Microsoft is ratcheting up the effort behind Internet Explorer 9. Though it’s not even in beta testing yet, the upcoming browser is already available for an early look in a version dubbed Platform Preview 2. Key to the new release is expanded Acid 3 compatibility — a high score on which is a way to win important credibility among Web designers and developers, since it signals some measure of compatibility for what’s come to be seen as an informal standards test.
IE9 is a critical launch for Microsoft, which has been steadily losing ground to a growing number of competitors — chiefly to Mozilla Firefox, but increasingly new entrants like Google Chrome. Datamation has the story.
Microsoft said it is shipping the latest developer preview of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) a little ahead of schedule.
Not even in beta test yet but already surrounded by controversy over Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) decision last week to only support the H.264 video codec, IE9 is intended to renew the browser’s sagging fortunes.