IE9: Good enough to beat Firefox and Chrome?

[Renew Deal]

<snip>
Microsoft released a stable beta version of Internet Explorer 9 last week, and I've been taking it through its paces. I've been very pleasantly surprised to see that IE9 catches up with most of the innovations in Firefox 3 and Chrome 6. I've been even more surprised to see that IE9 actually includes a few new, useful features.
<snip>

Microsoft deserves heaps of praise for embracing HTML5, the last great hope for ridding our computers of Flash addiction (and, it must be noted, a likely contender for some of Microsoft's Silverlight limelight). Sure, HTML5 isn't yet a standard; IE9 only supports a small piece of commonly accepted HTML5 commands; controversy about HTML5 rages, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. To see how your favorite browser, beta or otherwise, measures up to various visions of HTML5, drop by test sites www.html5test.com , www.html5demos.com , and www.caniuse.com.

IE9 runs noticeably faster than IE8 -- you can feel it, just dropping by sites you visit all the time. Is IE9 faster than Firefox 4 or Chrome 7? Good question, but it's still too early to tell: Running a speed test on beta software is like jogging on a rusty treadmill in wet socks.

IE9 clearly lives in a Windows 7 world. It doesn't work on XP -- not at all. Microsoft makes much of IE9's new ability to "pin" a website's favicon (to the left of the Web address) to the Windows 7 toolbar. I stepped through the demos and could hardly muster a snore, but you may like the new color-coordination between the favicon and the front and back arrows. Bling.

The over-arching question: Is IE9 good enough to stem Microsoft's hemorrhaging browser market share? Can the company that went from 90 percent of the market to around 50 percent reclaim some of its lost luster? Press reports paint a happy face on Microsoft execs talking about how IE9 will gain "huge momentum" in conjunction with an anticipated massive corporate switch to Windows 7.
<snip>

http://www.infoworld.com/t/browsers/ie-9-good-enough-beat-firefox-and-chrome-296

This article is a poorly written acknowledgment by a Microsoft hater that IE9 beta is currently the best browser available.

You can get it at: http://www.beautyoftheweb.com

[merh]

1. Not if you have XP

"IE9 clearly lives in a Windows 7 world. It doesn't work on XP -- not at all"

[Renew Deal]

3. Correct

And I think that's a wise decision. XP is now 9 year old software. It's understandably popular, but 9 years is a millenia in computer time.

[glen123098]

25. XP is still the best Microsoft OS though...

I hope microsoft isn't allowed to force me to upgrade to their new shitty OSs.

[tridim]

7. I hated giving up XP too, but a year later I'm happy with Win7.

It required a bit more tweaking (for speed) than I was expecting, but it's a very nice OS.

I still haven't deleted my last two XP installs, just in case.

[Roland99]

13. Agreed. And IE 9's Javascript rendering is leaps and bounds better than IE 8 (and Firefox)

And things like Classic Shell can help those of us who like a less "prettified" Start Menu :-)

[tridim]

2. IMO IE8 is already better than FF.

But FF has always been good for development.

[Renew Deal]

4. I was disappointed in IE8 because it wasn't much of an upgrade.

There was the search feature built into the address bar, but I wasn't a fan of it. It's grown on me. It's easier to find historical visits. I am running IE9 and I am very impressed, particularly with its speed.

[tridim]

5. Downloading it now.

[tridim]

15. I didn't like that I can't relocate the favorites bar.

Also, the main DU site (everything below the top menu) wouldn't load about 10% of the time.

It's still too beta for me. Uninstalled.

[cbdo2007]

6. Yes....while the other browsers are interesting and have some cool tools

I definitely still spend 95% of my time on IE products.

Microsoft just has a way of knowing what the average user wants to do and how they want to do it.

Firefox doesn't always sync up with my way of doing things, and all Google products are too-smart-by-half because they try to do TOO much for me that I want to do myself. Microsoft is always a good balance of how the typical computer user thinks.

[geckosfeet]

8. 'controversy about HTML5' ? Not really. It is accepted and well on its way.

IE9 may be a leap forward from IE7/IE8 but it is still paying catch up to Chrome.

[Renew Deal]

9. What does you mean by "accepted"?

The standard hasn't been ratified and I've read that it might take up to 20 years to complete. In reality there is no HTML5 standard. There are a set of loosly accepted principles. Anyone claiming to be HTML5 compliant (looking at you Apple) is being deceptive.

[geckosfeet]

24. All 'modern' browsers support the htmls api's. There is a standard and the W3C

has current status on it's site.
HTML working group
These api's are documented and available on 'modern' browsers
Canvas
Audio and video
Geolocation
Communication (cross site messaging)
Forms
Web workers
Web storage
Offline applications

Not to mention a number of new html elements and CSS3.

[HopeHoops]

10. If IE9 doesn't address the CSS incompatibilities of IE, then not a chance.

Besides, you still have to jump through hoops to get CSS to deal with M$'s "who gives a fuck" attitude up through IE8. All of the other major browsers work just fine with the CSS standards, both old and current draft. IE never has. I seriously hope IE9 addresses these issues, but it will be some time before the older versions are retired. IE5 is still in common use!

[Roland99]

14. It does. CSS 3 support, HTML 5 support, hardware acceleration

mmmm....

[HopeHoops]

23. That's a good thing, but the legacy of the older versions will haunt IE for many years.

From a technical standpoint, I can understand why they decided to leave XP in the dust, but it was still stupid. I've got machines running 95, 98, XP, Vista, and Win 7 (and various DOS boxes in the basement). I file Win-ME with Microsoft Bob in the "What the FUCK were they THINKING?" trash bin - and neither has ever been in my house. I mostly use the Vista and Win 7 boxes (and Linux), but it is probably fair to say that most public libraries are still on XP or earlier. Even the fancy-schmancy medical center where I saw one of the specialists dealing with my back injury was running on XP.

Yes, if it is true that IE9 really supports CSS3 then that's wonderful! But the jumping through hoops routine will be with us for many long years to come.

[Roland99]

26. We've been testing w/our new internal web app.

IE 9 is blowing Firefox away and the rounded corners capabilities of CSS 3 is working perfectly in IE 9.

[HopeHoops]

31. How about button borders. Damn that pisses me off with the earlier IE versions.

It would be interesting to see some benchmarks given your FireFox claim. IE8 takes fucking forever to just load the application. I can have FireFox running and a cluttered page like CNN fully loaded before IE8 is even ready for a URL.

[Roland99]

33. border-radius, bay-bee!

http://www.geeksmack.net/microsoft/internet-explorer-9-reviewed

[Roland99]

34. blah...dupe

[hunter]

11. I looked but I couldn't find the debian package anywhere...

:P

[dkofos]

20. Darn

Ice Weasel it is.

[notesdev]

12. MS has a big reputation problem

Many people won't use IE9 simply because of the "fool me once" factor. When MS had monopolistic control over parts of the industry, they behaved VERY badly. Web developers still get chills up their spines when they hear the phrase "must be compatible with IE6".

[Greyhound]

16. I wanted to recommend this simply for providing information,

then I read this collection of garbage.

Just from what you included in the OP;

"embracing HTML5" except that in true M$ style they don't embrace the standard at all. Rather they use bits of it to leverage their crapware and violate the rest, keeping their browser incompatible with sites that do adhere to those standards. (The only "controversy" of HTML 5 is that M$ doesn't like standards that make their monopoly hard to enforce and refuses to follow them)

That it is incompatible with any OS, let alone their own older systems that they want to kill, is antithetical to the very concept of a web browser and their performance claims will also be lies based on the fact that there can be no objective comparisons. Anybody can write the fastest application if it is specifically written for one environment that purposely cripples performance in apps not written by the same developer.

And finally in the questions, "Is IE9 good enough to stem Microsoft's hemorrhaging browser market share? Can the company that went from 90 percent of the market to around 50 percent reclaim some of its lost luster?" the author completely ignores the fact that M$ only ever had a "90% share of the market" by literally stealing Mozilla's first browser and integrating into their OS (BTW, the only vague attempt to enforce anti-trust laws by the Clinton administration which ended up legitimizing what was at that time a theft on an unprecedented scale. They paid a $70M fine for stealing ~$2B). IE has never increased it's share, only slowly lost it after stealing the lead while other developers sussed out the "trade secrets" of windoze and overcame the deliberate attempts to block their use.
:kick: & U

[kenny blankenship]

17. Yes, the Internet needs IE9 like it needs a monopolist OS vendor

determining who can view information on the WWW on the basis of whether they've paid off mafia goons punctually and in full. IE? Nein!

[Dappleganger]

18. Content to live in a Safari world...

'cuz I'm a macintosh girl. :)

[qb]

19. Firefox has already lost, as far as I'm concerned.

I've used it for years, but recently it began crashing relentlessly, so I uninstalled it.

[Greyhound]

30. Likely a communication error in the update. Easily solved.

Provide some details and I'll bet I can tell you how to fix it.

[qb]

37. I had the most recent version as of a couple of months ago (I don't remember the version #).

Our IT guy had to reverse a Java update that messed with our time sheet software.
I had been ignoring the message from FireFox that I absolutely positively must update Flash.
Crashes happened most frequently while I was working with an online web page developer (UrbanPlanet CMS v3.2).

[Greyhound]

38. Oh yes, that is a known error.

Not sure if it was Mozilla or Sun, but the cure is to remove the Java console update (6.0.03 IIRC) completely (Tools -> Add-ons).

Voila, full functionality restored.

[qb]

40. Thanks. I reinstalled it & will give it another try.

[tridim]

21. Warning: IE8 is now slower after IE9 install/uninstall

Unless DU is experiencing bandwidth problems right now.

Is DU slow for anyone else?

[Greyhound]

28. SOP for M$.

Malware; Software is considered to be malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features.

You gave their app permissions to re-write and replace system files, and as M$ always does, they did so in ways to make it much easier for you to just surrender than to fix the problems they caused and are not liable for.

DU is always slow, controlling the scripts you allow to run helps.

[tridim]

29. System restore fixed it.

No, this isn't SOP, IE9 is a beta product.

[Greyhound]

36. IE9 may be a beta...

but this certainly is SOP for M$. The history is consistent, the techniques well-worn.

Good thing it's not retail software, for that they release the alpha and you pay them to beta test their crapware.

[Renew Deal]

32. Why did you uninstall it?

:shrug:

[tridim]

35. I didn't like the "favorites" bar not being configurable.

It's like the IE8 favorites bar was just slapped on top of the IE9 interface. It even overlays part of the "back" button. It also takes up way too much veritical space.

I'll try again when it's in the RC phase.

[dkofos]

22. Not if I have to use wondoze.

[Dawson Leery]

27. Firefox is my preferred choice.

[killbotfactory]

39. I will forever hate Internet Explorer for my experiences in web design

Never again.