Microsoft previews IE9

Competition forces innovation

Microsoft has stuck a preview of Internet Explorer 9 online in an attempt to show it hasn't lost the will to innovate.

The preview here shows that Microsoft is supporting various HTML5 specifications, including CSS3, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), XHTML parsing, and video and audio tags using industry-standard codecs, among others.

At its MIX10 shindig in Las Vegas, Microsoft demonstrated a new JavaScript engine that uses Direct 2D technology,

Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer at Microsoft, said "Internet Explorer 9 is the first browser to take standard Web patterns that developers use and run them better on modern PCs through Windows."

Microsft said that, starting at MIX10, developers will be able to track Microsoft’s progress and provide direct feedback on the Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview by evaluating new code refreshes approximately every eight weeks leading up to the beta release.