Microsoft has sent out invitations on Thursday for the launch of Internet Explorer 9 Beta the latest (and best) iteration of its market-leading Web browser, on September 15 in San Francisco. The beta launch in September is expected to include the major features and other new features including the ones already included in the previews. We will see IE9 in full glory from September, for the first time after months of speculation surrounding what it will be all about. And the fact is that this browser will be nothing like any of its predecessors (even IE8).
Here is what makes IE9 the best choice:
1. Full Hardware Acceleration
IE9 comes with full hardware acceleration includes Canvas, SVG, HTML 5 video, audio (first ever browser). Web developers can now take advantage of hardware-driven rendering of graphics and text. Internet Explorer 9 uses the DirectX family of Windows application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable several advances for Web developers. The starting point is moving all graphics and text rendering from the CPU to the graphics card using Direct2D and DirectWrite. Graphics hardware acceleration means that rich, graphically intensive sites can render faster while using less CPU. Plus, you will take advantage of these changes automatically while continuing to author sites with the same standards you’re used to.
2. SVG Support
IE 9 supports 100% SVG 1.1 2nd edition (http://samples.msdn.microsoft.com/ietestcenter/#svg11e2). Currently no other browser is capable to support 100% SVG 1.1. It seems that SVG will be a strategic choice for Microsoft in order to support vector graphics in the next generation of web apps:
3. HTML5
Hardware accelerated HTML5 support in IE9 is probably the most powerful new addition to Microsoft's latest installment of Internet Explorer. It includes HTML 5 Audio and Video tags. The audio tag will include native support for the MP3 and AAC codecs, while the video tag will natively support H.264/AVC. Support for WebM video will require third-party plugins. It also supports hardware accelerated Canvas Tag.
4. Faster Javascript (codename chakra)
IE9 contains a new JavaScript engine, code named Chakra, runs JavaScript in the background of your computer on a separate CPU core, that's parallel to the Internet Explorer 9 browser - which will make for much faster JavaScript rendering and a better overall internet experience.
5. DOM improvements
* DOM Traversal and Range
* Full DOM L2 and L3 events
* getComputedStyle from DOM Style
* DOMContentLoaded
6. Css3 Support
* CSS3 Rounded corners
* CSS3 Values and Units
* CSS3 Multiple backgrounds
* CSS3 Media Queries
User Interface
There is been lots of speculations about the user interface on the internet, suggesting a Chrome like tabs-on-top interface, or the ribbon-like interface used in Microsoft Office. Another suggestion says that IE9 will have the Zune/Windows Phone 7 “Metro” look. Microsoft has been very tight lipped about the details of the user interface.