IE9 RC Coming January 28?
Microsoft declined to comment on the rumors, but we did hear that Microsoft's closest partners, including Intel, were informed that the RC would hit late this month. A beta tester published the January 28 launch date via a tweet.
So far, Microsoft has released seven platform previews of the browser, which are very basic developer versions that cannot be used in a convenient way for everyday browsing since they are missing the URL bar. In September, Microsoft released a beta version and it seems that this first beta will remain the only beta. According to Microsoft, the beta browser has been downloaded more than 20 million times.
The RC and final version of the browser cannot be released too early as IE6/IE7/IE8 now account for only 57% of browser market share and IE8's adoption rate is slowing down, according to data released by Net Applications. What is especially noteworthy is the fact that IE9 RC may be released before Mozilla can get its Firefox 4 RC out of the gate. We are still waiting for Beta 9 and Beta 10 before the first RC can be released. At the current pace, the RC may not be released until late February.
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Douglas Perry was a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering semiconductors, storage technology, quantum computing, and processor power delivery. He has authored several books and is currently an editor for The Oregonian/OregonLive.
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2real tomasswoodI didnt realise anyone other than those that knew any better, still used IE...throwing out a browser before it's out? ok that makes senseReply -
11796pcs I love the IE9 beta- it's very streamlined and fast. It reminds me of Google Chrome actually...Reply -
2real 11796pcsI love the IE9 beta- it's very streamlined and fast. It reminds me of Google Chrome actually...does it have the dev tools that firefox has?Reply -
mx348 Understand however IE is still the "official" browser in the corporate environment.Reply
No other browse is able to be controlled via group policy.
IE9 will hopefully be the browser to replace all the shops with IE6 still the main browser. -
ares1214 id be excited...if the beta worked on my computer...Ironic how it wont...because vista has problems...and wont update...therefore wont allow me to install it...smooth move M$.Reply -
tomasswood 2realthrowing out a browser before it's out? ok that makes senseIve never ever had a good experience with IE, let alone one that trumped either Chrome of Firefox (what i use). I remember the last time i opened IE (to test some HTML) my computer froze for 16 mins, whilst firefox opened instantlyReply
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2real ares1214id be excited...if the beta worked on my computer...Ironic how it wont...because vista has problems...and wont update...therefore wont allow me to install it...smooth move M$.maybe if you didn't have a pirated version of windowsReply -
2real tomasswoodIve never ever had a good experience with IE, let alone one that trumped either Chrome of Firefox (what i use). I remember the last time i opened IE (to test some HTML) my computer froze for 16 mins, whilst firefox opened instantlysounds like a hardware problem or a poorly configured OSReply
IE opens fine for me i've used opera firefox chrome and IE all the time and i find firefox the most bloated
IE ran just fine
Opera is great but i can't do basic things like pay my bills so i threw that out
Chrome is like a poor man's opera but it works so i use it now