Microsoft has thrown Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 deep into tree hugging mode, along with its predecessor, Internet Explorer 7, on the Carbon Grove website. So deep in fact, that the Redmond company is willing to put its money where the carbon reduction promises of its two browsers are. With the second Beta for IE8 in building and right on track for delivery in August 2008, IE8 Beta 1 and IE7 are not dealing with the exploding market share of Firefox, and the imminent threat of Firefox 3.0 and go from tree hugging mode to tree planting via the Carbon Grove website.

Christopher Flores, Director Windows Communications, revealed that IE's initiative Carbon Grove is expanding to France, and that a new partnership had been inked with American Forests. Initially, the Carbon Grove green campaign was introduced as a way to convince IE7 and IE8 Beta 1 users to reduce their personal carbon footprints. Additionally, the website permitted users of the latest versions of the IE browser to plant virtual trees.

"Carbon Grove is a carbon footprint reduction reminder service that empowers users to reduce their impact on the environment, and through the use of Windows Internet Explorer 7 with Dynamic Security Protection, users can also help improve the internet environment. Internet Explorer 7 is architected with security features that help defend against malicious software (also known as malware) and better protect against the theft of personal data by fraudulent websites," Flores stated.

Now Microsoft has taken the initiative one step further. Via the Carbon Grove campaign, the Redmond company has pledged its commitment to sponsor the planting of no less than 250,000 trees around the world. All that IE7 and IE8 Beta 1 users need to do is plant a virtual tree and nurture it for a total of six weeks on Carbon Grove.

"Carbon Grove is built on Windows technology and Silverlight, and works with Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8 Beta. If IE7 or IE8 Beta is not already installed on the user's PC, both are available as free downloads. With a Beta version of Internet Explorer 8, users can also take advantage of IE8's new WebSlice feature to monitor their tree's progress no matter where they are browsing," Flores added.

Internet Explorer 7 is available for download here.
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 can be downloaded from here.