Most web-savvy people consider Internet Explorer to be the browser dinosaur that just won't die. It's been the thorn in the side of all web designers and programmers for years.
"Okay, all done the site design. Lets check functionality...looks good on Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Netscape. Perfect!! Oh yeah, some people still use Internet Explorer - better check it out on ther....DOH!!!"
Microsoft will be formally launching the next version of its Internet Explorer browser, IE9, at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival next week. Despite possessing only fraction of the market share in the US (2.9%), IE6 continues to hold a major portion of the market in countries such as China (34.5%) and South Korea (24.8%). Microsoft says the new browser will go live on its servers at noon on the 14th of March.
IE9 will not run on Windows XP, which is still the most used version of Microsoft's OS. Microsoft says IE9 is the fully hardware-accelerated browser, using the GPU for all graphics and text in Web pages.
"The browser has a clean new design that reinforces the site's visuals, with a large site icon, and that icon's colors reflected in the back and forward buttons. IE9 does far more than provide shortcuts to sites on the desktop and reduce the space used in the browser interface. The design of IE9's frame puts the user's focus on the site, not the browser, with fewer distractions. IE9 allows sites to shine." Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft's IE engineering head said in a blog post.