AfterDawn: Tech news

Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 9 RC

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Feb 2011 10:36 User comments (9)

Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 9 RC Microsoft has finally released their Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate, meaning a final launch is coming in the near future.
The completely overhauled IE9 saw its first beta in September 2010, and includes a full revamp of the user interface, hardware acceleration, and updated compatibility for HTML5.

Microsoft's new RC is ready-to-ship code, and there are only a few bugs expected to be left.

From the betas, the RC offers improved JavaScript and includes all the 2,000 changes made since the first beta.

As of the RC, Microsoft claims their IE9 JavaScript engine is the fastest of all current browsers (based on SunSpider benchmarks).

Security is also a big factor in the browser, with an improved ActiveX filter and SmartScreen malware protection in the download manager.

RC for those interested: http://windows.microsoft.com/ie9

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9 user comments

111.2.2011 02:21

Still needs improvement, the compatibility with some websites are still not good, with link overlapping either or and far off the screen. Also they still haven't included a spell check as yet. WTF?

211.2.2011 10:43

Always nice to see Mozilla Firefox Installer get another update.

311.2.2011 11:36

I just tested this new garbage from MS and here is a brief critique of my experience:

Microsoft’s New IE9 Browser

I don’t normally play with beta software unless I have a virtual machine setup for it. However I’m going to rebuild my Windows 7 platform anyway so I installed IE9 to test drive it. Here is what I discovered in the very short time I used it.

1) SLOWNESS – Microsoft is monitoring your surfing habits and the time it takes to bring up a website. This severely slows down your surfing especially when you have an Internet Security program running. If you disable the security program add-on then surfing speeds up but now you are wide open to attack from the web which is not the correct answer. Once again MS is trying to do too much.

2) INFLEXABLE UI – The new toolbar structure can’t be configured the way you want it. Microsoft in their normal infamous know it all fashion does not allow you to change the size or move the Address bar and it is extremely small which makes you think why even show it then. Also there is seemingly no Search bar either.

3) FILE DOWNLOADS – Microsoft is trying to be like Firefox in this manner as you get a big banner at the bottom of the surfing window when you invoke a download which sits there until you clear it manually. You can also choose to bring up a separate UI with all downloads in it exactly like FF. If you like FF this may be great but I’ve never liked that about FF and if I did want that I might as well just use FF. There also is now where in the IE configuration to turn this nonsense off like you use to be able to with IE8.

4) ACTIVX-JAVA BETA ISSUE – Some buttons on certain websites don’t show but if you move your cursor over them they appear and work fine. Other sites the buttons may show but aren’t handling their association to the action they perform, they don’t work. This is a Beta issue and something they will fix of course.

I can’t see using IE9 in the future unless they clear up these issues IE8 is much better than IE9 in all manners.

If you want to use a very good browser that offers both normal and private mode surfing try Avant Browser it is free and provides more features and flexibility than either FF or IE.

If you want to try IE9 don’t let others who aren’t computer savvy confuse you with myths that it will ruin your computer, it won’t. You can install it and uninstall it without problems unless your computer is already messed up and you’re not aware of it.

411.2.2011 12:51

I cannot wait to download new security patches every 3 days!

511.2.2011 22:29

Will it stil screw up Roxio Videowave?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 12 Feb 2011 @ 7:44

612.2.2011 05:40

Originally posted by POGK:
I cannot wait to download new security patches every 3 days!
I guess it is better than waiting 5 months for a patch to a problem that everyone knows about thanks to an announcement from Micro$oft.

712.2.2011 11:38

Originally posted by Clam_Up:
Always nice to see Mozilla Firefox Installer get another update.
LOL!!! below the belt, but honest and cant really think of a better way to put it :d

812.2.2011 13:15

Originally posted by Mr-Movies:
I just tested this new garbage from MS and here is a brief critique of my experience:

Microsoft’s New IE9 Browser

I don’t normally play with beta software unless I have a virtual machine setup for it. However I’m going to rebuild my Windows 7 platform anyway so I installed IE9 to test drive it. Here is what I discovered in the very short time I used it.

1) SLOWNESS – Microsoft is monitoring your surfing habits and the time it takes to bring up a website. This severely slows down your surfing especially when you have an Internet Security program running. If you disable the security program add-on then surfing speeds up but now you are wide open to attack from the web which is not the correct answer. Once again MS is trying to do too much.

2) INFLEXABLE UI – The new toolbar structure can’t be configured the way you want it. Microsoft in their normal infamous know it all fashion does not allow you to change the size or move the Address bar and it is extremely small which makes you think why even show it then. Also there is seemingly no Search bar either.

3) FILE DOWNLOADS – Microsoft is trying to be like Firefox in this manner as you get a big banner at the bottom of the surfing window when you invoke a download which sits there until you clear it manually. You can also choose to bring up a separate UI with all downloads in it exactly like FF. If you like FF this may be great but I’ve never liked that about FF and if I did want that I might as well just use FF. There also is now where in the IE configuration to turn this nonsense off like you use to be able to with IE8.

4) ACTIVX-JAVA BETA ISSUE – Some buttons on certain websites don’t show but if you move your cursor over them they appear and work fine. Other sites the buttons may show but aren’t handling their association to the action they perform, they don’t work. This is a Beta issue and something they will fix of course.

I can’t see using IE9 in the future unless they clear up these issues IE8 is much better than IE9 in all manners.

If you want to use a very good browser that offers both normal and private mode surfing try Avant Browser it is free and provides more features and flexibility than either FF or IE.

If you want to try IE9 don’t let others who aren’t computer savvy confuse you with myths that it will ruin your computer, it won’t. You can install it and uninstall it without problems unless your computer is already messed up and you’re not aware of it.

So once again, it's fail, right? It seems that youre review is on par with what's to be expected with IE anyways, they mean well but there's still much improvement to be made. Personally, I use Chrome for all my needs, but that's just me. To be able to watch streaming video on the web instead of just downloading a video clip is a BIG PLUS to me.

EDIT: I use Google Reader to stream my video and this is the only browser that I know of that uses this. The format is still puzzling to me though. What is it again. WebM or HTML5? I click on it and it plays right away. Any answer would be appreciated.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 12 Feb 2011 @ 1:18

912.2.2011 14:40

WebM is what Google uses now by choice but you are always downloading the video reguardless of what you use it all depends on the codec's and file standards as to how the streaming is handled. IE(whatever) can stream video in your browser I do it all the time it just buffers it or DL's it to the temp folder prior to starting to play the video. I don't use Chrome because it is too open to the internet and Google has too many connections open to your PC. I don't find it as safe as FF or IE/Avant/Orca's browsers.

WebM
The WebM project hopes to acheve the following goals..

•Low computational footprint to enable playback on any device, including low-power netbooks, handhelds, tablets, etc.
•Simple container format
•Highest quality real-time video delivery
•Click and encode. Minimal codec profiles, sub-options; when possible, let the encoder make the tough choices.

HTML5 is good too though.
HTML5
This specification defines the 5th major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web: the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In this version, new features are introduced to help Web application authors, new elements are introduced based on research into prevailing authoring practices, and special attention has been given to defining clear conformance criteria for user agents in an effort to improve interoperability.

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