Microsoft Australia has buried $10,000 somewhere on the Internet and is inviting users to download and install Internet Explorer 8 and then follow a series of clues that will potentially lead them to the money. Aiming to emphasize that the webpage where the $10,000 is buried can only be viewed with IE8, the division of the Redmond company from down under trashes all other browsers. Visiting the competition's webpage with Mozilla's open-source browser delivers the following message about the $10,000 award: “But you'll never find it with old Firefox.” According to Microsoft Australia Safari is boring, and Google Chrome is tarnished. The page doesn't even detect Opera, which is interpreted as a generic “that browser.” (Long Zheng spotted it first.)

For all rival browsers, Microsoft's advice is simple, either get rid of them, if you want a chance to find the $10,000, or get lost. “If you want a serious shot at the ten grand, upgrade your browser to Windows Internet Explorer 8 now. Then follow @tengrand_IE8 on Twitter for daily clues that point to the buried loot. So are you in? Great, here's what you need to do: 1. Download Microsoft's best ever browser, Internet Explorer 8. It's the only browser capable of cracking all the clues. 2. Follow @tengrand_IE8 on Twitter for the daily clues. Clues will be released at random times from Friday 19th June. Use the clues and your brilliance to deduce where the $10,000 is hidden,” Microsoft says.

The company plans to announce the winner of the competition at 11:00am (Sydney time) on September 18, 2009 at 1 Epping Road, North Ryde, NSW, 2113. In addition to this announcement, the company will also make sure to notify the winner via email on September 21. If it isn't obvious by now, the initiative is not available to users worldwide. Fact is that the prize is $AUD10,000.

“Entry is open to Australian residents aged 16 years and over only. Entrants under 18 years should seek parental permission to enter. Employees of the Promoter, and their immediate families, its retailers, suppliers and associated companies and agencies are not eligible to enter. Promotion commences at 12:00am (Sydney time) on 17 June 2009. Entries close 11:59pm (Sydney time) on 17 September 2009,” the company stated.

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) RTW is available for download here (for 32-bit and 64-bit flavors of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008).