Microsoft has unveiled a developer-centric release of its new browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9). With improved speed and HTML 5 support, IE9 could put Internet Explorer back in the browser race as a worthy competitor.
With IE9, Microsoft confronted complaints from users about poor browser speed and a lack of a support for new technology. The new browser will have increased support for such web technologies as HTML 5, CSS3, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), and XHTML parsing. Not convinced yet? Totally understandable, considering the issues surrounding Microsoft’s browsers, like the Zero-Day Flaw.
IE9, however, already has the support from several analysts and corporations, including Nvidia. The new graphics subsystem in IE9, for example, has the graphics company buzzing with excitement, as taken from their blog post:
“Today, with introduction of Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft gives us another milestone for visual computing. Internet Explorer 9 includes a new JavaScript engine, support for HTML5 and hardware accelerated graphics and text. Internet Explorer 9 is the first browser designed to take advantage of modern hardware, resulting in graphics and performance improvements throughout the browser including the first to deliver hardware accelerated scalable vector graphics (SVG); the first to enhance JavaScript engine performance with the benefit of shifting from the CPU to the GPU; and the first to deliver GPU-Powered HTML5.”
Users attempting to download the early platform preview of IE9 should note that the browser does not support XP SP3 or Vista SP1. On Tuesday, general manager for IE development at Microsoft, Dean Hachamovich, detailed IE9′s performance enhancement during his presentation at MIX10. You can download and ‘test drive’ IE9 today from Microsoft’s IE Platform Preview Page.
