Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate out now
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By Barry Collins
Posted on 10 Feb 2011 at 17:00
Microsoft has applied the finishing touches to Internet Explorer 9.
The company has released a feature-complete Release Candidate, ahead of the full launch of the browser. It should be available for download from the (vomit-inducing URL) BeautyOfTheWeb.co.uk.
The latest version includes a smattering of new features and performance enhancements from the beta software.
Perhaps the most significant newcomer is IE9's Tracking Protection Technology, which the company first announced in December, and is fast becoming a standard feature in all the leading browsers.
The feature is designed to stop third-party tracking companies from following you from one site to another, and targeting you with ads based on your browsing history.
IE9 will ship with a blacklist, provided by four privacy groups, of the widely used third-party trackers. The blacklist can be switched on by the user, although there's no option to block tracking outright. Microsoft claims a blanket ban would have more dire consequences, such as preventing embedded YouTube videos from playing.
Neither can users choose to add particular sites to their blacklist: "You are dependent on the people providing the lists," Mark Quirk, web product manager for Microsoft UK told PC Pro.
Interface tweak
Microsoft has also made a minor change to the Spartan Internet Explorer 9 interface. In the beta, open tabs began bunching up to the right-hand side of the address bar. In the release candidate, users can choose to drop the tabs beneath the address bar, giving them a little more room to breathe.
Internet Explorer is now the only major browser that doesn't have tabs at the top of the browser window (if you include the soon-to-be-released Firefox 4).
Performance boost
Microsoft is also keen to shed IE's reputation for sluggish performance. It claims the Release Candidate is 35% faster than the beta in the SunSpider benchmark, thanks to improvements to the browser's hardware acceleration.
That makes it faster than any other browser on the market, according to Microsoft, although it was benchmarking against version 9 of Google Chrome, which is soon to be superseded.
Microsoft, which was until recently dismissive of browser benchmarks, claims that translates into real-world performance gains. "We don't optimise for benchmarks, but they do happen to run well," said Quirk.
In another bid to eradicate the dark-old days of IE, Microsoft's also emphasising IE9's ever-improving support for HTML5. The browser now supports geolocation, allowing users to pinpoint their location on online maps, for example.
From around the web
Waste of space
I'm amazed they still think they can get away with wasting the entire top strip of our precious screen area. It is a throwback to windows 3.1
By martindaler on 10 Feb 2011 
"vomit inducing URL"
Somehow I feel that Barry is not too keen on IE or on MS. Perhaps a dose of Stemetil to ease the nausea?
By marekj on 10 Feb 2011
re: waste of space
The title bar overall, still takes up less room than google chrome! so i dont think thats relevant!
Its a good little browser, nice and quick, i think ill be testing it as my default over the usual chrome for a little while
By jamieostrich on 11 Feb 2011
But is it web standards compliant?
MS is famous for not being standards compliant. Have they changed? Unlikely: that would be innovative, and they're best at copy cat.
Is it faster? Maybe its faster than IE8, but how does it load pages for which it is not optimised - I remember there was a bit of a stink with the Beta speed tested against a hand picked selection of pages that were best suited to making it look good.
Is it cross platform? Not that Linux users would be much interested in it...
Will it require special "extensions" on websites for some of its features to work properly? Most probably.
Will it arrest the plummeting market share? We'll see, but being unavailable for XP users this might be in doubt... which means IE market share below 60% and heading for less than 50% soon.
By SwissMac on 11 Feb 2011
Titlebar and Standards
One of the reasons I don't really like Chrome, apart from the lack of a decent script blocker, is that it puts the tabs in the title bar, which usually means I switch to a different tab when I switch focus or try and move the window.
I've been using the beta and it is very good. I still use Firefox as my main browser and I keep flirting with Chrome, but it doesn't feel "right" somehow.
@SwissMac, yes, they have changed their spots - they did it about 4 or 5 years ago in other areas and IE is moving towards standards compliance.
In some areas, it is ahead of Firefox and Safari/Chrome, in other areas it still needs to catch up.
The performance is very good, it certainly feels faster than Firefox and Chrome.
Why does it need to be cross-platform, if it is standards compliant? If Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera and IE all become standards compliant (and implement them in the same way! Something which they don't currently do, which is why CSS, HTML and JavaScript has to be butchered for Safari and Firefox, as well as IE), then it is irrelevant which browser you use, so using the one that is optimised for your operating system is better than one that is cross platform...
Until Flash stops being a requirement, yes, it will need special extensions, so does Safari, your point?
Ford brought out a new Navigation system for the Mondeo, it won't fit in my 2004 Mondeo, BASTARDS! Your point? Windows XP is an outdated and obsolete operating system, Microsoft made it known several years ago, that it would be in extended support (security bug fixes only), so it isn't really surprising that IE 9 won't appear on XP - plus it uses features only found in newer operating systems...
By big_D on 11 Feb 2011
Tried to install...
which went fine, everything looked good.
Until I tried to make a call on skype. It immediately shut down skype which happened the last time I tried installing the beta, on a different computer so had to revert to IE8.
By David1981 on 11 Feb 2011
Uninstalled
Installed midnight. Uninstalled 10 am
Falls over repeatedly on Daily Telegraph and PC Pro pages and on trying to login to register comment.
It is quicker to load. It is unreliable. They have moved/removed the favourites drop down bar. Subject of comment in earlier release version but not addressed. wait for the final version.
By Grant100 on 11 Feb 2011
When I installed IE9 it stopped desktop gadgets from working and won't open! It's also not showing in programs so can't be removed easily. Good start microsoft.
By GlidemanUK on 11 Feb 2011
Tried to install...
which went fine, everything looked good.
Until I tried to make a call on skype. It immediately shut down skype which happened the last time I tried installing the beta, on a different computer so had to revert to IE8.
By David1981 on 11 Feb 2011
Tried to install...
which went fine, everything looked good.
Until I tried to make a call on skype. It immediately shut down skype which happened the last time I tried installing the beta, on a different computer so had to revert to IE8.
By David1981 on 11 Feb 2011
Sorry for triple post..
pressed the back button on my browser and it reposted.
By David1981 on 11 Feb 2011
IENRCORE.EXE
Having downloaded IE9 RC AVG detected malware in the form of IENRCORE.EXE so I pulled the plug. Colleagues have experienced the installation hanging. Does anyone have any advice about these two issues?
By DavidCraddick on 17 Feb 2011
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