Gazelle was a research web browser project by Microsoft Research, first announced in early 2009. [1] The central notion of the project was to apply operating system (OS) principles to browser construction. [2] In particular, the browser had a secure kernel, modeled after an OS kernel, and various web sources run as separate "principals" above that, similar to user space processes in an OS. [2] The goal of doing this was to prevent bad code from one web source to affect the rendering or processing of code from other web sources. [2] Browser plugins are also managed as principals. [2]
Gazelle had a predecessor project, MashupOS, but with Gazelle the emphasis was on a more secure browser. [3] [4]
By the July 2009 announcement of ChromeOS, Gazelle was seen as a possible alternative Microsoft architectural approach compared to Google's direction. [5] [6] [7] That is, rather than the OS being reduced in role to that of a browser, the browser would be strengthened using OS principles. [5]
The Gazelle project became dormant, and ServiceOS arose as a replacement project also related to browser architectures. [8] [9] But by 2015, the SecureOS project was also dormant, after Microsoft decided that its new flagship browser would be Edge. [10] [11]
Gazelle was a research web browser project by Microsoft Research, first announced in early 2009. [1] The central notion of the project was to apply operating system (OS) principles to browser construction. [2] In particular, the browser had a secure kernel, modeled after an OS kernel, and various web sources run as separate "principals" above that, similar to user space processes in an OS. [2] The goal of doing this was to prevent bad code from one web source to affect the rendering or processing of code from other web sources. [2] Browser plugins are also managed as principals. [2]
Gazelle had a predecessor project, MashupOS, but with Gazelle the emphasis was on a more secure browser. [3] [4]
By the July 2009 announcement of ChromeOS, Gazelle was seen as a possible alternative Microsoft architectural approach compared to Google's direction. [5] [6] [7] That is, rather than the OS being reduced in role to that of a browser, the browser would be strengthened using OS principles. [5]
The Gazelle project became dormant, and ServiceOS arose as a replacement project also related to browser architectures. [8] [9] But by 2015, the SecureOS project was also dormant, after Microsoft decided that its new flagship browser would be Edge. [10] [11]