Microsoft plans to launch its Internet Explorer 7 browser "within the next two weeks", the company said at the Digital Life conference in New York.

Microsoft plans to launch its Internet Explorer 7 browser "within the next two weeks", the company said at the Digital Life conference in New York.

The software developer previously had said that the application would be available some time in the second half of 2006.

Internet Explorer 7 will be bundled with the forthcoming Windows Vista operating systems and will be made available as a free download to Windows XP users.

The new browser promises an increased level of security by running in a protected mode that limits the software's access to other data stored on the system. The application also comes with a built in phishing filter that prevents users from accessing known phishing websites.

Other new features include tabbed browsing and a way to make it easier to clear the browser's history setting.

Internet Explorer's market share meanwhile remains slipping, according to recent data from Web traffic monitoring firm Net Applications. The firm pegged the browser's market share in September at 82.1 percent, down from 84 per cent last June and 86.9 percent in September last year.

The open source Firefox browser meanwhile saw its market share jump to 12.5 per cent last month, up from 7.6 percent one year ago.

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