Thread: Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 a huge step forward

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 a huge step forward

By Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY

You 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.


TV: Watch Baig on ABC's 'America This Morning' Fridays 4:30 a.m. ET or check local listings

Based on my tests on an HP Envy laptop, IE9 is refreshing software I strongly recommend. But there is one major caveat: You'll need a PC with Windows 7 to exploit it to the max. For example, you can "pin" a site to the Windows taskbar (the strip of icons parked at the bottom of your PC screen) so you can open the page without first launching the browser. IE9 also works on Windows Vista computers but with fewer features. Moreover, by making IE9 incompatible with Windows XP computers, Microsoft is leaving behind the millions of folks who still use those machines.

Still it makes sense for Microsoft to look ahead. Microsoft hasn't exactly been a browser pacesetter lately and even some of the changes it applied to IE9 — such as combining search and the address bar into a single box — are things rivals got to first. IE had around a 60% market share in the latest quarterly data from Net Applications, compared with Firefox (24%), Chrome (7%) and Safari (nearly 5%). But Microsoft had an 80-plus% share as recently as 2006.

Where Microsoft is now leading the charge with IE9 is in flexing the muscle inside today's PCs. Microsoft claims today's sites and browsers take advantage of just 10% of a PC's actual capabilities. IE9 taps the other 90%. Among other technologies, Microsoft is throwing its weight behind HTML5, an increasingly popular tech standard developers rely on for flashy Web content. A closer look:

•Look and feel. IE9's design screen is rather spartan and that's a good thing. There are fewer visible controls at the top of the browser to clutter things up, though the back arrow, much as in Firefox, is larger than it was previously because of how frequently you click the button.

To the right of the Chrome-like single address bar (for Web addresses or search queries) are tabs for open Web pages. Further to the right are icons for home, favorites and the consolidated tools drop down menu (print, file, zoom etc.).

You can rearrange tabs by dragging them around, and even "tear" them off the top of the browser to move windows around. If you have Windows 7, you can drag one tab to the left edge of the screen and another to the right. Upon doing so, the windows are resized so you can compare them side to side. Open a new tab, and Windows displays tiles for sites you frequent. If a tab for a web page hangs or is unresponsive, it doesn't cause the browser to crash.

Microsoft has cut down on obtrusive notifications. And when a notification does appear — you might receive one if IE blocked a site from downloading a file you didn't request — it appears at the bottom of the screen. You can click on a "why am I seeing this" link for a clear explanation. Or ignore a notification altogether and get on with what you were doing.

When sites are pinned to the taskbar in Windows 7, you can check out thumbnail previews and handy "jump list" shortcuts by right-clicking on the icon. Doing so on the USA TODAY icon brings up choices for jumping to the News, Money, Life, Sports or Tech sections. Right-clicking on the Jango music site lets you play pop, hip-hop, jazz or other types of music. Sure, you can launch sites by clicking on bookmarked favorites. But I found it more convenient to pin Gmail and a few other sites I regularly visit to the taskbar.

•Cool graphics. To check out the graphical pyrotechnics in IE9, take a look at the HTML5 website for the Killers band. As you mouse over the site a full 360 degrees the landscape goes from night to day and back. You can drag your mouse to make a video screen, interactive tour bus and gift shop come alive. Very cool.

On the security front, a new download manager checks to make sure fetched files are virus-free and from a reliable source.

Not everything in my tests went smoothly. I had trouble accessing a password-protected online bill paying account that I could access with an earlier version of IE.

Still, Microsoft for the most part did what it had to do to make IE9 a front-line browser again. Microsoft's latest should solidify IE's standing in the ever-crowded browser space.

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/ ... -ie9_N.htm

I installed IE-9 a while ago. When I went to copy something to post here I realized my PAGE button was missing, so I had no way to copy and paste. I also noticed that the ZOOM Level button was missing from the bottom of the page. I wanted to know how to get them back.

When I called the Microsoft Help Line 800 number the girl told me there is no such thing as IE-9, and I must have downloaded something else from someone else' site. She suggested that I call a paid helpline for more info. I told her I had another solution.

So I just uninstalled IE-9 and the problem is solved.

I haven't used IE in years! By the way, that IE 9 you downloaded was a beta version for testing. They are asking people to download it and try it out. That girl you talked to should know this. Info here:

http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/

If you wan a faster browsing experience, I suggest Firefox or Chrome. I like FF better because of all the ad ons. I have an add on called AdBlockPlus which blocks ads (which can also carry viruses, which is why I don't visit DrudgeReport anymore) and also makes browsing faster because there are no ads to load. I also use BBC

OOPS!

Originally Posted by DarthIllegal

I haven't used IE in years! By the way, that IE 9 you downloaded was a beta version for testing. They are asking people to download it and try it out. That girl you talked to should know this. Info here:

http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/

If you wan a faster browsing experience, I suggest Firefox or Chrome. I like FF better because of all the ad ons. I have an add on called AdBlockPlus which blocks ads (which can also carry viruses, which is why I don't visit DrudgeReport anymore) and also makes browsing faster because there are no ads to load. I also use BBC

RELATED
Microsoft Security Essentials - FREE

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-212394.html

This was taken from Reddit. MS is asking for your feedback.

Yesterday, reddit started running ads for a new sponsor. While we normally don't introduce new campaigns [insert joke about never having a campaign to announce], this one is notable because the advertiser actually seems to understand what reddit can offer that traditional advertising (even traditional web advertising) cannot.

See, Microsoft is getting ready to release Internet Explorer 9, and they reached out to us because they genuinely want to start a dialog with the reddit community. In fact, they've taken the unprecedented step of putting the reddit team in charge of this entire campaign. This is a great deal of trust for an advertiser to offer, and we should both take it as a huge compliment.

So, how should we do this? If there's one thing I've learned in my five-plus years at reddit, it's that the direct and open approach works best, so instead of marketspeak, I'm going to paste a quote from Wikipedia

:

IE9 will have complete or nearly complete support for all CSS 3 selectors, border-radius CSS 3 property, faster JavaScript, and embedded ICC v2 or v4 color profiles support via Windows Color System. IE9 will feature hardware-accelerated graphics rendering using Direct2D, hardware accelerated text rendering using DirectWrite, hardware accelerated video rendering using Media Foundation, imaging support provided by Windows Imaging Component, and high fidelity printing powered by the XPS print pipeline. IE9 also supports the HTML5 video and audio tags and the Web Open Font Format.

If you have a computer that can run IE9, we'd really like you to try it out

and post a review. The actual IE9 programmers are going to read what you have to say, and if you compliment their work, it'll totally make their day. But they also need to hear your complaints. Ideally, in the form of constructive criticism, but we warned them that reddit can sometimes be a little... brisk, so they're prepared for that, too.

Thanks. I went to Reddit and left them a message.

You won't be able to run XP with IE9. Windows 7 or Vista will I believe.