Scenes from Microsoft's IE9 beta launch (photos)
The software titan aims to get back some of its lost browser mojo with a major update to its venerable Internet Explorer.
IE 9 hits beta
A large Internet Explorer logo adorns the partner area of the IE9 beta launch in San Francisco. Among the key features of the new browser, which went into beta on Wednesday, are hardware-accelerated graphics, a minimalistic user interface, and support for HTML 5.
Band in the lobby
An ambient string band performs in the lobby of the Concourse Exhibition & Center in San Francisco, with one musician plucking strings stretched far across the room.
"Beauty of the Web"
Microsoft's theme for the IE9 beta launch was "The beauty of the Web."
Beauty T-shirt
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then it'll be up to users to determine whether IE9 is the fairest on the browser block. "The Web is about sites," said Microsoft Vice President Dean Hachamovitch, pictured here at the San Francisco event. "Browsers should be too. Today, Web sites are boxed in."
To get a sense of how well IE9 delivers on Microsoft's promises, check out the first impressions from CNET's Seth Rosenblatt, "
Bing
Microsoft's Jeff Henshaw shows the company's search engine, Bing, in action. The presentation touted both "jumplists" as well as a new HTML 5-powered home page that allows Bing to show either moving pictures or a video on its home page.
Search suggestion
Here, the browser provides search suggestions as the user types.
Categorized search results
And here we see categorized search results in IE9.
IE9 partners
Many Web companies have partnered with Microsoft to create unique HTML5 Web content to run specifically on IE9.
SmartScreen
Surfing the Web has its risks, including unhappy encounters with malware. IE9 can monitor which add-ons are slowing the browser as it launches, and offers a download manager that warns users if the code they are grabbing has a bad reputation.
Demo Center
Following the keynote address, the expo floor opens up and IE9 partners show off a few of the rich Web pages that have been created over the past few weeks for the new IE9 using HTML5.
Jump lists
IE9 allows users to pin a Web site to the Windows 7 taskbar, much as a user can do already with applications. Pinned sites can then program "jumplists" that help users navigate quickly.
IE9 partners
At the Wednesday event, Microsoft also showed off more than 70 companies that have done work to support IE9, stretching from Amazon to Zillow.
China art museum
This interactive Web site, allowing Web browsers to peruse China's national art museum, was built by a French steel worker in his spare time.
Hurricane Katrina, before and after
USA Today created a site for the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that lets viewers see photos of what a site looked like in the aftermath of the storm as compared to today. With IE9, users can scroll from the old image to the new, as seen here.
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