Internet Explorer 9 is accelerating toward the turbo-charged future of the web, an evolved Internet, with new content, fresh experiences, and Cloud-based applications that will feel as if they would be running not as services, but locally on the PC instead. With its next version of Internet Explorer, Microsoft is upping the ante by tailoring the browser to modern machines, and leveraging multi-core CPU and GPU computation in concert. Through the various testing releases, but especially in IE9 Platform Preview 3 Build 1.9.7.8.74.6000, the Redmond company delivered a powerful browser, capable of kicking up to the next level the users’ experiences related to video, text and graphics rendering on the web.
At the core of IE9’s hardware acceleration capabilities is the DirectX family of Windows application programming interfaces (APIs). Namely, DirectX 11, included by default in Windows 7, also backported to Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2), but unfortunately, not to Windows XP). Video, text and graphics rendering is no longer straining the processor, as it is performed by the graphics card, taking advantage of DirectX 11’s Direct2D and DirectWrite. Hardware acceleration means that IE9 will be able to deal with graphically intensive websites with unmatched performance.
The best way to get an idea of what IE9 is capable of is to
download the latest Platform Preview, head over to the
IE Test Center, and put the browser through all the tests made available by Microsoft. Better yet, early adopters should make sure to also download rival browsers, put them through the same range of tests, and compare the results. Internet Explorer 9 is guaranteed to make quite an impression.
Just as it was the case with Windows 7, the software giant is working closely with partners to ensure that IE9 will deliver on all promises. Following the launch of IE9 Platform Preview 3, AMD, NVIDIA, ASUS and Dell applauded the new hardware acceleration capabilities, and for good reason.
