Written By Unknown on Kamis, 19 Maret 2015 | 00.11
After being blighted by security concerns, sluggish performance and frustrated users, Microsoft has unveiled plans to ditch the Internet Explorer brand.
Under the codename Project Spartan, the tech company is launching a complete overhaul of its web browser - and hopes a faster, sleeker alternative will encourage users to download it on their PCs, smartphones and tablets.
Internet Explorer was an essential tool for getting online in the 1990s, but in the face of strong competition from Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, the software has been lambasted by some critics as being "only good for downloading other web browsers".
Despite Microsoft creating tongue-in-cheek adverts where it concedes IE is the browser that "everyone loves to hate", it has been unable to shake off the negative image associated with the brand.
Chris Capossela, the company's marketing chief, has confirmed the browser will be rebranded when Windows 10 launches later this year - but its name is yet to be announced.
Although far from well liked, Internet Explorer is definitely well known.
At one point, its market share of online users was believed to be in excess of 90%, partly because of how the browser was pre-installed on Windows operating systems.
In 2013, Microsoft was fined $730m (£495m) by EU regulators because Windows users had not been given the chance to choose a different browser - leading the company to fall foul of competition rules.
Official figures show pay growth has been hit by fewer bonus payments though the number of people in employment has reached a new record high.
The wage figures for January were keenly awaited ahead of today's Budget as debate on living standards continues to rage ahead of May's General Election.
While the employment statistics provided more cheer for the Chancellor George Osborne on jobs, they also showed the recent recovery in wage growth had stalled with average earnings rising just 1.8% in the three months to January.
Annual growth of 2.1% was measured in the final quarter of 2014.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) cited weaker bonus payments and said that when the effects of bonuses were removed, annual earnings growth rose by 1.6% in November to January, slightly down on the previous month's reading.
Despite the slowdown, inflation was measured at 0.3% in January meaning that wages are still rising at a faster pace than prices helped by weaker oil costs and the effects of a supermarket price war.
The jobless rate remained unchanged at 5.7%, the ONS said, though it measured a fall of just over 100,000 people in the unemployment total.
The figure of 1.86 million was the lowest total since the summer of 2008 and almost half a million down on a year ago.
The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 31,000 to 791,200 in February - the 28th consecutive monthly reduction.
Employment increased by 143,000 in the latest quarter to January to almost 30.1 million, the highest since records began in 1971.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The highest employment rate in our history is not a dry fact. It means more people with the security of a pay packet and a brighter future".
The Business Secretary Vince Cable added: "Today's employment figures are a historic moment.
"With almost three-quarters of working-age people now in work, we have achieved the highest rate of employment in the UK since records began.
"This is a sign that the long-term decisions the Liberal Democrats have taken in government have created a more resilient economy".
Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said: "Today's fall in overall unemployment is welcome, but working people are still £1,600 a year worse off since 2010, showing the Tory plan is failing.
"After five years of David Cameron the number of people paid less than a Living Wage has risen by 44% and nearly half of all the new jobs created have been in low paid sectors.
Chancellor George Osborne has delivered his pre-election budget. Here are the key points.
Taxes
:: Personal tax-free allowance will be increased to £10,800 in April 2016, and to £11,000 in April 2017.
:: Fuel duty increase scheduled for September is cancelled.
:: Class 2 National Insurance contributions for the self-employed to be abolished entirely in the next parliament.
Video:'Banks Must Support Whole Country'
:: Annual tax return to be abolished altogether.
:: Review on the use of deeds of variation to avoid inheritance tax to report by the autumn.
:: "More generous" tax credits for TV and film, expanded support for video games industry and new tax credit for orchestras, and a consultation on tax support for local newspapers.
:: Farmers will be allowed to average their incomes for tax purposes over five years.
Savings
:: A "Help to buy ISA" will be launched for first-time buyers. For every £200 saved for a deposit, the Government will top it up with £50.
:: A personal savings allowance to be launched, taking 95% of Britons out of savings tax altogether.
Pensions
:: Pension pot lifetime allowance to be reduced from £1.25m to £1m from next year.
Video:Osborne Plans To Hit Tax Evaders
Jobs
:: National Minimum Wage will rise by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October.
Business
:: Corporation tax to be cut to 20% in two weeks' time.
:: Legislation next week on diverted profits tax aimed at multinationals shifting profits offshore, with policy to take effect at the start of April.
:: Employers' National Insurance contributions for under-21s to be abolished from this April, and for young apprentices from April 2016.
:: Bank levy increased to 0.21%, raising an additional £900m a year.
Alcohol
:: Beer duty to be cut for the third year running, with 1p off the price of a pint. Cider duty to be cut by 2%. Duty on scotch whisky and other spirits to be cut by 2%. Wine duty to be frozen.
Video:Trade Deficit 'Still Far Too High'
Spending and Welfare
:: Trebling in £15m fund for church roof appeals, and extension to £8,000 in automatic gift aid to benefit 6,500 small charities.
:: Charities for British servicemen and women to receive £75m, funded by Libor fines.
:: Up to £600m to clear new spectrum bands for further auctions, improving mobile phone coverage nationwide, including in remote communities.
:: Funding for wifi in public libraries and new national plan for ultra-fast broadband to nearly all homes in the country.
:: New investment in transport and regeneration across London, and funding to address acute housing shortages in the capital.
:: Automotive industry to receive £100m in investment in the race to driverless technology.
:: South West to receive £7bn in transport investment.
:: Eight new enterprise zones across Britain – including Blackpool and Plymouth.
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Gallery: Reactions To The Budget: In Pictures
Grimaces, grins, laughter and plain bewilderment were on show at Westminster, as MPs' reacted to the last Budget before the May election. Continue through for more images
The Labour frontbench look nonplussed at the Chancellor's speech
Vince Cable will next week announce a deal with the major high street banks that will set out new guidelines for the controversial closure of hundreds of branches across the country.
Sky News understands that the Business Secretary and the British Bankers' Association (BBA) are close to agreeing a final 'protocol' that will require lenders to give 12 weeks' notice of planned closures and publish a community impact assessment in each case.
However, the agreement will fall short of some community campaigners' hopes that banks would agree not to close the final branch in rural locations amid forecasts that as many as 500 outlets could shut across the country during the next year.
Sources said that Mr Cable was keen to unveil the deal before Whitehall goes into purdah towards the end of the month ahead of the General Election.
It will include a commitment from banks that they will consult on the provision of alternative banking services such as a new ATM, credit unions and Post Office branches, which Mr Cable has said will become an increasingly important element of the UK's banking infrastructure.
The new protocol will come into effect in May - sooner than had been expected - meaning that scores of branches already earmarked for closure by Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland will be affected.
An independent review of the agreement with the banks will take place after 12 months to see if it is providing the necessary assistance to affected communities, a banking source said.
Officials at Mr Cable's department are understood to have been attempting to extract more eye-catching commitments from the banks in recent weeks.
Figures compiled by community banking campaigners suggest that half of the UK's bank branches have shut since 1989.
Lloyds alone has said that it will close 200 branches by the end of 2017, although this move will be partly offset by 50 new sites to be opened by the taxpayer-backed bank.
Sky News revealed in January that Mr Cable had been keen for banks to make a binding commitment not to close branches when they were the last one remaining in a local community.
However, the chief executives of the big lenders made clear their belief that rapid technological changes - with customers now performing billions of transactions remotely each year - had rendered such a pledge obsolete.
Responding to Mr Cable late last year, Antony Jenkins, Barclays' chief executive, said the bank "aimed to leave no community without the ability to transact - meaning that, if we do choose to close a branch, we work closely with the local community to determine if there are other ways to support its day-to-day banking needs".
Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS, said the bank had seen a 30% decline in branch usage since 2010, adding that it would be spending £1bn to improve physical and digital banking infrastructure for customers.
The first is that there has been a significant change, since the Autumn Statement in December, in George Osborne's public spending plans should he remain Chancellor for another five years.
In the Autumn Statement, Mr Osborne was assuming the Government would be running a surplus of £23.1bn in 2019-20.
Today, he forecast that the Government would have a surplus of just £7bn in that year.
Austerity is going to come to an end, in the next parliament, a year earlier than expected.
Video:Budget 2015: Video Highlights
The reason, one must assume, is that the frequent claims by the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls that Mr Osborne intended to "return Britain back to the 1930s" have hit home.
Certainly the Government now plans to shrink the state to no smaller than it was in 2000 - when Tony Blair was in 10 Downing Street and Gordon Brown was Chancellor.
The other big takeaway is just how small this Budget has been in its scope.
The largest single Budget measure is the changes Mr Osborne has announced to the taxation of savings and the new flexibility introduced to ISAs.
These will total just over £1bn during the 2016-17 financial year.
Overall, though, this Budget is fiscally neutral. The new tax year will see a net tax increase of just £745m, which is tiny in the overall scope of a £1.9trn economy.
Many of the measures were small scale.
It is hard to imagine some of Mr Osborne's illustrious predecessors, such as Stafford Cripps, Rab Butler, Roy Jenkins, Geoffrey Howe or Nigel Lawson, padding out a Budget speech with pettifogging measures about Wi-Fi in public libraries, Agincourt anniversary celebrations - has a joke in a Budget speech ever cost £1m before? - and church roof funds.
Video:Analysis: Your Budget Need-To-Know
Commanding heights of the economy, it ain't.
The measures aimed at helping business, in so far as they go, will be welcomed.
The most significant of these is the cut in taxation for North Sea oil producers and the increased investment allowances they will receive.
But they will only help those North Sea producers who actually pay tax and are unlikely to address the wider structural issues faced by such producers.
And, of course, they will not bring back the jobs of the many hundreds of North Sea oil workers who have already lost their jobs.
Of the other measures aimed at supporting business, the previously-announced cut in corporation tax to 20p will be welcomed, as will the abolition of Class 2 National Insurance contributions for the self-employed - many of whom are small business owners.
There was also a lob for farmers, many of whom may have been flirting with voting for UKIP, while boosts for transport infrastructure will also have pleased business.
However, the Chancellor is also bashing some parts of business, with the banks hit with an increase in the annual levy.
Video:Miliband's Response To The Budget
This is partly a reflection of the fact that the banking levy is raising less money for the Government because the banks are - at the behest of Government regulators - having to shrink their balance sheets.
And some moves are downright unwelcome.
Mr Osborne presented the decision to cut the lifetime allowance for pensions savings from £1.25m to £1m as a move that only hits rich savers - but that sum, when turned into an annuity, buys a pensioner and their spouse an annual income of barely £22,000 apiece.
People taking home that sum every year can scarcely be described as "rich". It was a measure all about hobbling Labour - which wants to raid pensions tax relief for better-off savers to fund a cut in tuition fees - rather than anything more considered.
Such savers, along with the pensioners whom the Chancellor has spared having to buy an annuity, are now likely instead to pour a larger part of their retirement savings into areas such as buy-to-let property.
This places them in direct competition with the first-time-buyers Mr Osborne purports to want to help with his new Help to Buy ISA.
In essence, then, this was a Budget with no huge pre-election giveaways - there is just not the scope for that - but plenty of small ones, relatively thinly spread.
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In with the old for the new £1 coin
A 15-year-old's design for the new £1 coin has been chosen ahead of more than 6,000 entries.
David Pearce's drawing will feature on the new currency that will be released in 2017.
He was told the news by George Osborne.
"Designing the new £1 coin was a brilliant opportunity to leave a lasting legacy on what will be the most secure coin in circulation anywhere," the Chancellor said.
"The competition captured the imagination of thousands of people and David Pearce's winning design will be recognised by millions in the years ahead."
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Gallery: In With The Old For New £1 Coin
A new-look £1 coin is among the announcements the Chancellor is expected to make in his annual Budget statement.
The familiar round shape will be replaced with a 12-sided design, with the first of the new coins expected to enter circulation in 2017.
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The new £1 coin resembles the 'threepenny bit', which was introduced back in 1937.
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The new coin is designed to be more difficult to forge than the existing one.
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An estimated 3% of all £1 coins - around 45 million in total - are counterfeits, according to the Royal Mint.
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David's design, which features national emblems of the UK - a rose, leek, thistle and shamrock - emerging from a Royal Coronet, has been slightly refined with the support of renowned coin artist David Lawrence and lettering expert Stephen Raw.
The teenager, from Walsall, said: "I spent a lot of time researching what coin designs looked like and what sort of designs would represent all parts of the UK before submitting my idea and I honestly cannot believe I have won."
The £1 coin is being replaced for the first time in more than 30 years because of its vulnerability to counterfeiters.
Video:New Pound Coin To Foil Forgers
It will have the same shape as the old 12-sided three pence piece and is set to be the most secure coin in circulation in the world due to its bi-metallic construction and the Royal Mint's new state-of-the-art anti-counterfeiting technology.
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Video:Anti-Capitalist Rally Turns Violent
Violent clashes have broken out in Germany's financial capital during anti-capitalist protests marking the opening of the European Central Bank's new headquarters.
Police in Frankfurt say they have detained about 350 people after demonstrators became "aggressive and violent" in the early hours of the morning.
More than 90 officers were reportedly injured after police and firefighters came under attack from activists throwing stones and hurling "unidentified liquids".
A 'capitalism kills' banner has been erected near the ECB Pic: @khusain
A number of cars were also torched across the city, including three police patrol vehicles which were set alight during an attack on a central police station.
The police and fire departments both issued appeals on Twitter, urging protesters to remain calm.
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Gallery: Frankfurt In Flames As ECB Building Protests Turn Violent
Members of the so-called "Blockupy alliance" have staged protests against austerity and the authority of the European Central Bank ahead of its new headquarters officially opening in Frankfurt, Germany
A policeman stops an anti-capitalist protester near the ECB building
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Protesters climb one of the Frankfurt towers. Pic@ @khusain
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Four German police cars set on fire by protesters burn near the ECB building
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Riot police clash with protesters dressed as clowns. Continue through for more pictures
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"Our firefighters are being attacked. Please stop doing that!" Frankfurt Fire Department tweeted.
Shortly before the ECB building's inauguration, police deployed water cannon to disperse groups of protesters gathered outside the security zone around the 185-metre (605ft) new skyscraper.
Later, some 10,000 people, under the "Blockupy" banner, took part in an afternoon procession across the city.
Reports that thousands were expected to join the rally, prompted authorities to organise a major police presence throughout the day.
"It is one of the biggest deployments ever in the city," a police spokeswoman told news agency AFP.
Blockupy, which brings together an alliance of anti-capitalist and anti-austerity groups from across Europe, has repeatedly organised protests in Frankfurt's banking district since 2012.
The organisation is targeting the ECB over its role in imposing austerity measures on financially troubled countries like Greece.
On its official Twitter page, the group accused police of brutality, claiming several people had been injured.
"Stop police violence," it wrote.
Meanwhile activists have erected a banner reading "capitalism kills" in view of the new building.
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Frankfurt In Flames Amid Anti-Capitalist Rally
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Video:Anti-Capitalist Rally Turns Violent
Violent clashes have broken out in Germany's financial capital during anti-capitalist protests marking the opening of the European Central Bank's new headquarters.
Police in Frankfurt say they have detained about 350 people after demonstrators became "aggressive and violent" in the early hours of the morning.
More than 90 officers were reportedly injured after police and firefighters came under attack from activists throwing stones and hurling "unidentified liquids".
A 'capitalism kills' banner has been erected near the ECB Pic: @khusain
A number of cars were also torched across the city, including three police patrol vehicles which were set alight during an attack on a central police station.
The police and fire departments both issued appeals on Twitter, urging protesters to remain calm.
1/34
Gallery: Frankfurt In Flames As ECB Building Protests Turn Violent
Members of the so-called "Blockupy alliance" have staged protests against austerity and the authority of the European Central Bank ahead of its new headquarters officially opening in Frankfurt, Germany
A policeman stops an anti-capitalist protester near the ECB building
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Protesters climb one of the Frankfurt towers. Pic@ @khusain
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Four German police cars set on fire by protesters burn near the ECB building
]]>
Riot police clash with protesters dressed as clowns. Continue through for more pictures
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"Our firefighters are being attacked. Please stop doing that!" Frankfurt Fire Department tweeted.
Shortly before the ECB building's inauguration, police deployed water cannon to disperse groups of protesters gathered outside the security zone around the 185-metre (605ft) new skyscraper.
Later, some 10,000 people, under the "Blockupy" banner, took part in an afternoon procession across the city.
Reports that thousands were expected to join the rally, prompted authorities to organise a major police presence throughout the day.
"It is one of the biggest deployments ever in the city," a police spokeswoman told news agency AFP.
Blockupy, which brings together an alliance of anti-capitalist and anti-austerity groups from across Europe, has repeatedly organised protests in Frankfurt's banking district since 2012.
The organisation is targeting the ECB over its role in imposing austerity measures on financially troubled countries like Greece.
On its official Twitter page, the group accused police of brutality, claiming several people had been injured.
"Stop police violence," it wrote.
Meanwhile activists have erected a banner reading "capitalism kills" in view of the new building.
A court in Germany has renewed a nationwide ban on private drivers using the Uber taxi service, UberPOP.
The regional court in Frankfurt ruled that UberPOP, which links private drivers with passengers via the Uber smartphone application, does not comply with German or European licensing laws.
Each violation of the order will result in a 250,000 euro (£181,000) fine, the three-judge panel agreed.
The Uber app allows users across major cities in more than 50 countries to order a car at the touch of a button.
The German version of the app served both private drivers, via UberPOP, and licensed, professional taxi and limousine drivers who will not be affected by the ruling.
A spokesman for Uber said the company was likely to appeal the decision.
Ahead of the decision, presiding judge Joachim Nickel told the court the UberPOP service is "a violation of the passenger transport law because drivers operate without authorisation".
Lawyers representing Uber argued the service was not subject to the same rules as taxi operators as the company only served as a means of connecting drivers with clients.
However judge Uwe Eilers replied: "In that case, you should include in your business description that Uber offers rides for free".
The ruling comes some six months after the Frankfurt court first issued a temporary injunction against UberPOP.
It later agreed to a temporary reprieve on the grounds that the case deserved a wider airing in court.
The case, brought by German taxi operator group Taxi Deutschland, is one of more than a dozen lawsuits which have been filed in countries across Europe against Uber in recent months.
There is considerable backlash against Uber in the Netherlands and Spain, while France has effectively banned its service.
Real estate mogul Donald Trump has taken a major step toward a potential run for the White House in 2016.
The Apprentice star announced on Wednesday he is forming a presidential exploratory committee.
"I am the only one who can make America truly great again," Mr Trump said in a statement.
The move is a firm step for the billionaire businessman, who has long flirted with a bid for the White House.
Several Republicans are expected to make a run in 2016
"I have a great love for our country, but it is a country that is in serious trouble," he said.
"Americans deserve better than what they get from their politicians who are all talk and no action."
Video:Unofficial White House Race Begins
Launching an exploratory committee allows Mr Trump to raise money and hire staff.
The Republican has already hired political aides in three key states on the presidential nomination calendar, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
He is scheduled to appear in New Hampshire later in the week.
Mr Trump has been a sharp critic of Barack Obama's policies, but most notably garnered attention for raising questions about whether the President was born in the United States.
Mr Obama eventually released his long-form birth certificate to end the controversy.
Mr Trump joins fellow Republicans Jeb Bush and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as the only potential candidates to form exploratory committees at this stage.
Several other Republicans are expected to officially throw their hats in the ring in the coming months, with all signs pointing to a likely 2016 race against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Mrs Clinton, who is in the midst of a scandal involving her use of private email during her time as Secretary of State, has not yet formally announced her bid.
The Chancellor has delivered an "intensely political" Budget with broad appeal, cutting taxes for savers and offering more help for first-time buyers.
At the heart of his last Budget before May's General Election, George Osborne announced a Help To Buy ISA, which would see the Government contribute £50 for every £200 saved towards a deposit on a first home - a 25% top-up.
And he announced savers would not have to pay tax on the first £1,000 interest earned on their savings.
As he opened his sixth Budget, with just 50 days until the election, Mr Osborne confirmed the UK has grown faster than "any other major advanced economy in the world" and Britain was "walking tall again".
He said: "The hard work and sacrifice of the British people has paid off. The original debt target I set out in my first Budget has been met.
Video:Budget 2015: Video Highlights
"We will end this Parliament with Britain's national debt share falling. The sun is starting to shine – and we are fixing the roof."
Mr Osborne also said the 40p tax rate threshold will increase from £42,385 to £43,300, and the level at which people start to pay income tax on wages will rise to £11,000.
The changes on the 40p tax showed the Conservatives' commitment to raising that threshold to £50,000 by 2020, as pledged at the party's autumn conference, he said.
Video:Miliband's Response To The Budget
However, the Chancellor tried to dodge any allegations of an electioneering Budget by insisting his plans for the economy were responsible.
Announcing a £9bn windfall from bank sales, falling welfare bills and lower debt interest, he said the extra money would be used to pay down the national debt and not be splashed on sweeteners.
Sky's Political Correspondent Sophy Ridge said: "With just 50 days until the election, George Osborne's Budget was always going to be intensely political.
Video:Analysis: Your Budget Need-To-Know
"Much of it was spent shooting down Labour attack lines – specifically on the claim that the Tories would reduce spending to 1930s levels. By some clever number crunching, the Conservatives can now claim that spending will be at the level seen in 2000."
:: Updates and analysis with the Sky News team
Other measures included a so-called "Google tax" of 25% for multinationals which move their profits abroad, as well as an increase of the bank levy to 0.21%, raising £900m a year.
1/8
Gallery: Reactions To The Budget: In Pictures
Grimaces, grins, laughter and plain bewilderment were on show at Westminster, as MPs' reacted to the last Budget before the May election. Continue through for more images
The Labour frontbench look nonplussed at the Chancellor's speech
