Beta release of Microsoft’s IE9 with heavy HTML5 emphasis

9th March, 2010 by adina
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A possible beta release for the Internet Explorer 9 could benefit from a heavy HTML5 emphasis, according to some leaks. It would be presented at Microsoft’s MIX 2010 developer conference this month. A briefing is scheduled with the title “HTML5 Now: The Future of Web Markup Today”. The party will be presented by Opera Software’s Molly Holzschlag who said Microsoft was expected to bring browser storage and other HTML5 characteristics.

Another scheduled session is that focused on scalable vector graphics (SVG), a technology supported by most browsers and especially those recognizing HTML5. The talk, known as “Future of Vector Graphics for the Web”, will be moderated by Patrick Dengler, IE Senior Program Manager.

Internet Explorer 8 has HTML5 capabilities like plugin-free video playback and scalable vector graphics thanks to add-on features from third parties. Google’s Chrome Frame is the most obvious example, inserting the web engine from Chrome in Microsoft’s browser.

The IE team of Microsoft has emphasized higher rendering speeds for JavaScript and CSS support. Standards support is another talking point, but Microsoft did not say how close it will get in compatibility. Its earliest version scored only 32 points on the ACID3 standards test where other browsers like the Safari 4 from Apple are known to reach perfect scores.

All these changes should place Microsoft’s browser more in line with other modern competitors like Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera, all of them using a pre-final version of HTML5 or follow web standards more closely. Microsoft has been often criticized by certain observers for being too slow to adopt standards, as Internet Explorer’s presence on Windows PCs forces developers to permanently have in mind writing code specially tailored for it even when it produces errors or when certain features are lacking.

Internet Explorer 8 is currently shipping with Windows 7 systems and includes features like CSS 2.1 and certain HTML5 tools, offline storage elements only. Microsoft has many times justified the absence of modern features, such as HTML5, by saying that they are not finished and ratified by the company which governs software on the web, the W3C. The software manufacturer has far only supported firmly set standards but has also been accused for falling short of these in some areas.


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