Microsoft releases final preview of IE9

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 5 Aug 2010 at 11:22

Microsoft has issued the fourth and final preview of Internet Explorer 9, before the browser reaches beta.

The fourth platform preview brings a few more demonstrations of the browser's prowess. A "Psychedelic Browsing" demo, for example, shows how the browser can cope with fast moving graphics implemented with the new HTML5 canvas tag. The browser uses GPU acceleration to boost its graphics performance.

Microsoft is also trumpeting improvements in IE9's support for web standards. The browser now scores 95 out of 100 in the Acid3 Test, a small improvement on earlier previews and a country mile ahead of Internet Explorer 8, which scores 20 out of 100.

The software giant also claims its new browser outperforms Firefox and Safari in the SunSpider JavaScript test. Although in a rather candid admission of its own failings, Microsoft admits Internet Explorer 8 is around ten times slower than IE9 under SunSpider, making it by far the worst JavaScript performer of any current browser.

The IE9 platform preview remains little more than a shell to showcase Microsoft's demos, with not even as much as an address bar visible in its current state.

Microsoft's chief operating officer Kevin Turner last week revealed that the company plans to launch a beta of Internet Explorer 9 in September.