Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 a huge step forward (not for XP, no no no)

[DainBramaged]

spend more time firing up your Web browser than just about any other program on your computer. But what matters are the pictures, words, music, and people you connect with in cyberspace, not the software you use to get there. The latest version of the venerable Internet Explorer browser that Microsoft is unveiling publicly today at a San Francisco event is meant to melt into the background so you can dive into Web experiences.
Of course, Microsoft wants you to fixate on which browser you're using long enough to download the new Internet Explorer 9 software, released globally as beta or not-quite-final software. While IE has been top banana in the browser business for years, its share of the market has been steadily sliding as computer users flocked to more innovative rivals Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple Safari. So Microsoft has a lot riding on IE9.

The company has pulled it off. Even as beta software, IE9 represents a gargantuan step forward. Though much of what's in it is targeted at Web developers and designers, the payback for consumers comes with a streamlined interface, simpler navigation, faster speeds, superior graphics and websites that behave more like apps that are loaded on your PC. Microsoft is teaming with more than 70 partners at launch to produce sites that take advantage of the graphics chips and other components inside your computer. Among them: Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, eBay, CNN, and USA TODAY.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2010-09-15-microsoft-ie9_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip


salt, meet grain.

[Liberal Veteran]

1. I already have a browser that is foxy and on fire.

[DainBramaged]

2. And? Your point? I had hoped it was simply informative

alas, the Firefox/Apple/Linux/Google crowd will descend shortly with their own special narratives......

[KeepItReal]

3. If that doesn't cut it, I go on Safari

;-)

[damntexdem]

7. Yeah, Firefox!

Screw Internet Explorer.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. LINK--"Microsoft confirms IE9 will shun XP"

From http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/17/ie9_no_windows_xp/ :

"Microsoft's official statement has arrived, and yes, it confirms that IE9 will not support XP. "Windows XP users have a fast, safe, reliable and private browser in Internet Explorer 8. As the Web has continued to change in everything from security to the future HTML5 applications developers are starting to build today, browsers should require the modern graphics and security infrastructure that has come along since 2001," the statement reads.

"Internet Explorer 9 requires the modern graphics and security underpinnings that have come since 2001, and is intended to be run on a modern operating system in order to build on the latest hardware and operating system innovations."

This is hardly a surprise, and it was implied by Microsoft's press materials, which said that the browser's platform preview requires Direct2D, an API available only with Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008. ...

IE9 uses Direct2D to hardware-accelerate HTML5-based scrolling and 3D graphics, handing such processing to the machine's GPU. Direct2D was introduced with Windows 7, and it was later rolled into Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 R2. For Windows XP, the writing has long been on the wall. Microsoft said back in November, at its PDC conference in Los Angeles, that IE9 would make use of Direct2D."

[Regret My New Name]

8. Well that sucks... I don't personally use XP anymore, but...

many people do and that means that those XPers who insist on using IE, won't be able to take advantage of HTML5 and I'm hoping more well rounded CSS3 support. :/

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

10. Sounds like a resource hog to Me

[hobbit709]

12. This line gets me

"Windows XP users have a fast, safe, reliable and private browser in Internet Explorer 8."
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[hlthe2b]

5. where does it say not for XP? Never mind... I see in the other post

just curious...

[cliffordu]

6. So does that piece o' shit actually render STANDARDS COMPLIANT

HTML or CSS???

Or is just another craptastic emission from the Wily Redmonites???

Internet exploder, indeed.....

[Regret My New Name]

9. They do get better with each release, but even if they did do it right this time...

it's still useless for people who are still using XP or lower. Which just means IE 7 and 8 are going to end up sticking around waaaaaaaaaay longer than they should. You know, much like internet explorer 6...

[Xithras]

11. I think a lot of XP users will hold out until 2014

Three more years, and then XP ceases to be relevant.