Microsoft Research has hit the reset button on Web browser security. Researchers Helen Wang and Herman Venter have published a paper outlining the design of a Web browser constructed as a multi-principal OS.

It is described as, "…a secure web browser constructed as a multi-principal OS. Gazelle's Browser Kernel is an operating system that exclusively manages resource protection and sharing across web site principals. This construction exposes intricate design issues that no previous work has identified, such as legacy protection of cross-origin script source, and cross-principal, cross-process display and events protection."

The researchers argue that such as design is necessary, because Web site have evolved into dynamic Web applications that are composed of content mashed up from different domains. Browser, they say, have become, "multi-principal operating environments with resources shared among mutually distrusting web site."

The searchers point out that, "…no existing browsers, including new architectures like IE 8, Google Chrome, and OP, have a multi-principal operating system construction that gives a browser-based OS the exclusive control to manage the protection of all system resources."

This does not mean that Microsoft is coming up with a replacement for Internet Explorer; Microsoft research projects are not always productized. Nonetheless, Mary Jo Foley believes that the company may take Gazelle out into the field at its TechFest ‘09 research fair later this week.