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Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9

By | May 5, 2010, 7:23am PDT

On May 5, Microsoft made available to developers and other interested testers Platform Preview 2 of its Internet Explorer (IE) 9 browser.

The updated preview is available from the same Test Drive site as the preview Microsoft released in March.

Microsoft committed in March to delivering regular previews of IE 9 on an every-eight-week schedule. The first IE 9 preview went live in mid-March.

The new preview includes new performance tests, like Flickr Explorer, Browser Flip; a few new HTML5 tests, and several new graphics demos, like SVG Tweet Cloud and Real World Diagrams.

According to newly published ACID3 test results, Preview 2 of IE 9 is now at 68 of 100. Preview 1 was 55.

Microsoft officials have not said when to expect an actual beta of IE 9 or when the final release is due.

Microsoft is releasing the new preview the same week as Net Applications reported that IE’s overall market share hit an all-time low of 59.95 percent. (And yes, I know Microsoft’s market share grew more than that of its browser competitors, but the new numbers are nothing to write home about — unless you are trying to prove to antitrust officials you don’t have a browser monopoly….)

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Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Web Browsers, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

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RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
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Nice. Way to deliver on your promise MS
Johnny Vegas 5th May 2010
Be interesting to see if another comes in July if the rate of progress is still as good as this one shows...
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I know it's generous...
ericesque 5th May 2010
since other browsers have been in the 90s for a while, but 68 out of 100 on acid3 in pre-beta is encouraging! That's up from only 20 in IE8.

Also worth noting, having compared results of Acid3 on my installed browsers (Chrome 4.1 and IE 8) IE8 actually looks significantly closer to the reference image with a score of 20 as compared to Chrome's 98. So perhaps score isn't the whole story.
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RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
zeader 5th May 2010
Microsoft is improving in the areas of javascript, css, svg and so on and that's really great. But they always talk about HTML 5. And if you visit http://www.html5test.com/ with your preview, the result isn't very charming. Probably they working on it, but the current improvements are NOT related to HTML 5 (yet).

I guess HTML5 is just the next big buzzword, after we got rid of Ajax.
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RE: Interesting
ubiquitous one Updated - 5th May 2010
And if you visit http://www.html5test.com/ with your preview, the result isn't very charming.

Firefox 3.6.3 shows a score of 101 out of 160

IE8 shows a score of 19 out of 160

EPIC FAIL! for IE lol...
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RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
Michael Alan Goff 5th May 2010
@windoze_washer

Do you really have nothing better to do than show up and make pointless posts screaming how bad IE and Microsoft are?
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RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
ericesque 5th May 2010
@windoze_washer Of course the score is low. We already knew IE8 wasn't designed to do HTML5. But IE8 also hit RC1 nearly a year and a half ago. Nobody (except standards boards) was worried about HTML5 at that point.

Go find a copy of Firefox 3.5 for a more accurate comparison.
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Chrome scored really well
Cakalaky Updated - 6th May 2010
@windoze_washer Chrome 5.0.375.29 scored a 142 out of 160.
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@ericesque, FF 3.6 and IE8 are all we have to go on...
ubiquitous one 6th May 2010
...at the moment. It's still an embarrassing EPIC FAIL from a corporation that produces mediocrity when it comes to browsers.

Stop making excuses.
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A fair competiton
Michael Alan Goff 7th May 2010
Get one or shut up.
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Why should I shut up
ubiquitous one 11th May 2010
Because they failed the test and you don't like to hear it?

Tough.
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RE: RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
Speednet Updated - 5th May 2010
It's a flawed test, at least in the Video part. The HTML5 spec has nothing about codec support, only that it supports a video tag for playback. The test gives Chrome and extra 5 points where they are really not deserved -- and frankly any point for a particular codec supported (whether it's 5 or 10 points) are not valid.

The same may be true for audio support, but I'm not as familiar with that.
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I've heard all this hype before...
ubiquitous one 5th May 2010
...right before IE8 was released. The changes in that were underwhelming to say the least.
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RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
Michael Alan Goff 5th May 2010
@windoze_washer

These things are an evolutionary process. You can't expect things to get perfect overnight. Hell, not even Firefox is perfect when it comes to web standards. Opera? Not perfect. Safari? Well, I can't get any webkit browser to really allow WYSIWYG correctly.

Safari 4 was going to change everything... and I was underwhelmed.

Firefox 3.5 was going to be THE GREATEST THING EVER. And they then rushed to get 3.6 out the door.

Opera 10.5 was supposed to be THE WINNER! It's actually the closest to achieving the goal, but meh. It isn't Jesus yet.

Get it?
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RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
Pastafarian_FSM 6th May 2010
@goff256

How can you mention "Evolutionary process" AND "Jesus" in the same breath?
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Is that really all you can think of to say?
Michael Alan Goff 6th May 2010
Really?
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RE: @goff256, if you really want to end criticism...
ubiquitous one Updated - 6th May 2010
...of IE, then tell M$ to drop browser development altogether.

After eight versions of mediocrity & low standards, you'd think they'd get a clue by now.
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Or I could ask you for a valid complaint about this Preview release
Michael Alan Goff 7th May 2010
That should shut you up just as easily happy
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@goff256
ubiquitous one 7th May 2010
Their past lies and lackluster performance are valid enough reasons for me.

And no, I won't shut up.
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I asked for a valid reason to hate IE 9 Platform Preview 2
Michael Alan Goff 7th May 2010
You gave me whining about their past business practices. I feel like you aren't even trying to hold up your end of the conversation.
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Their past says everything about them
ubiquitous one 11th May 2010
Do you really think after eight lackluster versions, they're really gonna change?

Don't hold your breath...
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RE: RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
Michael Alan Goff Updated - 5th May 2010
DELETE THIS
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RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
CreativeBlue 5th May 2010
What's the point? They're still using IE6 at the org I work part-time at, with ~ 200 computers spread over 12 sites.

All your fancy HTML5 and whatnot doesn't mean spit if the IT people at a medium-sized enterprise can't be bothered to upgrade such a simple thing as a browser.

As a part-time, non-tech employee, on the rare occasion that I even seen an IT person and mention this to them, I get shrugs and babbling about "low priorities."

You people - especially you Linux clowns - ought to get out in the real world more.
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JoeMama_z 5th May 2010
@CreativeBlue

1 Internets for you!
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@CreativeBlue
Lester Young 7th May 2010
Your IT department is negligent.
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IE 9?!? When are they gonna fix IE 8?????
Jeff Hayes 5th May 2010
I have more than 4 GB of RAM installed (12 GB) and Windows 7 Ultimate, and also run Secunia PSI, which continually warns me that Windows IE 8 64-bit is insecure with "no solution available."

It's aggravating enough that many software companies still haven't developed 64-bit clean programs so we can take advantage of our higher RAM installations, but you'd think AT LEAST Microsoft could fix the 64-bit version of its OWN web browser it developed for its OWN Operating System!!! I just see NO EXCUSE for that. I've been getting this message now for MANY MONTHS, through quite a few Microsoft update cycles, yet they've still not fixed THAT.
Jeff
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Secunia PSI
Michael Alan Goff 6th May 2010
Has always and will always say that IE ANYTHING is insecure. I wouldn't go by their word.
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I thought Secunia...
ubiquitous one 6th May 2010
...was the godsend for all you Redmond fanbuis. No?
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Who the hell told you that? [NT]
Michael Alan Goff 7th May 2010
NT
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You little birdies told me
ubiquitous one 7th May 2010
Oh that's right! I forgot! Secunia's good when it points out Linux bugs (turned vulnerabilities) so you have added FUD to bring to the table.

It's good when it suits your agenda, not good when it doesn't.
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My little birdies?
Michael Alan Goff 7th May 2010
I've yelled at LD about his FUD posts, NonZealot about his FUD posts, and you about your FUD posts. Secunia is bad when it comes to anything at all. Also... when did I get an Agenda?

I'm a happen Lucid Lynx User, waiting for June 3 to come by so I can start alpha testing 10.10 >>;
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Spare me the Lucid crap, @geoff256
ubiquitous one 11th May 2010
If you think IE is such a great product, then stick with it. You seem to go out of your way a lot to defend it.

Better still, let's see a Linux version of IE. You can push them to do that, huh? silly
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RE: Microsoft delivers second preview test build of IE 9
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
Great composing. Would you ideas me submitting a web site hyperlink of this short article on my website? It will mulberry alexa eventually help my viewers simultaneously.

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