Here we look into all that's new in Microsoft's latest browser.
Fewer buttons
IE9, which is free, also arrives with a more minimalist look and a few new tricks that start to blur the distinction between a website and a traditional desktop application.
Following the lead of Google Inc's stripped-down Chrome browser, Microsoft's IE9 comes with far fewer buttons, icons and toolbars cluttering up the top of the screen. Its frame is translucent, and as people browse the Web, IE9 can be subtly adorned with small icons and signature colors of the websites being viewed.
Skips browser
The new browser also takes cues from Windows 7, Microsoft's most recent operating system software for personal computers. In Windows 7, people can "pin" favorite programs to the task bar at the bottom of the screen, creating a one-click shortcut. They can also customize a menu of options for each program, such as opening a frequently used file in Microsoft Word.
IE9 lets people pin individual websites to the taskbar, and some sites have already customized their so-called "jumplist" menus. For example, when people pin USA Today's site, the icon in the taskbar can display a menu that mirrors the color-coded sections of the newspaper.
New Tab page
The New Tab page has been revamped in Internet Explorer 9 to intelligently display the websites that users love most and put them one click away.
Each site's icon and primary color is used on the New Tab page to help users identify sites more easily. Also, a site indicator shows if the site is visited often or not. From the New Tab page, users can also reopen closed tabs, reopen the last browser session, clear the site indicators, or start InPrivate Browsing.
Taps PC's processing power
The aesthetic changes bring IE9 in line with Microsoft's newer software, but the changes under the hood push Microsoft's technology a step ahead of its competition. The browser can take advantage of multicore microprocessors to crunch website code faster.
It also uses the PC's graphics processing unit -- the same chips that make the images in elaborate video games run smoothly -- to make images, animations, movie clips and other visuals appear or play faster.
HTML5
And IE9 supports HTML5, a catch phrase for an updated set of rules and specifications that website programmers use. HTML5, which is currently under development, will include video playback and other graphics-intensive features that, in the past, could only be done by adding third-party software.
"What I saw impressed me," said Endpoint Technologies Associates analyst Roger Kay, who attended Microsoft's media event to promote the new browser in San Francisco. "The bottom line is, this product is good. It's pretty and it's fast."
Microsoft won't stand alone at the front of the pack for long, however. Google and Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser, are also working on similar technical upgrades to their software. All three players have different motivations for pouring resources into making their free programs stand out from the pack.
F12 developer tools
Internet Explorer 9 provides built-in developer tools which aid developers in rapid prototyping, testing, and debugging webpages by making changes to code from within the browser itself which can then be previewed.
New in this version of the browser are a user-agent switching tool, a network traffic inspector, an improved JavaScript profiler, and integrated support for new Web standards introduced with Internet Explorer 9.
Not for Windows XP
The new browser works on PCs with Windows 7 or Vista, but not on PCs with the much more widely used Windows XP computers or on Macs. At the media event, Microsoft showed off several big-name websites that have been designed to take advantage of the new browser, including ones from Amazon.com Inc, Facebook and Twitter.
The sites are built with code that older browsers can understand, but some may be sluggish without IE9. Microsoft did not say when IE9 will leave the test phase, but the final version isn't likely to change much. It is available for download at beautyoftheweb.com.
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