Microsoft: lots more interactivity and 3D expected for the web

Web users will soon come to expect the sites they browse to include interactive elements and high-performance graphics, Microsoft has said.

Such sites will require more powerful computer processors to be able to cope with the increased workload. Current sites that rely largely on text and static graphics do not require so much processing on the users' computers.

Microsoft also threw its weight behind processor-maker AMD's latest range of Fusion microchips. Speaking at an event hosted by AMD at the Computex trade show in Taiwan, a high-level spokesman for Microsoft praised the graphical processing chops of AMD Fusion processors for dealing with increased demands from the world-wide web.

Thomas Li, senior director of Microsoft's OEM department, said: "When Microsoft designed Internet Explorer 9 we believed we had to tap the power of the APU [AMD's name for a combined graphics and general-purpose processor] to do the hardware acceleration to bring the best experience to the majority of consumers."

Referring to the latest internet design standards and Microsoft's most recent platform for enhanced graphics performance, Mr Li continued: "In Internet Explorer 9, the graphics are clear, it is true colour and you can see lots of interactive experiences with HTML 5. That all comes from the APU with DirectX 11 support.

"In the future we'll see lots of interactive and 3D websites, and that's all related to the high-performance APU. In future we'll also see that long battery life is going to be important because we'll be using [web-]connected devices."

Nigel Dessau, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of AMD, added: "For the first time consumers are looking at the visual experience of the internet and asking 'how do I get that experience?'"

To read more of our coverage from Computex Taipei 2011, click here