Microsoft patents background loading webpages [Prefetching]
The United States Patent Office recently approved the following patent for Microsoft [Filed 03/2000]:
A method and system that allows the user to fetch a subsequent web page while maintaining the current web page as the active web page. The next web page is fetched “in the background” and stored in cache memory without interrupting the user. Once the requested web page has been stored in cache, an indicator is added to the history list allowing the user access to the processed web page. In order to view the next web page, the user simply selects the appropriate icon on the user interface, such as the forward button which is akin to selecting the back or forward button to scroll through the history of web pages. Since the web page is in the cache, it is displayed relatively quickly and since the user selects when to display the page, there is no interruption.
Breaking new technology right? Otherwise known as “prefetching” right? Firefox does this by default. There is even a standalone extension known as FasterFox which prefetches all the links on your current page for speedier browsing. So does Google’s Web Accelerator.
In other news, Microsoft – and any other company for that matter – continues to patent ridiculous items of interest. What happens now that Microsoft holds the patent?
