Internet Explorer 9 = Simple, fast, beautiful...

Not everyone would agree on that be advised. Some have had their grievances with the beta release.

So far I've been bouncing back and forth between IE 8 and the IE 9 beta to make some comparisons. As somewhat expected I'm not seeing the usual prompts to update all the addons like Adobe, Java, and others. It's been running smoothly other then that however not seeing any unusual slowdowns or errors so far.

As for the numbers that can easily be explained by one word alone. "Curiosity"! Everyone wants to see what will be different about the upcoming version of IE now available in beta form. That certainly would include the support for HTLM5 and utilizing hardware over software rendering.

I am using Chrome now after trying the IE9 beta for the past two weeks. Chrome's speed cannot be matched by IE9 at the moment and hope IE team will iron out all those bugs when they release the final version.
We may have to wait and see how the IE team will respond to customers' views.

From what I've seen with any beta release going back to IE 7 is that the beta will tend to be problematic at times as well as not near as responsive as a finished version when first compared.

For once however the beta for IE 9 didn't crash when installed as had been seen for the older XP versions of IE7 and IE 8 beta for Vista and XP when previously dual booting with the two older versions there.

In fact the IE 7 beta was the problem seeing a repair install of XP when first tried back in 2006. The beta for IE 8 went better afterwards on those two both XP and Vista showing an improvement in that area. I suspect the finished IE 9 however will be noticable when you go to make the comparison at that time. Be patient!

6 millions downloads?

I'm not included.

The only thing I've always disliked when using IE is not having a spell checker, but having to download it manually. Furthermore ieSpell doesn't always work in IE9. I really do have hopes for a spell checker in the final version.

Other than that, 6 mil downloads is impressive, it says a lot about the popularity of IE overall. Not everything is "people don't know how/don't want to bother downloading a different browser hence the marketshare if IE"

It's not always the fans or marketshare but with the EU decision for IE 8 people no longer seeing IE included but only an option plus the new hardware rendering that is drawing the crowds. Since 7 is a success people want whatever can be found for it as well.

It would however be a great plus to have spell checking built-in or at least a regular option available besides only ieSpell. There is one called IE7Pro Spell Check which according to some was compatible with the IE 8 beta at the time. The page for that is at IE7Pro Spell Check - Free Spell Checker addons for Internet Explorer

UPDATE: When giving that a run on IE 8 for a start a new IE window would open instead of moving from one page to another when clicking on any item on the Favorites bar. It ended being removed fast ruling this one out.

I didn't see anything special. FF 3.6.10 is my browser for now.

Typically you won't see everything right from the start with any beta. Beta is still beta in that sense not the finished version. The new version of IE is still in development seeing all the last minute changes before the final release comes out.