Yes, IE9 is on the way (though it could be quite some time before a full release).
If you are a web-designer, chances are you are well acquainted with all the frustrating little quirks in how websites are rendered in IE, especially earlier versions of it. Even IE8 is limited compared to many other browsers; for example it has virtually no support for CSS3.
Microsoft has sadly continued to fall behind the times when it comes to the internet browsing experience. Despite this they have managed to hold onto a very large market share, but they have been losing that dominance over time.
You can now test drive IE9 for yourself by downloading and installing the preview from Internet Explorer 9: Platform Demos
Now granted this is an incomplete browser at this time, and most of the websites I viewed in it pretty much rendered as they would in IE8, here are a few examples new features:
CSS3 Media Queries
It will support CSS3 media queries, so that a page can be easily styled differently depending upon the media and screen-size (browser window size really) being used. So you could tell IE9 to only apply style rules when the window size is a maximum of 600px for example. I’ve also noticed that the example they give has rounded corners on the borders when reduced to a certain size, nice.
Border-Radius
A nice step forward, you can easily add rounded corners to your websites, and they will display in IE9. They won’t display in any other version of IE, but many browsers support CSS3 rounded corners.
SVG Support
IE9 will support SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). No other version of IE has supported them, but outside of IE they are widely supported.
Comparing a site using SVG graphics in both IE9 and FF, IE9 was definitely the faster of the two.
There are 3rd party SVG plugins for IE8 if you want to give them a shot. An example is Adobe’s SVG viewer, it’s no longer being updated, but you can still download it (and let me know if you have any luck with it, I haven’t tried it out on my old XP machine yet). Adobe SVG Viewer
I think IE9 will be a huge improvement over previous versions, though rather late to the game in many ways.
Thanks for sharing, really like your view. Waiting for some more great articles like this from you in the coming days.
I’m just curious why people from Microsoft always speak about “better web standards” as they launch new version of IE. Standards ARE and they WERE. Also, they WILL be the same (some may be added and a few may be changed, but no big deal)
So what’s the point of a browser that claims to understand standards “better” even though there are only two options: standards are followed or they’re ignored.
Based on my experience, IE 9 is going to be just another standards-ignoring browser.
Viva Opera and Chrome!
I wish IE would just adopt WebKit.
Very well written.
Waiting for this release. Hope this version will push out mozilla n chrome.
Whether IE is the best browser for web designing. More number of users using firefox
This is some nice work. Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to more writeups to read in the future.
The new IE will be a weapon to recover its market from Chrome and Firefox. Today IE is the most used web browser but it will be very effective to increase the number of users.
I really can’t see myself moving from FF. I suppose I’ve got lazy and used to the addons that help me do my job.
Yes there are similar addons for IE – but the open source community is better!
I’ve been using FF as my staple browser, with chrome on my other monitor to do quick tasks. I just can’t see myself going back to IE but at least it means more people will switch from older versions, which makes my job easier as a web designer.
Thanks to great content.
this is cool! when is it set to relsease?
I can tell you care a lot about web design from the quality of this site. I love the colors!
I’m just looking forward to the day that IE7 is no longer used… I have so many problems with that browser in particular.
FF all the way (although I am swinging towards Chrome – don’t hate me…)
Great MS have now released a later version of IE! now lets all change our CSS and HTML code so it can read and display it correctly!
If only every browser was as good as chrome/firefox.
The new IE will be a weapon to recover its market from Chrome and Firefox. Today IE is the most used web browser but it will be very effective to increase the number of users.