Internet Explorer 9 - What is new?
Microsoft Corporation is all set to launch the latest version of Internet Explorer - IE9. It is currently available in Beta version for public. IE9 has much more to offer than all the previous versions of Internet Explorer. The new web browser launched is compatible with Windows 7 or Windows Vista SP2. However Windows XP is not supported.
IE9 has been given a much cleaner and spacious out look as compared to the previous versions. The frame is much thinner to give maximum space to the websites to come forward. There’s just one box serving as the address bar and the search box where you can either type a URL to go to a site or search some specific keyword with the default search engine i.e. Bing. However IE9 also provides us with options to manage our own add-ons and thus we can put in any search provider as the default like Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. As for the most used control, the back button has been made slightly larger for ease of accessibility.
Another exciting feature that has been added is to make browsing easier and more fun for the users by enabling them to be able to pin down their most favorite sites at the taskbar. All that needs to be done is to just drag the tab of the site in the browser to the taskbar and leave it there. It is pinned automatically and the next time when you want to open your favorite site, it’s just there, a click away. For those who visit few sites regularly it might seem a viable option to pin down their most visited site right at the taskbar. Apart from that there are Jump Lists where the pinned sites might put in some of their shortcuts or tasks which appear when you right click, making surfing a lot easier and seamless.
The notification bar which appears at the bottom of the screen (when you download or save any file) has been made more streamlined and much easier to notice. Also its easier to understand and doesn’t block the user from browsing. Then there is the new tab page which is quite similar to that of Chrome where the recently visited sites of the users are displayed.
The tear off tabs functionality provides users the facility to view multiple pages at the same time. Be it video or content, anything can be viewed simultaneously. All that needs to be done is to click a tab and drag it to the end of the screen and adjust it with the other opened ones.
Another added feature in IE9 is that of the F12 developer tool which helps developers in debugging a webpage and making changes in the code from within the browser. Open a new IE9 window, press F12 to see the various F12 developer tools available right at the bottom.
It also has the Download Manager which provides users the ability to scan and interact with the file downloads and also pause or cancel them whenever required. For the Built-in security and privacy, IE9 also has the download reputation feature by which we can view or track the download and know about the security issues.
For performance enhancement Internet explorer also features a new JavaScript engine Chakra which has a separate background thread for compiling JavaScript, it not only helps users to keep interacting with web pages but also enables IE9 to generate faster code. Thus the websites loads faster and are more responsive. It also supports hardware accelerated text, video and graphics.
Apart from this Internet Explorer 9 has also introduced support for modern web standards that includes :
- CSS3
- HTML5
- SVG
- ICC Color Profiles
- DOM L2 and L3
- ECMAScript5
With steep fall in number of IE users in recent years, Microsoft's IE9 certainly looks promising and modern. Now both, the developers and an average user, can enjoy seamless web surfing on the new IE9.
What do you think guys ? Is IE9 going to be next best internet browser?
