How Do You Like Internet Explorer 9?

Internet Explorer 9

Microsoft released the latest version of their web browser – Internet Explorer 9 to the public last Monday and racked up a total of 2.35 million downloads in it’s first 24 hours of availability. I’ve been very busy since Monday and it was only today that I got to download, install and try out Internet Explorer 9 and to be honest, I kinda like it.

INTERNET EXPLORER 9 NEW FEAUTURES & IMPROVEMENTS:

  • User Interface – Pinned Sites, Security-enabled Download Manager, Address Bar Search, Enhanced Tabs and Tab Page, Add-on Performance Advisor and Compact user interface.
  • Scripting – Javascript Engine, DOM
  • CSS
  • HTML5 – HTML5 Media, HTML5 Canvas, HTML5 Inline SVG support
  • Web typography
  • Malware protection

Unfortunately for Windows XP users, Internet Explorer 9 only works with the following versions of Windows – Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

One of the cool features of IE9 that I like is the Pinned Sites feature which integrates with the Windows 7 taskbar and allows the user to “pin” a site to the taskbar and use it as a shortcut. If you want to “pin” a site, all you need to do is type the URL of the website that you want to pin and once the site has completely loaded, just click on the tab, drag towards the taskbar and when it says “Pin to Taskbar” release it. See screenshot below.

Internet Explorer 9 Pinned Sites

I’m sure some of you will like the Internet Explorer 9’s built-in F12 Developer Tools, this is similar to the Firebug extension on Firefox or Developer Tools on Google Chrome which allows the user to edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.

Internet Explorer 9 Developer Tools

Internet Explorer 9 Developer Tools

If you’re trying to look for a Search bar on Internet Explorer 9, you won’t find any because it doesn’t have one. On Internet Explorer 9, the address bar doubles as the search bar. If you choose Google as your default search engine, you can enable Google Suggest (an auto-suggest feature).

Internet Explorer 9 Google Suggest

Internet Explorer 9 Google Suggest

Other cool features include InPrivate Browsing (same as Google Chrome’s Incognito) which prevents Internet Explorer from storing your browsing session data – cookies, temporary Internet files, history, etc. and the Tracking Protection feature which blocks ads, third-party cookies, tracking pixels, web beacons, hit counters, analytics scripts and other tools used by ad agencies and other organizations to track and profile the activities of web users.

I really like Internet Explorer 9 because it is a whole lot better than its predecessors and it has some very cool new features, but I’m still sticking to Mozilla Firefox as my default web browser because of the extensions/addons/plugins that I rely on for work and make things so much easy and convenient for me. Although I’m using Mozilla Firefox as my default or primary web browser, I might consider replacing Google Chrome and use Internet Explorer 9 as my secondary or backup web browser.

Download Internet Explorer 9

Anyone installed and tried Internet Explorer 9? How do you like it so far? Which feature/s of Internet Explorer 9 do you like the most? Would you consider using it as your default web browser? Please share your thoughts.

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13 Comments

  1. I still don’t get the point. IE 9 hasn’t done anything new. Yes it got faster for Explorer standards, but its still nowhere near as fast as the latest Opera/Chrome browsers.

    That being said, if people use Google Chrome to its full potential, including using plugins and extensions like “Adblock Plus” and “Turn off the lights,” it is one beast of a browser (not to mention the millions of extentions/themes/apps that you can download from the Chrome webstore).

    The only good thing about IE 9 was the commercial. It wasn’t and fast as I wanted to be, was INCREDIBLY buggy, (glitched out a lot), had random white screens, and had to Force Quit it on numerous occasions.

    Sticking to Chrome and occasionally Firefox.

  2. Just deleting IE9… I WANT A SEARCH BAR.
    BUT, I am also deleting Windows 7 and returning to XP.
    What is happening with Microsoft? They ALL became DUMB?
    I spent my money buying this S#@$T!!!

    1. @Eduardo – I understand your frustration. Why did you delete Windows 7? What do you not like about it? I find it better than Vista and I also like XP but it will soon be phased out so might as well get used to Windows 7, right? :)

  3. I did not like IE9, I switched back to 8 and use fire fox more. I found the “one box” frustrating to use and the whole experence unpleasent.

    1. @anonAdmin – Although I like Internet Explorer 9 (because it is a much much better version compared to older IE versions), I still barely use it because I use Firefox and Chrome.

  4. Really like IE9! You can type in a commonly-used website in the address bar and it takes you to the site instead of going to Google first. Very simple and efficient. I have an iMac and use Bootcamp with Win7 (as well as OS X Snow Leopard) and I still prefer IE9 over Safari.

    1. @Judy – That’s great! Good that you found a web browser that you like and works for you. Nice setup btw, dual boot Win7 and OS X Snow Leopard. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience with IE9. :)

  5. @Jhay – Hehe..me too. I only used IE again because of this update. In my case, although I use Ubuntu most of the time, I still use Windows from time-to-time coz of some programs and for some games.

    Yep, it’s about time Microsoft released a “good” web browser.

  6. I really can’t recall when was the last time I used IE, more than 6 years or so?

    And since I’m on Ubuntu, I won’t be able to try it out. Still, this update has been long overdue.

  7. @Joie – If you have Vista or Windows 7, then IE9 is a good alternative but like you mentioned, if Chinese websites are compatible with IE then, IE9 should be your default browser there in China. Hehe You’re welcome!

  8. I have heard that it will be available. I am not a fan of IE after I tried firefox but there's only browsers that works so well with chinese websites and that's IE. So, I will try to download and install it on my desktop. Thanks bringing the news and for the link to the download site.

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