From time to time Redmond-based software giant Microsoft releases information that sheds some light onto the success of its Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) web browser, which is currently in Beta. People keeping track of these things will remember that the Beta version of IE9 was released to the public on the 15th of September 2010. In the first 2 days after its release, the browser had been downloaded more than 2 million times.
Furthermore, in the first two days after the lunch of IE9 Beta, the Beauty of the Web site, which Microsoft set up to tout IE9’s capabilities, registered more than 9 million visits and more than 26 million page views.
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In October Microsoft once again came out with figures that showed IE9 Beta’s success with the public. Microsoft announced that as of October 1, IE9 Beta has been downloaded more than 6 million times and that the Beauty of the Web site has registered more than 30 million page views. Two weeks after its launch and IE9 Beta was already downloaded more than 6 million times.
On the 1st of January 2011, Microsoft announced that IE9 Beta has been downloaded 20 million times and that it accounts for 0.46% of internet users worldwide at the end of 2010. A market share of close to half a point is not bad for a browser that’s still in Beta.
In case this is the first time you’re hearing about IE9 Beta and you’re curious to find out what the browser has to offer, here are the main highlights:
- IE9 Beta comes with a fresh new UI (user interface) that, as Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Internet Explorer, Dean Hachamovitch said, is meant to put the focus on the site, not the browser. - You can pin websites to the Windows 7 taskbar - The New Tab Page displays the sites you visit most often (like Opera's Speed Dial) - All notifications are displayed at the bottom of the page - Tear-off tabs feature that allows you to snap pages side-by-side using Windows Aero Snap - Tabs that are related are color coded - Add-on Performance Advisor identifies add-ons that may be slowing down your browser - IE9 Beta has a new, faster JavaScript engine - IE9 Beta provides support for HTML5.
If you would like to get IE9 Beta, you can download the browser from the above mentioned Beauty of the Web site; or you can get the browser in your native language here.