Windows Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) is a version of the Internet Explorer Web browser.  IE9 is available as a free update for Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2.


 

New Features

See what's new from IE7 here.

The following features are new over IE8.

• Full hardware acceleration for text, graphics, and video to provide a rich web experience.
• Fully hardware-accelerated HTML5 for rich web experiences.
• Combined search and Address bar for easy searching or surfing.
• Unobtrusive, informative messages that don’t interrupt your browsing.
• Simplified browsing using fewer controls.
• Increased webpage viewing area.
• Enhanced tab experience with Tear-off tabs and Aero Snap.
• Quick navigation to favorite sites from the Windows 7 taskbar.
• Resumes incomplete downloads after restarting.
• Provides a single location to monitor and interact with the files you download.
• Helps you monitor and manage your add-ons.
• Tab recovery with messaging and prompting in the Notification Bar.

See all the IE9 features here.

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Unique Features

See more browser comparisons here.

The following features are not available in either Firefox 4 or Chrome 10:

• Full hardware acceleration for text, graphics, and video provided by default.
• New Tab page includes quick access to common tasks and your favorite sites.
• Websites can be pinned to the taskbar in Windows 7.
• Tear-off tabs with Windows 7‌ Aero Snap.
• Reopen accidentally closed tabs.
• Combined search and Address bar.
• Visual search suggestions shown as you type.
• Jump Lists and thumbnail preview controls for pinned sites.
• Accelerators for quick access to web services without leaving the page.
• Best protection against phishing attacks.
• Domain name highlighting in the Address bar to alert you to deceptive websites.
• Most protection against socially engineered malware.
• Tab recovery with messaging and prompting when websites time out.
• H.264-encoded HTML5 video support.
• Compatibility mode to view websites designed for older browsers.
• Developer tools built-in to the browser.
• Tools that show pages in different rendering engines to let developers understand and debug browser differences.

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Upgrade to IE9

Perhaps it's time to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9.

• Download and Install IE9
• Internet Explorer enhanced with Bing and MSN

See this msdn blog page: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2009/11/18/an-early-look-at-ie9-for-developers.aspx

You can download IE9 Product Guides at: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=12968

Compare IE8 and IE9 here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/products/ie-9/compare-browsers

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IE9 TechNet Wiki Articles

• Download and Install IE9
• How to Set a Pop-up Window to Open in a New Tab in IE9