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13 Technology Predictions For 2011: Page 2 of 3

5. IE6 will finally die, but IE9 may not be a great success. As XP declines in preparation for its final burial in 2014, usage of Internet Explorer 6 will drop to levels that finally justify major Internet sites treating it as a pariah. Although IE9 is a significantly good browser and will be released in 2011, it will be the first release of Internet Explorer that doesn't coincide with a new version of Windows. IE8's market share has been helped by the adoption of Windows 7, but IE9 won't get that automatic boost. To compensate, Microsoft will try an aggressive upgrade push but many users will hold back. Windows Mobile 7 will have its browser upgraded from the IE7-ish variant it currently runs to IE9, finally bringing that platform into feature parity with the Webkit-based browsers used by all the other major players.

6. Solid-state drives (SSDs) become standard on nearly all notebooks and tablets. With so much user data being stored in the cloud, there's not as much of a need for large drives. This transition will be a bit of a finesse for PC makers, since they generally like to upsell larger drives at outrageous prices. Expect to see notebook makers de-emphasize storage size and instead tout the better battery life you'll get by using SSDs. And of course, you can still get a really large SSD, it will just cost you an arm and a leg -- especially if it's the manufacturer's upgrade price.

7. Hand-wringing will far outpace action on Net Neutrality. Mobile carriers in particular will step far beyond the role of a bit pipe, justifying traffic discrimination and bandwidth limits by saying their networks are unable to handle the growing smartphone data deluge. Some content providers will announce deals to play ball with carriers and slip them a bribe; others will loudly fight the seeming inequity of these deals. The government will "study" this intently during 2011 but let most of the deals stand.

8. Mobile development moves towards the browser. Android, Apple, RIM, and Windows Phone 7 all have different native development environments, which means it's expensive to develop an app that serves them all. But they all support a browser, and except for Windows Phone it's a Webkit-based browser. Browser-based apps can be much more portable, and much less costly to develop since they require less platform-specific knowledge.