to add its own functionality - look at the inclusion of Sky TV in the UK - something with a revenue model, rather than iPlayer which has none. It doesn't want third party apps and the security issues that they would bring on top of their own software's security issues. Better to add solid, tested standalone apps for online connectivity that it sees users wanting than adding one big app that gives everything, causes problems and probably wouldn't be used much anyway.
Or do you know of another reason why Microsoft won't release a web browser for the Xbox?
This article is about the idea of a proper, IE browser on the Xbox 360.
dtaylor
3 October 2009 @ 11:20AM GMT