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Microsoft's IE9 look leaks to the Web

A screenshot of Internet Explorer 9 briefly posted on Microsoft's Russian Web site.

(Credit: ZDNet)

Thanks to Microsoft's Russian subsidiary, the world now has a pretty good idea of what Internet Explorer 9 will look like.

The Russian folks were kind enough to briefly post an image and some details that had yet to be shared about the browser. And although they pulled it down, ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley captured the information and screenshot.

More than anything else, the screenshot shows a browser that attempts to offer a minimalistic user interface and leave as much room as possible for the Web sites. When combined with the browser's hardware acceleration, the hope is to pave the way for Web sites that are as application-like as possible.

Microsoft declined to confirm the details Wednesday of what had been posted to its Russian site.

However, the look is consistent with what IE team member Ryan Gavin told CNET earlier this month about the planned appearance of IE9.

"The browser is the theater," Gavin said in the interview. "We're not the play."

The browser appears to go as far as to allow people to pin certain sites to the desktop and open them in their own windows without any clear indication that they are using IE at all. According to Foley's Bing translation of the Russian site, there will be certain sites that are "recognized" or "protected" and can be pinned to the taskbar and launched with their own icons.

Microsoft plans to release a beta of the browser at a September 15 event in San Francisco, although this latest leak clearly steals some of the thunder. Up to now, Microsoft had offered several technical previews of the underlying engine, but had yet to show or talk in detail about how the browser would look.

The invitations for the event do mention "the beauty of the Web" and "unlocking the native Web."

Until now, though, the focus had been on several key features of the browser's engine, including the hardware acceleration capabilities, improved JavaScript engine, and broader support for HTML5 and other standards. Microsoft first showed those features at the Mix10 event in March in Las Vegas, though it had talked about hardware acceleration as far back as last November's Professional Developer Conference.

The details on the Russian site reveal a browser that borrows much from Windows 7, including the ability to tear off browser tabs and have them "snap" to a particular part of the screen, similar to the way documents and applications already do in the latest version of Windows.

There is also a unified search and address bar, something already seen in Google's Chrome. However, having learned from criticism of Google--as well as its own considerable issues with regulators--I'm hearing that Microsoft will make the choice of whether to let the bar suggest sites as you type a completely opt-in affair.

Windows 7 SP 1 beta


The downloads for the first Beta development milestone of the upcoming upgrade to Windows 7 are now live on the Microsoft Download Center, in addition to TechNet, where they were first released.

 

It appears that Microsoft is working to make it as easy as possible for the broadest pool of early adopters to download Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and start test driving. 

There are no less than six Windows 7 SP1 Beta releases on the Download Center now, and all that users need to access the bits is a genuine versions of Windows. 


“Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta helps keep your PCs and servers on the latest support level, provides ongoing improvements to the Windows Operating System (OS), by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms based on customer and partner feedback, and is easy for organizations to deploy a single set of updates,” Microsoft stated.


Still, Microsoft continues to offer basically the same thing as it has since Windows 7 SP1 Beta went live earlier this year, namely English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish versions of the upgrade.

Users will need Windows 7 RTM or Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in order to install and test SP1 Beta, and must know that there are no new features as far as the Windows client is concerned.

Here are the downloads users can grab through the Microsoft Download Center:

“- WUSignUpTool_x86.exe - This tool enables your 32-bit Windows 7 machine to participate in the public beta via Windows Update. Run this tool and then check for updates in Windows Update.
- WUSignUpTool_x64.exe - This tool enables your 64-bit Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 machine to participate in the public beta via Windows Update. Run this tool and then check for updates in Windows Update.
- windows6.1-KB976932-X86-INTL.exe - This application installs the public beta to a 32-bit machine running Windows 7.
- windows6.1-KB976932-X64-INTL.exe - This application installs the public beta to a 64-bit machine running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
- windows6.1-KB976932-IA64-INTL.exe - This application installs the public beta to an Itanium machine running Windows Server 2008 R2.
- 7601.16562.100603-1800_Update_Sp_Wave0-B1SP1.0_DVD.iso - This DVD ISO disk image contains the 32-bit, 64-bit and Itanium standalone update packages for the public beta,” Microsoft revealed.

“The software will stop running on June 30, 2011. You may not receive any other notice. You may not be able to access data used with the software when it stops running.

“It is important to note that you must uninstall the Service Pack 1 Beta prior to installing future builds, including the final release, of the Service Pack. Upgrades from the beta will not be supported,” the company added.

Many Chrome 6 features get bumped to beta

Users familiar with Google Chrome dev (Windows | Mac | Linux) will find the beta lacking mostly minor and under-the--hood changes from the developer's build, although users can expect that to change as new features migrate from the bleeding-edge Chrome Canary build into the developer's version. However, the built-in PDF reader plug-in that currently ships in the developer's build is not present in the beta.The new beta does include the form autofill feature, and autofill synchronization. Google said in a blog postannouncing the beta that it will not insert the form data without user confirmation. This includes credit card data, which will explicitly prompt users to fill in that data in addition to the regular autofill prompt. Extensions in the beta are now synchronized, too, along with bookmarks and user settings. Interface changes include detaching the stop-refresh button from the location bar and giving it its own button on the left side of the interface, and merging the options menu to create more space for extension icons on the right side.

In the same blog post, Google touts the update to the V8 JavaScript engine in the new beta as being 15 percent faster than the stable build on its own V8 and SunSpider benchmarks, and 64 percent faster on Mozilla'sDromaeo DOM core benchmark.

An update earlier Wednesday to Chrome stable (Windows | Mac | Linux) upgraded the version of the built-in Flash Player plug-in that comes with that browser.

What's in store for IE9 beta?

Microsoft is getting close to releasing a beta version of Internet Explorer 9--the company's latest bid to regain lost ground in the browser market.

At last month's financial analyst meeting, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner casually mentioned that the beta would be coming in September. Microsoft has already shown the revamped IE9 engine through a series of public preview releases, but next month's beta will be the first chance to see what IE9 has in store in terms of its look and feel.

The current preview version, released last week, shows some of the features of the browser--including support for hardware acceleration and HTML5. The company has also significantly sped up its JavaScript engine, a feature that is often used in comparing browsers and one in which IE has badly trailed its major rivals.

The beta of Internet Explorer 9 is due next month. A public preview version is already available, but it lacks almost all user interface features and is, instead, just a look at how the new rendering engine will incorporate features.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ina Fried/CNET)

However, the preview version focuses on showing off the new rendering engine and lacks even the most basic navigational features such as an address bar or back button.

Microsoft has been largely mum on what to expect as far as the design of IE9's interface, but in an interview with CNET on Wednesday, Ryan Gavin said that the goal is to get out of the way and let the content shine.

"The browser is the theater," Gavin said. "We're not the play."

The comments suggest that IE9 may take a more minimalist view than past versions of the browser. "You don't want the theater to block the view," he said.

After years of falling behind in performance and compatibility, Microsoft is counting on this next release to help it gain back share lost to Mozilla's Firefox and more recently to Google's Chrome.

As with both the public preview version and the final release, the beta of IE9 will require that users be running Windows Vista or Windows 7. Unlike the preview, users won't be able to run the beta side by side with Internet Explorer 8 and must instead upgrade their built-in copy of Internet Explorer to the beta to try it out. (For those who can't or don't want to make that move, Microsoft does plan to continue offering new updated public preview releases as well that can run side by side with older versions of IE.)

Gavin said that Microsoft hopes a wide range of users try out the beta.

"The beta is not for everyone clearly, but if you are comfortable downloading and installing software, I know I am going to want you to try IE9," he said.

Hardware acceleration
One of the key questions is just how unique IE9's hardware acceleration feature will be by the time IE9 is finalized. Safari already has some hardware acceleration, while Mozilla has included some work in its nightly builds of Firefox, though the feature is off by default.

Gavin said that truly building hardware acceleration throughout the browser isn't just a matter of adding a little code, but instead requires some significant re-architecting of the product.

"We're certainly not doing anything that other browser vendors can't do," he said. "There's going to be a difference between fully hardware accelerated (browsers) and partially hardware accelerated (ones)."

IE 9 uses hardware acceleration for text and images as well as video and audio. The effect of the hardware acceleration, Gavin said, can be significant even on machines like Netbooks that are not thought of as graphics powerhouses. That said, the impact will be more noticeable on machines with higher-end graphics.

"The device matters," he said. "You can't get around the fact, device matters."

Another issue to watch will be to see how significant the compatibility issues will be with IE9. Gavin said that Microsoft has tried to make sure major sites are ready for IE9 and said the new browser will maintain the option included in IE8 that lets sites that work in an older version of IE render in a compatibility view.

Microsoft hasn't said when to expect a final version of IE9, but it's probably safe to say it won't be this year. With IE8, Microsoft rolled out the browser at its Mix show in spring 2008 and didn't ship the final version until a year later.

As for IE9, the first preview version was released in March, though Microsoft did give a brief glimpse of the browser's hardware acceleration feature back in November.

If I were a betting woman, I'd say Microsoft will aim to have its work done or nearly done in time for next year's Mix show, set for April 12-14 in Las Vegas.

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Upgrading to Windows 7 can save lots of watts.

Upgrading to Windows 7 can save lots of watts.

With any new OS, there are both advantages and disadvantages to upgrading. For many computer buffs, an OS upgrade at home is often a no-brainer; for large organizations, that simple OS upgrade becomes a huge project that can span years and cost massive amounts of money. Testing cycles, increased IT workload, and the purchasing of new (compatible) software, and hardware all weigh in heavily during the decision-making process.

A recent study by Mindteck (reported by Ars Technica), titled “Enabling Green Computing in the Enterprise”, showed that a Windows 7 rollout can save a company massive amounts of money due to its superior power management. The study showed that on a Pentium 4 computer, with an "out-of-box” configuration, Windows 7 can be up to 25% more efficient than Windows XP. Further, the study showed that even after all drivers have been updated, Windows 7 still trumped XP by an average of around 10% on a Pentium 4 machine.

System usage in Watts (W), lower is better. Data source: Mindteck.

As depicted on the above chart, more modern configurations displayed smaller, but still notable differences with an average power saving of around 3% (with optimized drivers). Regardless of how big the savings are for an organization, they’re still savings and as anyone that works in a large organization can testify – every cent counts.