We all know about and have used the Internet Explorer browser in our PCs and laptops for browsing. There seems to be a new version of the browser coming up from Microsoft. The Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft, Kevin Turner has put light on the coming up of the Internet Explorer 9 browser. The browser is said to be scheduled for release in September 2010.
At the annual Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting (FAM) held on July 29, 2010, at Redmond, Turner has revealed the beta release date for the Internet Explorer 9 browser. There, the executives of Microsoft have tried to clarify the areas of interest and focus for the company in the coming year, and of the ongoing projects. The eight core-focus areas identified by General Manager of Investor Relations Bill Koefoed are Xbox and TV, Bing, Office, Windows Server, Windows Phone, Windows, Business users and SQL Server.
According to the several leaks present on the web, Microsoft has been targeting the month of August for the delivery of the beta version of IE 9. The expectation is that the beta version will be available as public which is similar to the test previews, and will also feature more of the elements of the user interface.
We all know that Microsoft has been making good on its promise to deliver new technology preview builds of Internet Explorer 9 on the time slot of every eight weeks. For information, the first developer preview for the Internet Explorer 9 went live in the middle on March. The latest test build for the Internet Explorer 9 was released in June. The builds which have been released by Microsoft till date have always been specific and based on the developers point of view.
The details which Microsoft has always included in their IE 9 builds include plumbing, especially about the “Chakra” which is actually the code name for the new Microsoft JavaScript engine, and also the new graphics sub-system which has actually been coupled with a home page filled with test sites. In this, there is no back button, neither the incorporation of the built-in security. This is actually the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 9 and the early tools.
But, the Microsoft officials have not yet shared a target release date to the Web for the final version of the Internet Explorer 9 browser, but it seems to be 2011 as expected by many of the Microsoft watchers. From some of the leaked authentic screenshots of the upcoming Internet Explorer 9, they seem to be quite similar to the current version of IE. For the showing of the Internet Explorer 9 engine, Microsoft has shipped three platform previews.
According to the anticipations of the Web developers, the new Internet Explorer 9 browser is quite a big improvement to the Internet Explorer 8, with the possibility of improved standards compliance and functionality. But this policy of release by Microsoft does seem to be surpassed by the more frequent updates for browsers like Mozilla Firefox or the Google Chrome.
I have to admit that IE has imporved in recent years and is probably the most used browser in the world, but I still prefer Firefox and Microsoft have a long way to go, especially when it comes to additional functionality – addons.