Microsoft getting nervous about Firefox?

Has Firefox reignited the browser war? CNET News.com has incontrovertible evidence that Microsoft is once again on war footing.

The proof? After years of neglecting Internet Explorer, killing its standalone version and satisfying reporters' requests for interviews with terse, prepared statements, Microsoft representatives on Monday took the unusual step of placing an unsolicited call to News.com in anticipation of the Firefox 1.0 release.

Gary Schare, Microsoft's director of product management for Windows who never writes or calls, told News.com that he and his team were "sharpening pencils" in efforts to get the word out about IE's new security features in the Windows XP Service Pack 2 release.

He also drew attention to the new Windows Marketplace stall for IE add-ons, which provide tabbed browsing and other features that come preloaded with Firefox, Opera, Safari and other non-IE browsers.

Schare professed to be unconcerned about Firefox's apparent popularity and promised to keep in touch.