Winextra » Internet Explorer

An awesome illustration of the Browser Wars

Steven — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:50:15 +0000

This illustration made by Galit Weisberg (aka Shoze) for a contest on Sketchoholic is just awesome.

An awesome illustration of the Browser Wars is a post from: winextra
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Talk about an update dance – all versions of Internet Explorer in 8 minutes

Steven — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:13:49 +0000

A few weeks ago we saw the video of Andrew Tait as he upgraded every version of Windows from DOS to Windows 7 go viral on the web. Well he’s back folks and this time he takes us through the upgrading of every version of Internet Explorer and how they each did in the web standards test area.

via CrunchGear

Talk about an update dance – all versions of Internet Explorer in 8 minutes is a post from: winextra
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I want to use Internet Explorer 9 but it’s just not ready yet

Steven — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:56:47 +0000

As we know Microsoft has released the Release Candidate for Internet Explorer 9 and for the most part the response has been pretty good, at least those without an anti-Microsoft broom handle stuck where the sun doesn’t shine.

In the short period of time that I played around IE9 I really liked what I saw but unfortunately for me IE9 still isn’t ready to replace Chrome.

Now, I say “for me” because my usage of a browser is probably very different than it is for most of the people who are reading this post. As a blogger I spend much of my time in the browser and as a result have built up a selection of Chrome extensions that help me with my work. These extension have become indispensable for me and right now the IE Add-ons marketplace, for lack of a better term – sucks rocks.

IE Add-ons marketplace

On top of this there is this confusing separation of web slices, search providers, accelerators and add-ons. In contrast with Chrome, and to a degree with Firefox, it’s extensions, and just extensions (and of course web apps but that is a different kettle of fish). Looking for what you want for IE 9 in the way of add-ons is – for the lack of a better word – painful.

That is of course you can even find what you want.

For better or worse we are at a point where a browser is only as good as its extensions and as I have said in the past IE9′s success will depend not on how much it has improved or how web standards compliant it is (although they are important in their own right). For IE9 to succeed the core user group of browsers are going to want a rich extension ecosystem, and to be able to find them without pulling their hair out.

Unfortunately at this point for IE9 the first is just a shell filled with mostly pointless extensions, or whatever you want to call them, and the latter is just an aggravation.

Of course this won’t apply to the vast majority of browser users and in this case IE9 rocks and is ready to go full tilt. On the other hand for people like myself and others who require a lot more from their browsers than just surfing around and checking into Facebook or Twitter it still has a way to go.

I want to use Internet Explorer 9 but it’s just not ready yet is a post from: winextra
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Tracking protection coming to Internet Explorer 9

Steven — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 19:43:20 +0000

There is a growing debate about whether or not the government should be getting involved with creating a law that would require browser makers to provide an option for users to identify and stop any tracking mechanisms through some sort of “Do Not Track” system.

While the whole discussion about whether the government should get involved or not is interesting from a philosophical point of view Microsoft is stepping beyond the conversation with the next version of Internet Explorer.

On the IEBlog they announced today that Internet Explorer 9 will see the introduction of a Tracking Protection feature. Interestingly it will be an opt-in feature.

Today, consumers have very little awareness or control over who can track their online activity. Much has been written about this topic. With the release candidate:
IE9 will offer consumers a new opt-in mechanism (“Tracking Protection”) to identify and block many forms of undesired tracking.
“Tracking Protection Lists” will enable consumers to control what third-party site content can track them when they’re online.
We believe that the combination of consumer opt-in, an open platform for publishing of Tracking Protection Lists (TPLs), and the underlying technology mechanism for Tracking Protection offer new options and a good balance between empowering consumers and online industry needs. They further empower consumers and complement many of the other ideas under discussion.

Nice move Microsoft.

Tracking protection coming to Internet Explorer 9 is a post from: winextra
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Internet Explorer 9 to get a simplified user interface

Steven — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:14:03 +0000

Word is that Microsoft will be holding a limited attendance launch of the first beta release of Internet Explorer 9 on September 15th. It was an announcement that came with some good and bad information – depending of course on your user interface preferences.

One thing that we won’t be seeing in this beta, or final release, which I am sure a lot of people will be glad to hear, is the use of the Ribbon UI. This is according to a post by Tom Warren at Neowin which is where he also let us know that we also won’t be seeing any of the new MetroUI elements that has been getting a lot of good press.

Now personally I would have loved to see the use of the MetroUI in IE9 but I understand why there wasn’t much of a chance of it happening. As cool and well received the MetroUI has been by the tech crowd I believe that Microsoft wants to see the response of the consumer after Windows Phone 7 hits t he retail stream before deciding on whether to expand the use of the UI or not in other Windows related products.

Don’t be too disappointed though because the one piece of really good news is that IE9 could be sporting a whole new simplified user interface ala Google Chrome. From Tom’s post:

The software giant is not planning to use Metro or Ribbon UI elements in IE9 but instead it will stick to a simplistic UI similar to that of Google’s Chrome. However, still expect some very unique UI features in Internet Explorer 9.
Microsoft originally unveiled Internet Explorer 9 at PDC 2009. IE 9 will take advantage of the power of the GPU for all page rendering and developers can exploit this using CSS, DHTMLandjavascript. A new JS engine (codenamed Chakra) will also be built into Internet Explorer 9 with greater interoperability and standards support all round. Features such as rounded cornerCSS support will be built in. In January, Neowin revealed that Microsoft is planning to enhance tabbed browsing in IE9. According to a software patent, the Quick Tabs feature in Internet Explorer is likely to be enhanced with better functionality and greater tab management options.
Microsoft is also planning broader support for HTML5 in Internet Explorer 9 through its new script engine.

Now this makes me happy as I personally really like the Chrome UI and really you don’t need a lot of glitz and eye-candy to browse the web. As good as all these changes might be with Internet Explorer 9 there is still one thing that could slow down adoption of it – especially within the more knowledgeable tech sector – lack of extensions.

This is something that I wrote about back at the beginning of August where I said this

You see if there is one thing, and one thing only, that could stall any large adoption of Internet Explorer 9 is if it doesn’t supports extensions from day one. I’m not talking about the same old ActiveX plugin architecture we are use to with past versions of Internet Explorer; but rather the same simple to build, distribute and install extensions we see with Chrome and Firefox.
This could be Internet Explorer’s big weakness because those simple plugin extensions have become an integral part of any browser experience. Even Google Chrome faced an uphill battle getting people to switch until they finally added extension support. Once they did that Chrome usage has consistently climb. Hell, even Apple has seen how these little snippets of code are as of Safari 5.

I still believe that, but it doesn’t change the fact that I am really looking forward to this next version of Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer 9 to get a simplified user interface is a post from: winextra
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As good as Internet Explorer 9 might be it could still fail

Steven — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:20:57 +0000

I got to admit that in the part of the tech blogosphere that acknowledges that Microsoft even exist the talk about Internet Explorer 9 is pretty positive. Even though we are still only seeing the Developer Preview builds we are starting to see some actual positive response to the next version of what has been declared the worse browser ever.

It is great that we are seeing this positive trend and while ACID scores of 95 out of a 100 along with increasing support for HTML 5 is a great way to start a relaunch of a much maligned browser I still worry about one thing.

You see if there is one thing, and one thing only, that could stall any large adoption of Internet Explorer 9 is if it doesn’t supports extensions from day one. I’m not talking about the same old ActiveX plugin architecture we are use to with past versions of Internet Explorer; but rather the same simple to build, distribute and install extensions we see with Chrome and Firefox.

This could be Internet Explorer’s big weakness because those simple plugin extensions have become an integral part of any browser experience. Even Google Chrome faced an uphill battle getting people to switch until they finally added extension support. Once they did that Chrome usage has consistently climb. Hell, even Apple has seen how these little snippets of code are as of Safari 5.

Since IE 6 the Microsoft browser has had support for plugins but as anyone who has developed plugins for Internet Explorer will tell you it is not day at the beach. As for using them, let alone finding them, the very nature of the ActiveX plugin has always been a security nightmare not to mention being a real drain on resources.

If Microsoft really wants Internet Explorer to have a chance to regain its leader position in the browser marketplace they will need to make sure that from day one developers can easily create and distribute IE extensions. Without this one single thing it won’t matter how good the hardware acceleration is or how well it supports web standards the end result will be all kinds of #FAIL.

As good as Internet Explorer 9 might be it could still fail is a post from: winextra
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