Microsoft launch Internet Explorer 9 web browser

Microsoft has launched its latest bid to be computer users' default window on to the web.

The firm has released a beta, or test, version of its latest web browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), which it hopes will help revive its fortunes in an increasingly competitive market.
Since 2003, the company has seen a 97% lead in market share dwindle to 60%.
IE9 will compete with new versions of other popular browsers such as Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome.

Google Chrome now commands more than 7.5% of the market, despite only being first released in December 2008.

Mozilla, which has recently launched a test version of Firefox 4, has nearly a quarter of the market and in some countries is the dominant web browser.
Many browsers received a boost when the European Commission forced Microsoft to offer users of its Windows operating system a choice of browser, rather than Internet Explorer as a default.
Ina Fried, who covers Microsoft for technology site CNet, said the new software brought Microsoft "back in serious browser contention".
"Internet Explorer still dominates in market share, but they have been losing out for years to Firefox and more recently Chrome mainly because of where they were on the technology front," she told BBC News.
"This release gets them back in the game technologically and really takes advantage of Windows [7]."
"The question now that they have a better browser technologically, is will they gain back some of that market share?"

IE9 contains a range of new features, many of which are designed to make the browser perform more like an application - the small programs commonly found on smartphones.
These specialist pieces of software, which offer a customised and intuitive way to interact with a website, are gaining increasing popularity.
IE9 is designed to help blur the boundaries between applications and the browser.
To do this, Microsoft has adopted technology that allows the browser to tap directly into a computer's graphics chip, rather than just its processor.

 

Many features will be familiar to users of other browsers

This "hardware acceleration" makes web pages more nimble and behave more like software running directly on the computer.
"The web browsers of the day weren't taking advantage of the power of the hardware, really only about 10%, skimming the surface of the power of a PC," Tami Reller, corporate vice president of Windows, told BBC News.
"We wanted to make sure we're using 100% of the PC to bring the best experience possible."
The new browser also supports forthcoming global web standards, such as HTML5, which allow web developers to create rich and immersive web sites with graphics and video.
"There are [one] billion Windows customers and about 60% of their time is spent browsing the web. The sites and the content that customers are gravitating towards is very graphically rich - they want to watch videos, manipulate and see photos," said Ms Reller.

this post from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11315819