Internet Explorer 9 readies to fly
This week Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser turned 15. Next month the company will release the first beta version of Internet Explorer 9, the latest version in a long line of browsers from the software giant.
Internet Explorer 9 will be released into a marketplace more competitive than ever before. A few years ago there was little in the way of real competition for Internet Explorer. Today, however, the challengers include Firefox, Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari and the ever-present Opera. IE still has a strong hold over the market but that has been slipping in recent times in the face of aggressive development from Google and the slow, but steady progress of Firefox.
So, what can users expect from IE 9?
Not a great deal is known about IE9 at this stage. Most of the previews for developers have been bare bones versions showing off the workings under the hood. Based on what little is known about the interface of IE9, though expect it to be clean and simple. Chrome and Firefox have been moving that way and IE will probably follow the trend.
HTML5 will be a big part of IE9. The technical previews have shown that IE will embrace the majority of the HTML5 specifications from day one of its launch. Strong support for CSS3 will also be included in IE9.
Also under the hood will be the new Chakra Javascript engine. Reports from preview testers suggest that the Chakra engine, combined with hardware-accelerated graphics, should make IE9 very, very fast. In one test an IE9 preview version easily outpaced Google’s Chrome 6 browser.
Users can also expect better support for common web standards. Ever since Internet Explorer 6 IE has had a reputation for ignoring web standards. With IE7 and IE8 Microsoft has made an effort to improve these. IE9 is expected to be better at standards than ever before.
However, like IE8, IE9 will not include an IE6-compatibility mode. Many developers will be hoping that this is yet another nail in the coffin of the much-hated IE6.
Internet Explorer 9’s final preview release was made available this week. The beta release is expected on September 15.
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