Microsoft in holiday romance with Expedia

Special edition IE8 optimised for travel junkies

Microsoft in holiday romance with Expedia

2 June 2010 17:53 GMT / By Rik Henderson

Apparently 65 per cent of Brits agree that cheaper holiday deals can be found online than anywhere else. But 22 per cent also think it takes more preparation to book a trip on the Web than preparing for a job interview!

This is research carried out by Microsoft as it launches a holiday hunter-friendly version of its Internet Explorer 8 web browser in cooperation with Expedia.co.uk.

The focus of its new functionality is to simplify the travel search process, with drop-down menus (Webslices) offering Expedia features without the need to navigate away from the site you're on. There are also Accelerators (pre-defined Favourites) which links to sections of the main website if needed.

Expedia's Holiday Countdown gadget for Vista and Windows 7 PCs

Additionally, an Expedia Holiday Countdown desktop gadget for Vista or Windows 7 is available for download, so users can know exactly how long they have to wait until they depart.

The new version of the browser is free, and available now.