Breaking News: IE 9 Beta is RTW (available for download)

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RTW = Released to the Web-Inter-tubes

Yes indeed.. the much anticipated beta of the next version of Internet Explorer, IE9, is available for download.

Beautiful!GET IT HERE: https://windows.microsoft.com/ie9

Here is some text from an e-mail I received just prior to the release:

With Internet Explorer 9, we’ve aimed to achieve four primary goals:

  • Speed: creating a browser that takes full advantage of your PC with hardware acceleration across GPU and multi-core CPUs, enabling your code to deliver near-native performance without having to write it differently.
  • Standards: supporting the HTML5 technologies that developers and standards bodies tell us are stable enough for vendor implementation, providing a complete implementation of those standards that enables developers to write the same markup for all standards-compliant browsers.
  • Site-centric: in IE9, we have a new streamlined interface that allows the site experience to shine through. We’ve worked on enabling web developers to more fully integrate with Windows through “site mode”, which offers the ability to pin a site with dynamic jump lists, custom thumbnail previews, and notification icons.
  • Secure: we’ve retained our efforts on ensuring that IE9 protects you from Internet threats, providing users with extra safeguards against malware and phishing sites.

“Wow.. pretty geeky stuff.”

Yes, there is a lot to love in IE9 from a development and IT perspective.  And the site https://www.beautyoftheweb.com now features links to many great examples of the amazing things that everyone can do (and enjoy) with IE9. 

Here are just a few examples (again grabbed from the earlier e-mail):

A couple of examples that are particular favorites of mine (please don’t share them until 11am Pacific):

  • The Killers ( https://www.thekillersmusic.com/html5 ) – one of the biggest rock bands in the world go live with a full IE9-optimized HTML5 site today! Showcasing video, Canvas, WOFF fonts, SVG – this site is full of easter eggs and the band loves what IE9 provides.
  • Jitterbugs ( https://html5.cynergysystems.com ) – a game that uses Canvas, SVG, WOFF and audio to deliver an experience that you’d have never been able to do in a browser before IE9.
  • WebVizBench ( https://www.webvizbench.com ) – a benchmark for HTML5 built with data from KEXP that scales up to even high-end graphical hardware – with video, animations, WOFF and Canvas.
  • Rough Guides ( https://makethemost.roughguides.com/ ) – this blurs the lines between a web page and a full application, integrating data from Flickr and curated content into a beautiful, zoomable interface.
  • Never Mind the Bullets ( https://www.nevermindthebullets.com/ ) – a parallax comic built with HTML5.
  • Agent 008 Ball ( https://www.agent8ball.com ) – a pool game with a spy theme that uses Canvas, audio, WOFF fonts.
  • AP Timeline Reader ( https://html5.labs.ap.org/ ) – a news reader with a difference – browse through the articles that you’re interested in reading and add them to a queue; then read them in a clutter-free environment with customizable fonts and high-res photos.

I hope you’ll agree that these are pretty stunning. And of course, all of them can be pinned to the Windows 7 taskbar with hi-res icons.

I agree, Tim.  I agree.

Have you tried it yet? Tell me what you think!