The rumors about IE9 are increasingly audible and was expecting a sample of what the new version could bring back to the intensive competitive front. The wait is not over yet, but Microsoft has opened the book and offers some guidelines to follow in the path of development that will be the most advanced browser ever. Was presented today at MIX, a foretaste of future Microsoft browser.
And is still only a beta version but it shows clearly all the improvements and innovations that are coming. Internet Explorer Platform Preview 9 is just a beta version. Although we only have access to the rendering engine. No past or future interface is present.
Performance
IE 9 introduces a new scripting engine, known as ‘Chakra’, which manages significant gains in performance and better integration with all subsystems. In fact, according to SunSpider test benchamark Webkit.org of the Platform Preview IE9 can be faster than the 3.6 version of Firefox.
Finally opening up Microsoft’s introduction of new standards also helped improve the overall performance, allowing developers to more quickly access the DOM (Document Object Model), use of CSS and other features, which will mean that AJAX and other web applications will run faster.
Progress on Interoperability
The Internet Explorer team has focused on providing interoperability capabilities for developers and platforms Web pages is not desirable to have to be to change them again and again. For this reason have become preoccupied with their browsers more faithful to the standard Web.
HTML5
What’s new in HTML5 were initially introduced in IE8 with support for DOM Store, cross-document messaging, browsing, AJAX navigation among others.
CSS3
The IE9 Platform Preview CSS3 adds the following features:
- Rounded corners across the border-radius
- Support for RGBA color and opacity properties model
- Selectors API to allow developers to use search patterns to detect and implement CSS elements specific to these elements
- For CSS3 Selectors test of CSS3.info the IE9 Platform Preview obtained a score of 100% (578/578). Value much higher than the 60% of IE8 (349/578)
Acid3 Results
Acid3 Test results of this new version of IE were very low, obtaining 32 out of 100. However with the continued development work and through the incorporation of new standards and improvements IE 9 is already a score of 55 at 100.
Naturally, Microsoft will continue to work to improve this result at the same time we try to meet the needs of all who develop applications for the Web.
New features SVG
Microsoft introduced the IE9 support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). SVG is an XML language for describing vector form of drawings and two-dimensional graphics. The Platform Preview IE9 supports SVG has the following features:
- Structure of the document, including metadata and functionality expansion
- Basic shapes (rectangles, circles, ellipses, lines and polygons)
- Coordinate systems, transformations, and units
- Roads, including the total capacity for the path of the element and attribute ‘d’
Improvements Document Object Model (DOM)
- New support for DOM Level 2 Core namespaces, ranges and views
- Support for DOM Level 3 Events Events
- Improved support for DOM Level 2 HTML Style and features
Improvements for Developers
The Network tab will allow developers to capture, display and record web requests. This will allow those who develop web sites to see and understand more clearly what is happening without having to install complex tools. Like the rest of the tools is embedded in the browser source.
HTML5 GPU
The basic idea of HTML5 is based on the possibility of building web applications with rich graphics capabilities increased. The GPU-powered HTML5 is allowing us to use the capabilities found in the GPU’s (Graphics Processing Units) to the graphics processing that browsers need, thus freeing oCPU. In IE9 this functionality will be present. We can thus make use of the latest cards and more capable, freeing up resources in our PC’s.
* The GPU-powered HTML5 can draw and manipulate images in a better SVG or BMP. * So we have maps with scroll more smoothly, sources with greater detail and richer 3D graphics without having to resort to the CPU. * The Platform Preview IE9 Direct2D needs support, a feature introduced with Windows 7 and what can be achieved with an update on recent operating systems less.Now that we have presented all the news they can find in the Internet Explorer Platform Preview 9 we can only advise you to unload the tool and test it. They see it as a showcase of what will be the IE9. Is not yet complete, but what will make a good browser is now there.
Homepage: IE9 Test Drive