Internet Explorer 9 beta to arrive in September

[Jos]

Although many of us have long-abandoned Internet Explorer for alternatives like Firefox, Opera or Chrome, Microsoft is working hard on the next version of its browser to redeem themselves with early adopters and retain its still dominant market share. The company has thus far been offering only stripped down platform previews of Internet Explorer 9 on its Test Drive page, but according to Microsoft's COO Kevin Turner the first beta release should be out in little over a month.

Turner revealed the September date for Wall Street analysts during the company's annual Financial Analyst Meeting (FAM) in Redmond, Washington. Although no other details were shared, we are hoping to finally get a taste of the new version's look and feel. Internet Explorer 9 is expected to offer broader support of HTML5 along with other standards, hardware acceleration, better tab management, and more. The browser also features a new script engine, dubbed Chakra, which delivers performance to within 50 milliseconds of Safari, Opera and Chrome on SunSpider benchmarks.

No release date has been announced for the final code, but it's likely that won't arrive until 2011. If you want to check out Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 3 in the meantime, a download link is available here.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/39825-internet-explorer-9-beta-to-arrive-in-september.html

 

[example1013]

They really just need to give up imo.

 

[Leeky]

They really just need to give up imo.

LOL, about sums it up really.

 

[Archean]

I think if IE9 delivers performance within 50ms as stated in that news bit, it would give good run for the money to other players, and that is pretty good. I think it is about time MS get back to innovation and focus on customer needs, because if they can do that, I don't see them losing dominant position in browser market any time soon. If on the contrary, they are unable to deliver tangible improvements, ..... I guess we already know how FF got from 0% to where it is now in just few years time, and rest of the competitors will also pounce on them.

 

[Leeky]

I think if IE9 delivers performance within 50ms as stated in that news bit, it would give good run for the money to other players, and that is pretty good. I think it is about time MS get back to innovation and focus on customer needs, because if they can do that, I don't see them losing dominant position in browser market any time soon. If on the contrary, they are unable to deliver tangible improvements, ..... I guess we already know how FF got from 0% to where it is now in just few years time, and rest of the competitors will also pounce on them.

I think its possibly too little too late for Microsoft on this front. They've had years to develop IE but its steadily got worse. In the meantime many others have massively improved and taken users with them.

I use IE for one thing: To connect to my EPC on one of the Virtualbox installs. I use Firefox for absolutely everything else. Though I have to say Opera is persuading me these days, but no matter how good IE became, I wouldn't even consider going back to them.

I'd be suprised if the majority of those that left IE in their wake wouldn't feel the same.

 

[Archean]

I use FF primarily or Minfield (but it isn't a finished product yet), or IEx64 or Opera as alternatives, but I'd say when I compare the later two, I probably use IEx64 more frequently. I think it has good foundations to built on, and if they improve in some areas like tabs, Java performance, especially customization support, I guess they will be back in business, they will not recover to where they once were, but they should hold up alright for now, until the competition comes up with something good again, and the cycle restarts. And that is good for us.

 

[madboyv1]

None of you want Internet Explorer to just give up the ghost and die, especially if you consider IE as a punching bag for abusive comments; those people would be very sad and feel empty for not having it around to harp on.

Besides that important point, IE offers forced innovation of other products as well as a standard of performance. Without IE in the past, in the present, and in the future, browser development would likely stagnate without the forced competition. It is exactly what happened when IE was essentially the sole browser of choice in the late 90s. Granted because Firefox and Opera have become such good products after identifying many of the failures of IE in the past, IE has been forced to innovate into itself (though most of these "innovations" are not new), which forces other browsers to one-up IE. Granted this isn't hard, but "Being worse than IE" is a stigma other browser developers would not want. IE 8 and 9 are excellent products for what they are, but lack the extendability that most people have come to love with Firefox (there's at least a little anti-trust legislation against IE in there I'm sure, but they can get around that).

I use Firefox and Internet Explorer full time, with significant preference to Firefox, so I say this as a Firefox user: Thank you IE team for keeping up (at least trying to) so my browser can get better and better (hopefully).

 

[Guest]

As long as IE is the base browser on Windows machines, the majority of users will stick with it. Most people don't know any better or simply don't want to "deal with the hassle" of downloading and installing a new browser. For these aforementioned folks, enjoy IE because you're the only ones (and the majority, ouch!).

 

[agissi]

Way to separate the fanboys from reality madboyv1. Props to you and your post.

 

[example1013]

IE is past its prime and needs to go away. You've got FF, Chrome, and Opera all competing for spots in all computers, and Safari is still in the running for macs.

The only reason we use IE at work is because the crap software we have that deals with student grades, classes, etc. is incompatible with Firefox. EDIT: and all the computers still have Firefox installed.

 

[GonchuB]

The only thing that could save Internet Explorer is a sleek minimalist design. I do not use it because of its awful look. But that's just my personal opinion.

 

[Guest]

I don't really care what you have to say, but IE has to give up. Not because of what it meant or means for browser competition, but because simply, the company behind its development does little to no justice the market share it currently (and sadly) holds. Whether this new iteration brings something to the table, Microsoft will never be a good company for this browser, mainly because it has a different focus in mind.

If you notice, only open source browsers have the advantage. Chrome surpassed the 7 year old Safari in just 2 years. But is it because of them being open source? Not, really. It is because of the intrinsic philosophy behind the company.

 

[SNGX1275]

IE 8 might be a decent product madboyv1, but the Platform Previews of IE9 that I've played with are far from decent. They were impossible (or at least hard to) do any form of customization, looked like something from Windows 2000, and got an abysmal score on the Acid and html5 tests. When your platform preview for the future scores in the 10% range for html5 something is going wrong.

 

[vipor231]

ie has been dead in the water for years,ie9 better show something to gain people back,i hardly ever use ie due to it being too damn slow

 

[Regenweald]

If IE9 is as good as opera is now, i'd use it. Simply because of the tighter integration with th OS that IE offers. that's a big if, but I have no beef with IE, Chrome and Opera are simply better currently.

 

[madboyv1]

"Platform previews" of any software are at best alpha builds (that's almost an insult to alpha builds in some cases), so I guess talking about IE9 at the moment was ahead of myself and I do apologize for that, but I think (and hope) it'll be promising.

@Guest: I guess Microsoft should just count its losses and trash its Windows Operating system as well, since almost every Linux user will say Linux, being a mostly open sourced distribution package based operating system with limitless customization potential is the far superior to Windows. =p

Funny enough that you mention the IE development team having a different focus. You're absolutely right, and since I am not part of the development I can't really say what they are thinking. But to claim that is that Microsoft is a bad company for that is relatively baseless.

 

[Leeky]

@Guest: I guess Microsoft should just count its losses and trash its Windows Operating system as well, since almost every Linux user will say Linux, being a mostly open sourced distribution package based operating system with limitless customization potential is the far superior to Windows. =p

Pmsl!

I'm very pro Linux, but Microsoft has its place even for me. I refused to use Vista, having felt totally let down after the huge success of Windows XP. But, with Windows 7 they have finally given consumers something worthwhile, and definitely something to contend with the mantle XP has held with so many for so long.

Windows 7 is very good. Microsoft in my opinion got it pretty much spot on in terms of usability and performance with this OS. It combines the same easy access for simple tasks, equally alongside advanced use for those that like to control there OS. Its a perfect combination thats smooth, yet powerful. If I'm brutally honest with myself I really couldn't pick any holes with it.

A good way of summing up how I feel about both Microsoft (W7) and Linux: They both have advantages, and disadvantages, what they are depends on what you want from a OS. Neither is worse than the other - They're both excellent.

 

[SNGX1275]

Leeky, Vista and 7 are pretty much the same thing, so, what in your opinion is so much greater about 7?

 

[Leeky]

Leeky, Vista and 7 are pretty much the same thing, so, what in your opinion is so much greater about 7?

Loads of things, off the top of my head the following spring to mind.

The taskbar is much better. I love the idea of using application icons, rather than the smaller quick launch icons of previous versions. I like the way I can have many programs open, and not have so many boxes in my taskbar its like a messed up maze! I find I'm much much more productive with this arrangement.

A much smoother operating system overall. The hardware demands are lower, and the performance much more increased over the Vista this PC I used shipped with. You ask it to do something and it does, with exactly the same setup using Vista everything seemed to take forever. The administrator priviledges popup box is a perfect example of this. Before it would take ages to pop up, reducing the computer to a black screen while it waited - Now it just pops it up almost immediately.

Hardware support. The hardware support is MUCH better now. There are some exceptions, but now you can install W7 and know 90% of the time it will find the correct drivers and have your hardware working when install is completed. This saves time by not having to find and install them.

I love the changing wallpaper themes (though I can't honestly remember if it was included in Vista or not), changing your desktop backround every few mins.

Performance is certainly increased over Vista. I don't consider my PC to be top line, but its certainly not budget, but I immediately noticed the differences using Windows 7. This makes my experience using it much more enjoyable.

There is more I'm sure, but given the couple of mins I've had to type this will suffice for now. lol.

Edit: Windows 7 and Vista to me are completely different. Its like comparing Windows 3.11 to Windows XP. Windows 7 is a giant leap forward from Vista. In many ways I feel Microsoft (and I'm not alone!) got it totally wrong with it. Windows 7 brings back into play what should have happened with Windows Vista.

Edit: Oh and my Office 2007 Ultimate is also considerably quicker running in a Windows 7 environment.

 

[Guest]

@madboyv1

Microsoft is a bad company, but not overall, I'm referring to the browser development. I enjoy most of Microsoft products, including Office and Windows itself. But the IE9 team does NOT have the future in mind. They are starting to add HTML5 features, and JavaScript improvements that Chrome had in a beta 2 years ago.

You can think whatever you can think, but let me tell you something, you will NOT move to IE9 whether its faster or more stable than Opera or Firefox. And you will gradually know why. It is not because of open source, not entirely. It is mostly due to the development team's way of thinking.

Mozilla, Google, and Opera Software's developer teams are always thinking about the future. Microsoft will always think of satisfying a certain user base, and copying the competition's features to not lose that certain user base; not innovating.

 

[windmill007]

SNGX1275 said:
Leeky, Vista and 7 are pretty much the same thing, so, what in your opinion is so much greater about 7?

How about the constant grinding of the hard drives in Vista. Vista just always seemed like a dog. With service Pack 2 installed it's usable now but with windows 7 out there is no reason to use Vista anymore.

 

[Guest]

I always hear everyone knocking IE. I recently downloaded the new Firefox browser. I thought it was pretty cool but within days realized that it wouldn't do everything that IE could. I've tried all the others too, Crome, Opera, etc... and I always find myself going back to IE. Maybe for people with slooooow internet connection the other browsers are faster. I guess I'm just lucky.

 

[Archean]

and copying the competition's features to not lose that certain user base; not innovating

That is one of most common useless myths about MS, there are so many things MS did before anyone else did, and then the competition copied them. So, simple fact is everyone copies others if there is benefit in it for them.

Now lets step away from IT, it happens in other areas too, e.g. at this year's start Red Bull (F1 racing team) came about with new diffuser design and some other tricks along with it, however, main issue was that rest of the teams didn't had that diffuser, hence they couldn't compete, now that most big teams have caught up with them (by copying their idea), they are no longer able to dominate in races.

 

[tullriles]

Has Microsoft come out with a good synopsis of what improvements we can expect to see with IE9?

 

[madboyv1]

Guest said:
You can think whatever you can think, but let me tell you something, you will NOT move to IE9 whether its faster or more stable than Opera or Firefox. And you will gradually know why. It is not because of open source, not entirely. It is mostly due to the development team's way of thinking.

I thought I mentioned that I use Firefox and Internet Explorer concurrently (I have chrome and opera too, but I rarely use them), therefore your attempt to decide what my motives for using a certain internet browser grossly incorrect as it is generally good policy to keep software up to date (for features, stability, and/or security reasons). Same goes for blankly deciding what a develop team is or is not "thinking about" when it comes to developing their software. Lastly I don't particularly care whether my software is open sourced or not, so that's a triple whammy on your part.