Internet Explorer 9: Microsoft Vows Significant Enhancements

Microsoft is wasting little time in developing the successor to their recently released Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) browser. Many believe that Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) will be a much improved browser.

IE9: New HTML5 and Improved Java Engine

Changes discussed thus far for IE9 include: the addition of Hyper Text Markup Language version 5 (HTML5), and support for a faster, new JavaScript engine called "Chakra". According to Internet Explorer GM Dean Hachamovitch, IE9 will improve HTML5 applications by taking advantage of PC hardware through Vista and Windows 7.

With IE9, Microsoft is looking to support the following HTML5 features: h.264 video, a popular video format standard used by such well-known sites as YouTube and Vimeo, embedded audio where tags can be inputted directly into a web page and SVGs (scalable vector graphics), which are graphics that scale more smoothly because they are drawn as vectors, and not as plain images. (Source: networkworld.com)

Internet Explorer 9 Already 'More Efficient' than Chrome

In a head-to-head comparison pitting the qualities of a high definition (HD) HTML5 video run in the Google Chrome browser versus the same HD HTML5 video run in the IE9 ("Platform Preview" mode) browser, the Chrome video was found to be "choppy" with frames dropping out. The Chrome video also used the full CPU (central processing unit). Adversely, the IE9 video was very smooth and used much less of the CPU.

Microsoft is hoping that the Internet Explorer 9 browser will give them the edge in their long-standing competition against competitors Firefox, Chrome and Safari. In addition to HTML5 support, Microsoft also vowed to be more compliant with the W3C, the international standards organization for the World Wide Web.

IE9 Preview Hits 700,000 Downloads

In total, there have been 700,000 downloads of the IE9 Platform Preview from Microsoft's IE9 Test Drive site, and 60% of the bugs have already been addressed. There is still, however, much to do before Internet Explorer 9 is ready for public release.  (Source: computerworld.com)