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Some new features of IE9 worth mentioning
- Pinned sites - easily add sites to a list that automatically loads when the browser is opened. This has been available in other browsers but IE9 gives the users the ability to simply drag the sites to the bar instead of going into the browser settings. You don't have to have any special knowledge to do this.
- Cleaner, one box layout - looks allot like Chrome, shows more of the page without scrolling and is more minimalistic.
- Functionality of tabs - New tab bar shows frequently visited sites and you now have the ability to kill a specific tab in the task manager if it starts to hang.
- Download manager - Engaget said it best... "Finally", Microsoft should have added this a long time ago.
- Add-on Performance Advisor - A tool used for showing you what browser add-ons and toolbars are slowing down your browsing experience. It shows you how much extra time each toolbar takes to load, etc.
About the Performance - Internet Explorer 9 doesn't seem to be all that much better from the research that I've done. It is better than previous versions of IE but in my opinion Microsoft is just playing catch up with Google Chrome and Firefox by adding features that have been standard in those browsers for a long time. IE9 does however employ hardware acceleration. At this time it's a moot point. Since most sites out there that would benefit from such technology are written in flash... and flash already employs GPU acceleration. In the future however, when more sites are HTML 5 this will be a major selling point. But by then the other major browsers will undoubtedly have this built in. According to the performance reviews that I've read Chrome and Firefox still out perform the new IE9, with Chrome a little on top of Firefox. IE9 is a major improvement on IE8 though... but that's like saying, "Ice cream tastes better than dog poop."
-- IE8 is way behind the times and pretty much anything is an improvement.Get IE9 Beta - If you'd like to test drive the Internet Explorer 9 beta visit http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/ (Direct Link to get the IE9 Beta)
More in depth information - Engaget has a nice review of IE9 (Visit the Engaget IE9 review)
It looks allot cleaner and quicker. It also looks to me that Microsoft has addressed many issues that were plaguing users in IE8. It should also be noted that IE9 will not be supported on Windows XP, but is that really a surprise to anyone since Microsoft announced that XP is no longer being updated.
Has anyone had a chance to test drive the new version of Internet Explorer? What are your first impressions and opinions on the newest version of Internet Explorer?
Even if I was on Windows I'd still use a different browser, call it personal preference or maybe it's just because I like things that are fast (lol). The fact that Microsoft doesn't even offer their browser for Mac users pisses me off. Apple offers Safari for Windows users... COME ON MS!
