Monkey_Bites has posted an article about Internet Explorer 9 and what we can expect from it. Microsoft is expected to push IE9 with force at its MIX conference in about a week and a half. Microsoft will showcase early builds of IE9 and some of the features we can expect from it.
There are two sessions scheduled for MIX that are believed to foreshadow what"s to come. One is called HTML5 Now: The Future of Web Markup Today. The other is entitled Future of Vector Graphics for the Web. These sessions, in conjunction with previous information from the IE team, lead many to believe that IE9 will support HTML5 in a much broader sense than IE8 did. In addition, we can expect to see better CSS support and overall standards compliance. Monkey_Bites explains why the above sessions are a tell-all:
"Couple these clues with a post from the IE team on its official blog late last year about increased JavaScript rendering speeds and CSS support, and the team’s recent push to provide better support for SVG graphics and animations, it looks like IE 9 will present a huge step forward for Microsoft into the realm of HTML5, CSS 3 and other modern technologies that drive the most forward-thinking web apps."
Molly Holzschlag, who will be giving the HTML5 presentation, says she expects Microsoft to push more support for HTML5, saying, "look especially for Microsoft to be working on browser storage and other HTML5 features." Microsoft has not made any other comments on the matter.
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, DHTML and javascript. A new JS engine will also be built into Internet Explorer 9 with greater interoperability and standards support all round. Features such as rounded corner CSS 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.
Further information on Internet Explorer 9 will be unveiled at MIX. We expect Microsoft to make an early Customer Technology Preview (CTP) build available at that time. Neowin will be live at MIX 2010, stay tuned for further details.