With Carbon Grove, Microsoft is introducing the first Internet Explorer Beta 1 and IE7 "tree-hugging" exclusive website. The Redmond company, and specifically the Internet Explorer team, have sponsored the project built by the Jackson Fish Market, a web design company that was also involved in building Tafiti, bundling Live Search and Silverlight. The Jackson Fish Market built Carbon Grove using asp.net and Silverlight 2.0, putting together what they referred to as a carbon reduction reminder service.

"Climate change is a problem that affects everyone on our planet. As is often the case with problems of this magnitude, it's hard to feel like one person can make a difference. In reality however, every little bit helps. Carbon Grove can help you make your small contribution to fixing things and hopefully also help you show others that you care," stated Miel Van Opstal, Enthusiast Evangelist Microsoft.

The Carbon Grove website is not only an initiative designed to lower the carbon footprint by enabling end users to plant virtual trees, but also to spread seeds from Microsoft. In this context, the website delivers an unique approach to environmental initiatives, one that leverages Silverlight and is accessible exclusively through Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 (at Beta 1 stage).

Visitors coming to the website via Firefox 3.0 or Opera 9.5, for example, receive the following message from The Carbon Grove Arborists: "We're so sorry, but Carbon Grove is currently only available for Internet Explorer 7 or 8. We're sorry for any inconvenience. We still would love for you to plant a tree in Carbon Grove. Internet Explorer 7 is a lovely browser. You may even already have it on your PC, or you can download it here."

Essentially, Carbon Grove is meant as a way for users to deliver their own positive impact on climate change. The website features a questionnaire, and guidelines for reducing the carbon footprint and contributing to the environment. At the same time, visitors that will sign up will have the opportunity to plant their own tree out of 9 different species and follow its growth. It can take up to 26 weeks for the tree to reach full size, by which time the end users need to take care of a list of commitments to lower the carbon footprint.

"The Internet Explorer team at Microsoft helped to launch this site. They were eager to create a special experience for their IE users as well as show one small piece of their commitment to the environment. Not only is Internet Explorer the exclusive way to take advantage of Carbon Grove, but Microsoft's Silverlight technology has made browsing the three forests a breeze," Van Opstal added.