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Internet Explorer 9
Internet Explorer 9
Internet Explorer 9
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Internet Explorer 9
DeveloperMicrosoft
Initial releaseMarch 14, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-03-14)
Preview releaseNone [±]
EnginesMSHTML 5.0, Chakra (32-bit), JScript (64-bit)
Operating systemWindows Vista SP2
Windows Server 2008 SP2
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Phone 7.5[1]
PredecessorInternet Explorer 8 (2009)
SuccessorInternet Explorer 10 (2012)
Available in93 languages[2]
TypeWeb browser
Feed aggregator[3]
LicenseProprietary, requires Windows license[4]
WebsiteInternet Explorer 9 (archived at Wayback Machine)

Internet Explorer 9 or IE9 (officially Windows Internet Explorer 9) is the ninth major version of the Internet Explorer web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on March 14, 2011, as the successor to Internet Explorer 8. Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 as a major out-of-band version that was not tied to the release schedule of any particular version of Windows, unlike previous versions. It is the first version of Internet Explorer not to be bundled with a Windows operating system, although some OEMs have installed it with Windows on their PCs.[5] It was the last version to be called Windows Internet Explorer. The software was rebranded simply as Internet Explorer starting with the release of Internet Explorer 10.

Internet Explorer 9 supports ECMAScript 5 (ES5), several CSS 3 properties,[6] and embedded ICC v2 or v4 color profiles support via Windows Color System, and has improved JavaScript performance. It was the last of the major web browsers to implement support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG).[7][8] It also features hardware-accelerated graphics rendering using Direct2D, hardware-accelerated text rendering using DirectWrite, hardware-accelerated video rendering using Media Foundation, imaging support provided by Windows Imaging Component, and high fidelity printing powered by the XML Paper Specification (XPS) print pipeline.[9] Internet Explorer 9 also supports the HTML media tags <video> and <audio> and the Web Open Font Format (WOFF).[10]

As of 2013, Internet Explorer 9 is the last version to support Windows Vista SP2 – with its server counterpart Windows Server 2008 SP2 – and Windows 7 RTM – with its server counterpart Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM – as Internet Explorer 10 required Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

History

[edit]

Development

[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 displaying Acid3, having achieved all 100 possible points

Development of Internet Explorer 9 began shortly after Internet Explorer 8 was released. Microsoft began taking features suggestions through Microsoft Connect soon after Internet Explorer 8 was released.[11] The Internet Explorer team focused on improving support and performance for HTML5, CSS3, SVG, XHTML, JavaScript, hardware acceleration, and the user interface featuring agility and "a clean new design".[12]

Microsoft first announced Internet Explorer 9 at PDC 2009 and spoke mainly about how it takes advantage of hardware acceleration in DirectX to improve the performance of web applications and improve the quality of web typography.

Later, Microsoft announced that they had joined the W3C's SVG Working Group, which sparked speculation that Internet Explorer 9 will support the SVG W3C recommendation.[13] This was proven to be true at MIX 10, where they demonstrated support for basic SVG markup and improved support for HTML5. They also announced that they would increase the support greatly by the time the first Internet Explorer 9 Beta was released. The Internet Explorer team also introduced the new JavaScript engine for 32-bit Internet Explorer 9, codenamed Chakra, which uses Just-in-time compilation to execute JavaScript as native code.[14][15][16] In mid-September 2011, the Acid3 test was revised to remove a few "antiquated and unusual" tests, and as a result, IE9 now passes the test with a score of 100/100.[17]

At MIX 10, the first Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released, which featured support for CSS3 and SVG, a new JavaScript engine called Chakra, and a score of 55/100 on the Acid3 test, up from 20/100 for Internet Explorer 8. On May 5, 2010, the second Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released, which featured a score of 68/100 on the Acid3 test and faster performance on the WebKit SunSpider JavaScript benchmark than the first Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. On June 23, 2010, the third Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released, which featured a score of 83/100 on the Acid3 test and a faster JavaScript engine than the second Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. The third Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview also includes support for audio, video, and canvas tags, and WOFF. On August 4, 2010, the fourth Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released, which features a score of 95/100 on the Acid3 test and a faster JavaScript engine than the third Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. On September 15, 2010, the Internet Explorer 9 Public Beta was released alongside Platform Preview 5, featuring a new user interface. In contrast to the previews, the Beta replaces any previously installed version of Internet Explorer. The sixth Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released on October 28, 2010, and includes support for CSS 2D transforms and HTML semantic elements.[6] The seventh Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released on November 17, 2010, and features better JavaScript performance.[18]

These previews were not full builds of Internet Explorer 9, as they were for testing the latest version of the MSHTML (Trident) browser engine. They were for web developers to send feedback on the improvements made, functioned in parallel with any other installed browsers, and were previews of the renderer technology only, containing minimalistic user interfaces and lacking traditional interface elements such as an address bar and navigation buttons.[19] Microsoft updated these previews approximately every eight weeks.

On November 23, 2010, two updates for the Internet Explorer 9 Public Beta were released. KB2448827 brings improvements to reliability and fixes stability issues from the previous beta release. There are not much details of resolved issues disclosed by Microsoft. Moreover, KB2452648 resolves the in-built feedback issue with Internet Explorer 9 and the latest version of Windows Live Sign-in Assistant.[20] These updates can be fetched from Windows Update or the Microsoft Download Center website.[21][22] On the same day, Internet Explorer build 9.0.8027.6000 based on Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 7 was leaked.[23] On February 10, 2011, the Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate and Platform Preview 8 were released. The Release Candidate version featured improved performance, a Tracking Protection feature, a refined UI, support for more web standards, use of hardware accelerated graphics, and other improvements.[24][25]

The final version of Internet Explorer 9 was publicly released during the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, on March 14, 2011.[26]

Release history

[edit]
Name Build Release date Acid3 Score New features
Platform Preview 1 1.9.7745.6019 March 16, 2010[27] 55/100[28] Support for CSS3 and SVG and a new JavaScript engine called Chakra.
Platform Preview 2 1.9.7766.6000 May 5, 2010[29] 68/100[30] Better JavaScript performance.
Platform Preview 3 1.9.7874.6000 June 23, 2010[31] 83/100[32] audio, video, and canvas tags, and WOFF.
Platform Preview 4 1.9.7916.6000 August 4, 2010[33] 95/100[34] JavaScript engine integrated into the core browser components, a shared DOM between the browser and the script engine based on ECMAScript5, and a highly interactive and integrated SVG.[35]
Platform Preview 5 1.9.7930.16406 September 15, 2010[36] New icon.
Beta 9.0.7930.16406 New user interface, download manager, and pinned sites with jumplist functionality.
Platform Preview 6 1.9.8006.6000 October 28, 2010[37] CSS 2D transforms and HTML semantic tags.[6]
Platform Preview 7 1.9.8023.6000 November 17, 2010[38] Better JavaScript performance.
Platform Preview 8 1.9.8080.16413 February 10, 2011[39] Performance, interoperability enhancements, and support for the W3C Geolocation API.
Release Candidate 9.0.8080.16413 Improved performance, InPrivate Filtering renamed to Tracking Protection, a refined UI, support for more web standards, the option to add a new tab row, and other improvements.
RTM 9.0.8112.16421 March 14, 2011[26] 100/100[17] Improved performance, improved Tracking Protection, and the option to pin multiple targets per page. Last version for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

End of life

[edit]

Support for Internet Explorer 9 on most Windows versions ended on January 12, 2016, when Microsoft began requiring customers to use the latest version of Internet Explorer available for each Windows version.[40] For versions of Windows where Internet Explorer 9 was the final version of Internet Explorer available, support ended when support for that version of Windows ended.[41] On January 14, 2020, Microsoft released the final regular IE9 update. However, IE9 (via Windows Server 2008) is eligible for the paid ESU (Extended Security Updates) and Premium Assurance programs. ESU security updates from Microsoft for IE9 were released until January 10, 2023 (January 9, 2024, for Azure customers) and Premium Assurance security updates will continue until January 13, 2026. Following which, only IE11 (the final version of Internet Explorer) will continue to be supported in any capacity.

Changes from previous versions

[edit]

User Interface

[edit]

Internet Explorer 9 includes significant alterations to its user interface when compared with previous versions. These include:

  • Pinned Sites:[42][43] Integrates with the taskbar to make web site experience more like an application where users may "pin" a site and then return to it later like a shortcut. In the release candidate, users can pin a site and add more homepages to that site (e.g. pin Facebook and add Twitter as another homepage to that pinned site, so it would become a social program)
  • Security-enabled Download Manager: Manages file transfers and can pause and resume downloads and informs if a file may be malicious
  • Enhanced Tabs and Tab Page: the new tab page can show most visited sites, and tabs are shown next to the address bar (there is an option to have a separate row, like in Internet Explorer 8) with the feature of closing an inactive tab. Tabs can be "torn off" which means they can be dragged up and down to be moved from one IE window to another. This also ties in with the Aero Snap feature.
  • Add-on Performance Advisor: Shows which third-party add-ons may be slowing down browser performance and then allows the option to disable or remove them
  • Compact user interface, which includes the removal of the separate search box found in Internet Explorer 7 and 8.[44] Also removed is the tab menu list found in Internet Explorer 8.

Scripting

[edit]

JavaScript engine

[edit]
Main article: Chakra (JScript engine)

Internet Explorer 9 (32-bit) features a faster JavaScript engine than Internet Explorer 8's, internally known as Chakra. Chakra has a separate background thread for compiling JavaScript. Windows runs that thread in parallel on a separate core when one is available. Compiling in the background enables users to keep interacting with webpages while Internet Explorer 9 generates even faster code. By running separately in the background, this process can take advantage of modern multi-core machines.[45]

In Microsoft's preliminary SunSpider benchmarks for the third 32-bit Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview, it outperformed the Internet Explorer 8 engine by a factor of 10 and also outperformed the newest Firefox 4.0 pre-release.[46] Microsoft provided information that its new JavaScript engine uses dead code elimination optimization for faster performance, which included a small section of code in the SunSpider test as dead code.[47] Robert Sayre, a Mozilla developer investigated this further, showing that Internet Explorer 9 Preview 3's dead code elimination had bugs, providing test cases exposing these bugs resulting in wrong compilation.[48]

After its final release, 32-bit Internet Explorer 9 has been tested to be the leading mainstream browser in the SunSpider performance test.[49]

The engine significantly improves support for ECMA-262: ECMAScript Language Specification standard, including features new to the recently finalized Fifth Edition of ECMA-262 (often abbreviated ES5).[50] The Internet Explorer 9 browser release scored only 3 faults[original research?] from 10440 tests in the Test262 Ecmascript conformance test (Ver. 0.6.2 5-Apr-2011) created by Ecma International.

The 64-bit version of Internet Explorer 9, which is not the default browser even on 64-bit systems, does not have the JIT compiler[14][51] and performs up to 4 times slower.[52]

DOM

[edit]

DOM improvements include:

  • DOM Traversal and Range
  • Full DOM L2 and L3 events
  • getComputedStyle from DOM Style
  • DOMContentLoaded

CSS

[edit]

Internet Explorer 9 has improved Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) support. The Internet Explorer 9 implementation report, which was created using Internet Explorer 9 Beta, shows Internet Explorer 9 passing 97.7% of all tests on the W3C CSS 2.1 test suite.[53] This is the highest pass rate amongst CSS 2.1 implementation reports submitted to W3C.[54]

CSS3 improvements include support for the following modules:

  • CSS3 2D Transforms [55]
  • CSS3 Backgrounds and Borders [56]
  • CSS3 Color [57]
  • CSS3 Fonts [58]
  • CSS3 Media Queries [59]
  • CSS3 Namespaces [60]
  • CSS3 Values and Units [61]
  • CSS3 Selectors [62]

HTML

[edit]

HTML Media

[edit]

Internet Explorer 9 includes support for the HTML media tags video and audio.

The audio tag will include native support for the MP3 and AAC codecs, while the video tag will natively support H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.[63] Support for other video formats, such as WebM, require third-party plugins.[63]

Canvas

[edit]

Internet Explorer 9 includes support for the canvas element.[64]

Inline SVG support

[edit]

The first Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview has support for:[65]

  • Methods of embedding: inline HTML, inline XHTML, <object>, full .svg documents
  • Structure: <svg>, <defs>, <use>, <g>, <image>
  • Shapes: <circle>, <ellipse>, <rect>, <line>, <polyline>, <polygon>, <path>
  • Text
  • Filling, Stroking, (CSS3) Color
  • DOML2 Core and SVGDOM
  • Events
  • Presentation Attributes and CSS Styling
  • Transform definitions: translate, skewX, skewY, scale, rotate[66]

SVG elements that are supported in the Platform Preview are fully implemented. Elements that exist in the Platform Preview have corresponding SVGDOM support and can be styled with CSS/presentation attributes.

The final build of Internet Explorer 9 also supports:

  • Methods of embedding: <embed>, <iframe>, <img>, css image, .svgz
  • Gradients and Patterns
  • Clipping, Masking, and Compositing
  • Cursor, Marker
  • Remainder of Text, Transforms, Events

Web typography

[edit]

Internet Explorer was the first browser to support web fonts through the @font-face rule, but only supported the Embedded OpenType (EOT) format, and lacked support for parts of the CSS3 fonts module.[67] Internet Explorer 9 completed support for the CSS3 fonts module and added WOFF support. It is the first version of Internet Explorer to support TTF fonts, but will only use them if none of their embedding permission bits are set.[68]

[edit]

Internet Explorer 9 implements the new W3C Navigation Timings format. Microsoft has been a part of creating this format during the development of Internet Explorer 9.

Tracking Protection

[edit]

Internet Explorer 9 includes a Tracking Protection feature which improves upon Internet Explorer 8's InPrivate Filtering. Internet Explorer 8's InPrivate Filtering blocked third-party content using an XML list which had to be imported or automatically built a list by observing third-party servers that users kept interacting with as they browsed the web, and once a server showed up more than a set number of times, InPrivate Filtering would block future connections to it[69]

Internet Explorer 9 supports two methods of tracking protection. The primary method is through the use of Tracking Protection Lists (TPL)[70] which are now supplied by internet privacy-related organizations or companies. Tracking Protection by default remains on once enabled, unlike InPrivate Filtering which had to be enabled each time Internet Explorer 8 started. When a TPL is selected, Internet Explorer 9 blocks or allows third-party URI downloads based on rules in the TPL. Users can create their personal TPL's or select a TPL supplied by a third party Archived 2011-03-26 at the Wayback Machine.

The other method is the use of a Do Not Track header and DOM property.[71] Browser requests from Internet Explorer 9 include this header whenever a TPL is selected. Websites that follow this header should not deliver tracking mechanisms in their websites. At the moment following this header is a voluntary code of conduct but this method could in future be enforced by government legislation.

These tracking protection methods were submitted to W3C for standardization.[71]

Malware protection

[edit]

Internet Explorer 9 uses layered protection against malware. It uses technical measures to protect its memory like the DEP/NSX protection, Safe Exception handlers (SafeSEH) and ASLR protection used in Internet Explorer 8.

In addition to those existing forms of memory protection, Internet Explorer 9 now opts-in to SEHOP (Structured Exception Handler Overwrite Protection) which works by validating the integrity of the exception handling chain before dispatching exceptions. This helps ensure that structured exception handling cannot be used as an exploit vector, even when running outdated browser add-ons that have not been recompiled to take advantage of SafeSEH.[72]

In addition, Internet Explorer 9 is compiled with the new C++ compiler provided with Visual Studio 2010. This compiler includes a feature known as Enhanced GS, also known as Stack Buffer Overrun Detection, which helps prevent stack buffer overruns by detecting stack corruption and avoiding execution if such corruption is encountered.[72]

Internet Explorer 8 used SmartScreen technology, which, according to Microsoft, was successful against phishing or other malicious sites and in blocking of socially engineered malware.[73] In Internet Explorer 9, the protection against malware downloads is extended with SmartScreen Application Reputation.[74] This warns downloaders if they are downloading an application without a safe reputation from a site that does not have a safe reputation.

In late 2010, the results of browser malware testing undertaken by NSS labs were published.[75] The study looked at the browser's capability to prevent users following socially engineered links of a malicious nature and downloading malicious software. It did not test the browser's ability to block malicious web pages or code.

According to NSS, Internet Explorer 9 blocked 99% of malware downloads compared to 90% for Internet Explorer 8 that does not have SmartScreen Application Reputation feature. In early 2010, similar tests gave Internet Explorer 8 an 85% passing grade, the 5% improvement being attributed to "continued investments in improved data intelligence".[76] By comparison, the same research showed that Chrome 6, Firefox 3.6 and Safari 5, which all rely on Google's Safe Browsing Service, scored 6%, 19% and 11%, respectively. Opera 10 scored 0%, failing to "detect any of the socially engineered malware samples".[77]

Manufacturers of other browsers criticized the test, focusing upon the lack of transparency of URLs tested and the lack of consideration of layered security additional to the browser, with Google commenting that "The report itself clearly states that it does not evaluate browser security related to vulnerabilities in plug-ins or the browsers themselves",[78] and Opera commenting that the results appeared "odd that they received no results from our data providers" and that "social malware protection is not an indicator of overall browser security".[79]

Internet Explorer 9's dual-pronged approach to blocking access to malicious URLs—SmartScreen Filter to block bad URLs, and Application Reputation to detect untrustworthy executables—provides the best socially engineered malware blocking of any stable browser version. Internet Explorer 9 blocked 92 percent of malware with its URL-based filtering, and 100 percent with Application-based filtering enabled. Internet Explorer 8, in second place, blocked 90 percent of malware. Tied for third place were Safari 5, Chrome 10, and Firefox 4, each blocking just 13 percent. Bringing up the rear was Opera 11, blocking just 5 percent of malware.[80][81]

User agent string

[edit]

Due to technical improvements of the browser, the Internet Explorer developer team decided to change the user agent (UA) string. The Mozilla/4.0 token was changed to Mozilla/5.0 to match the user agent strings of other recent browsers and to indicate that Internet Explorer 9 is more interoperable than previous versions. The Trident/4.0 token was likewise changed to Trident/5.0. Because long, extended UA strings cause compatibility issues, Internet Explorer 9's default UA string does not include .NET identifiers or other "pre-platform" and "post-platform" tokens that were sent by previous versions of the browser. The extended string is still available to websites via the browser's .userAgent property, and is sent when a web page is displayed in Compatibility View mode.[82]

Operating system IE7 compatibility view? User agent string Extended string?
Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2 Yes Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0) Yes
Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2 No Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0) No
Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 Yes Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0) Yes
Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 No Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0) No

Extensibility

[edit]

In Internet Explorer 9, the extensibility mechanisms for Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) and toolbars remain the same. Not loading BHOs or toolbars improves startup time, but limits the ability of developers to augment the user experience through these extensibility mechanisms.

Removed features

[edit]
  • Separate search box
  • Security zone information and Protected Mode status,[83] progress bar, and other status bar elements except for the Zoom button
  • Support for DirectX page transitions[84]
  • Possibility to place the menu bar above the address bar[85]

Reception

[edit]

Release candidate

[edit]

Noting that according to Net Applications, Internet Explorer's share fell to 56% in January 2011,[86] the BBC quoted Microsoft's claims that Internet Explorer 9 is "playing catch up, but it leapfrogs everything" and "you are seeing innovation after innovation that other folks are catching up to."[87]

In The Register, Tim Anderson said Internet Explorer 9 was Microsoft's answer to the fall in Internet Explorer's market share (from 68.5% in July 2008 to 46% in January 2011, according to StatCounter). He felt it was "fast and polished", a "remarkable improvement" over version 8, noting "superb" development tools and "real and significant" support for HTML5, though "not as comprehensive as the company's publicity implies." However, configuration options are "strewn all over the user interface", and the "distinctive and excellent" ActiveX filtering and Tracking Protection features might be "perplexing for less technical users." Having reached release candidate status eleven months after it was originally announced at the March 2010 MIX conference, "Microsoft's development process is too slow." The new version is "a good modern browser" but "the competition is moving faster."[88]

Computing observed that "the feature set has piled up" since development began, with recent changes including "a completely rejigged JavaScript engine, and far better web standards support." It reported that Internet Explorer 9 RC ranked above Firefox, slightly above Safari, and below Chrome and Opera on Futuremark's Peacekeeper browser benchmark. Internet Explorer 9 scored 95% on the unofficial Acid3 standards test.[89]

Michael Muchmore's first impressions in PC Magazine were broadly positive, praising features of the InPrivate mode (which "I'm surprised other browser makers haven't included") and concluding that Internet Explorer 9's tracking protection was "more flexible and comprehensive" than Mozilla's. The review reported that Internet Explorer 9 "now wins the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark" and had achieved "a hefty improvement" on Google's JavaScript benchmark – though it was still far behind Chrome 9. However "in normal browsing, I was hard pressed to see a [performance] difference between Chrome and Internet Explorer." The release candidate was also "perfectly" compatible with far more sites than the beta, but there are still issues with some sites because their developers are not yet testing with the new browser. The RC scores 4 out of 5 ("very good") for now.[90]

Final release

[edit]

On its first day of commercial availability, Internet Explorer 9 was downloaded over 2.35 million times.[91]

Blogging his March 2011 performance tests for ZDNet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes concluded that Chrome 10, Internet Explorer 9 (32-bit) Final Release, Opera 11.01 and Firefox 4's Release candidate were "pretty evenly matched.... Microsoft has worked hard on IE, taking it from being the slowest in the pack to one of the fastest. Bottom line, I really don't think that JavaScript performance is an issue any more, and certainly in real-world testing it's hard to see a difference between the browsers."[52]

On 31 October 2011, PC World ranked Internet Explorer 9 as #19 on its 100 Best Products of 2011. The other web browser listed was Maxthon 3.1, a hybrid browser based on Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.[92] A review of IE9 beta in PC World noted a performance improvement over IE8.[93]

System requirements

[edit]

Both IA-32 and x64 builds are available.[94] It is the last version of Internet Explorer to support Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM.[95][96][97][98][99][100][101]

Mobile version

[edit]

At the February 2011 Mobile World Congress, Steve Ballmer announced a major update to Windows Phone due towards the end of 2011,[1] which will include a mobile version of Internet Explorer 9 that supports the same web standards (e.g. HTML5) and hardware accelerated graphics as the PC version.[102] Microsoft demonstrated hardware-accelerated performance of a fish-tank demo using a development build of mobile Internet Explorer 9 compared with slow performance on the November 2010 iOS 4.2.1 RTM of Safari on iPhone 4.[1]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Internet Explorer 9

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) is the ninth major version of the , released to manufacturing on March 14, 2011, and designed primarily for SP2, , and to deliver faster performance, enhanced web standards compliance, and a more immersive browsing experience through and site-centric features. Development of IE9 began with its announcement at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in November 2009, followed by a series of eight platform previews released every eight weeks starting in March 2010, which allowed developers to test emerging web standards and provide feedback. The beta version launched in 2010, garnering over 40 million downloads and achieving 2% usage share on within months, reflecting strong initial interest from users and partnerships with major sites like , Amazon, and . A hallmark of IE9 was its focus on web standards, with IE9 scoring 95/100 on the Acid3 test, marking a significant improvement for Internet Explorer in web standards compliance, and scoring highly on HTML5 compliance tests, supporting features like video, audio, canvas, SVG, and WOFF fonts while adhering to stable W3C specifications. Performance was boosted by the new Chakra JavaScript engine, which enabled multithreaded execution, and GPU acceleration using Direct2D and Direct3D for rendering graphics, text via DirectWrite, and other elements, resulting in smoother scrolling, faster page loads, and more efficient handling of complex web content. User interface changes emphasized minimalism, with tabs integrated beside the to prioritize website content over browser chrome, and innovative features like Pinned Sites that allowed users to pin web apps to the Windows for quick access and jump lists for common tasks. Security and privacy were enhanced through Tracking Protection Lists to block third-party trackers, a Do Not Track header, and an improved SmartScreen filter with reputation-based warnings for downloads, alongside stricter controls. Notable limitations included the lack of support for Windows XP due to dependencies on newer DirectX technologies, making it inaccessible to users on that platform, and the 64-bit version's incomplete feature set, such as the absence of the full engine. IE9 was released in 39 languages and integrated seamlessly with Windows 7's Aero interface, but it omitted advanced options like extensions or pinned tabs that were available in competitors, positioning it as a standards-focused yet conservative update.

History and Development

Announcement and Development Process

Microsoft first announced Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) on November 18, 2009, where Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live division, highlighted the browser's emphasis on web standards compliance and enhanced performance through hardware acceleration. The announcement addressed longstanding criticisms of previous versions, particularly IE8's limited support for emerging web technologies, by committing to better integration with modern standards to improve rendering speed and compatibility. Development of IE9 centered on leveraging GPU hardware acceleration via Direct2D and DirectWrite APIs to enable smoother rendering of web content, including text, graphics, and animations, marking a shift from CPU-only processing in earlier browsers. The team prioritized support for elements like video and canvas, advanced CSS3 features such as rounded corners and gradients, and for , aiming to close the gap with competitors like and Chrome that had already adopted these standards more fully. This focus was driven by the need to enhance on resource-intensive sites, with early demos showcasing faster page loads and richer visuals without requiring developers to alter their codebases. To demonstrate progress and gather developer feedback, Microsoft released a series of Platform Previews starting on March 16, 2010, which were stripped-down builds focused solely on core rendering and standards compliance. These previews showed marked improvements in the Acid3 test, a benchmark for web standards adherence; while IE8 scored only 20/100, the first preview achieved 55/100, and the second on May 5, 2010, reached 68/100, reflecting advancements in CSS, JavaScript, and DOM handling. The public beta of IE9 launched on , 2010, following internal testing, and quickly amassed over 2 million downloads in its initial days, indicating strong interest from users and developers eager to test the new capabilities. This phase allowed for broader validation of features like hardware-accelerated SVG rendering and HTML5 parsing, with feedback shaping final refinements. Leading the effort was the Internet Explorer Platform team under Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice president for the Internet Explorer group, who oversaw the design, engineering, and standards implementation to ensure IE9 aligned with the evolving web ecosystem.

Release Timeline

The beta version of Internet Explorer 9 was publicly released on September 15, 2010, marking a significant milestone in its development with the introduction of the Chakra JavaScript engine for enhanced performance and the Pinned Sites feature, which allowed users to pin web applications to the taskbar like native programs. This release was available for testing on Windows Vista and Windows 7, garnering over 40 million downloads in the following months and focusing on hardware-accelerated rendering improvements. The Release Candidate (RC) build followed on February 10, 2011, incorporating fixes for identified issues and enhancements to (SVG) support to better align with web standards. These refinements addressed feedback from the beta phase, improving stability and compatibility for developers, while maintaining the core advancements in execution and visual rendering. The final release to manufacturing (RTM) version of Internet Explorer 9 launched on March 14, 2011, during the (SXSW) Interactive festival in , where Microsoft highlighted its standards compliance and performance gains. It became available for direct download in 39 languages starting at 9 p.m. Pacific Time that day, with rollout via beginning shortly thereafter to existing and users, ensuring seamless integration with the Windows 7 and Aero interface. Post-release, Microsoft issued cumulative security updates to address emerging vulnerabilities, including the June 2011 patch (MS11-050, KB2530548), which resolved eleven privately reported issues in the browser's rendering engine and scripting components that could enable remote code execution. These updates were delivered automatically through , bolstering protection against exploits while preserving the browser's core functionality across supported platforms.

End of Support

Mainstream support for Internet Explorer 9 ended on April 10, 2012, coinciding with the conclusion of mainstream support for , the operating system on which IE9 was initially supported alongside later versions like . Extended support for IE9 continued until January 12, 2016, aligning with the broader Microsoft component lifecycle policy tied to underlying Windows operating systems such as and Windows Server 2008 R2. Following the 2016 end date, extended security updates (ESU) were made available for enterprise customers running IE9 on SP1, providing critical and important security patches for an additional period. These could be obtained through on-premises activation or via , extending protection until January 10, 2023, for on-premises deployments and January 9, 2024, for certain Azure virtual machines. After these dates, no further updates were provided, leaving systems vulnerable without migration. The discontinuation of support for IE9 was driven by Microsoft's strategic shift toward the Edge browser, introduced in , to prioritize modern web standards compliance and enhanced security features unavailable in the aging rendering engine used by IE9. Continued support for unpatched vulnerabilities in older IE versions posed significant risks, prompting the focus on newer platforms that better addressed evolving web technologies and threat landscapes. The end of support had notable implications for users, mandating upgrades to IE11 or to maintain security and compatibility, with beginning to display persistent notifications on affected systems starting January 12, 2016. These notifications informed users of the risks and encouraged immediate action, particularly for enterprise environments reliant on legacy applications, to avoid exposure to exploits targeting unsupported software.

User Interface and Usability Changes

Visual and Layout Improvements

Internet Explorer 9 introduced Pinned Sites, a feature that enabled users to pin favorite websites directly to the taskbar, allowing them to launch and interact with sites as if they were native applications, including support for Jump Lists that provided quick access to site-specific tasks such as composing in services. Pinned Sites further enhanced visual integration by adopting the site's as the taskbar icon and incorporating the site's primary colors into the browser's title bar and tab for a more immersive, app-like appearance. This functionality was designed to blur the lines between and desktop applications, improving workflow efficiency on Windows platforms. The browser's address bar underwent a significant simplification through the "One Box" design, which merged navigation and search capabilities into a single field, eliminating the separate search box to create a cleaner, less cluttered interface. Users could now type URLs or search queries interchangeably, with inline providing suggestions from browsing history, favorites, and search providers, while a dropdown allowed easy switching between search engines. This change prioritized screen real estate for , aligning with the overall goal of a minimalist layout. Tabbed browsing in Internet Explorer 9 incorporated Aero Glass transparency effects on and 7, rendering the tab bar and window frame with a translucent glass-like appearance that matched the host operating system's visual style for seamless desktop integration. A new tear-off tab mechanism allowed users to drag any tab away from the browser window to create an independent pane, which could then be snapped to screen edges using Windows Aero Snap for side-by-side multitasking, with active content like videos continuing to play uninterrupted during the process. The first-run experience and new tab page were redesigned to showcase an improved favorites bar, displaying thumbnails of frequently visited sites with large and activity meters indicating recent engagement, facilitating quicker navigation upon launch or opening new tabs. Active tabs displayed the site's favicon prominently next to the title, enhancing visual identification and reducing reliance on text alone for tab management. To support these visual elements, Internet Explorer 9 implemented for UI components via and DirectWrite APIs, offloading rendering of text, graphics, and animations to the GPU to achieve smoother transitions and lower CPU usage during interface interactions. Internet Explorer 9 introduced enhanced tab management to improve user control and reliability during browsing. Tabs were placed on a dedicated row above the , providing more screen real estate for and better visibility of the active tab through distinct highlighting. Users could rearrange tabs by dragging them within the row or close background tabs without activating them by hovering over the close button. A key reliability feature was tab isolation, which ensured that a crash or hang in one tab did not affect others, complemented by automatic crash recovery that restored the affected tab upon restart and hang recovery that isolated unresponsive tabs while allowing continued use of the browser. Additionally, tab preview thumbnails appeared on the , enabling quick switching and via hover previews. The , rebranded as the One Box, unified and search functionalities to streamline user input. It incorporated Inline for URLs and integrated suggestions from browsing history, Favorites, and selected search providers, allowing seamless transitions between direct and web searches. displayed the site's in bold black text within the to aid quick identification and awareness. Users could easily switch or add search providers through a dropdown menu in the One Box, enhancing flexibility without leaving the main interface. Navigation controls saw refinements for faster access and context. The Back button was enlarged and positioned prominently at the top-left of the toolbar for easier access, similar to design choices in competitors like , while both Back and Forward buttons supported a dropdown menu revealing recent history for quick jumps. Integration with the Navigation Timings API via the window.msPerformance interface allowed developers to measure and optimize load times, indirectly benefiting user-perceived navigation speed through better-performing sites. The was embedded directly into the main browser window, eliminating disruptive pop-up dialogs and providing a persistent view of active downloads below the . It displayed bars, file details, and options to pause, resume, or cancel transfers, with integrated SmartScreen checks for during the process. This design allowed users to monitor multiple downloads without interrupting their browsing workflow. Interaction was further accelerated through expanded keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures. Standard shortcuts like Ctrl + T for new tabs and Ctrl + W for closing tabs were retained, with additions such as Ctrl + Click on links to open them in new tabs. Mouse gestures included drag-and-drop for rearranging tabs or pinning sites to the , and tear-off tabs enabled by dragging a tab away from the bar to create a new standalone . This tear-off functionality supported setups via integration with Snap, allowing users to snap windows side-by-side for comparative browsing without losing media playback continuity.

Rendering and Standards Support

JavaScript and Scripting Engine

Internet Explorer 9 introduced the Chakra JavaScript engine, a significant upgrade from the JScript engine used in previous versions, designed to deliver faster script execution through just-in-time (JIT) compilation. Chakra employs parallel interpretation, compilation, and optimization of JavaScript code, leveraging multiple CPU cores to compile scripts in the background while the foreground interpreter handles ongoing execution, resulting in dramatic performance improvements over Internet Explorer 8. Benchmarks such as SunSpider demonstrated IE9's JavaScript execution to be up to several times faster than IE8's, with specific tests showing enhancements of around 2x in common scripting scenarios due to this multicore optimization and removal of the marshalling layer between the script engine and DOM. Chakra provided robust support for the 5 standard, marking a major step forward in language compliance and enabling developers to utilize features such as strict mode for better error handling, native parsing and serialization via JSON.parse() and JSON.stringify(), and enhanced array methods like forEach(), map(), and reduce(). This support improved interoperability and reduced reliance on polyfills for modern web applications. Additionally, IE9 enhanced DOM Level 2 and Level 3 specifications, introducing faster querying methods such as querySelector() and querySelectorAll() for efficient element selection, along with improved event handling through the standard addEventListener() and removeEventListener() APIs, which streamlined dynamic content manipulation and reduced scripting overhead. These advancements contributed to IE9 achieving a score of 95 out of 100 on the test, a substantial improvement from IE8's 21/100, highlighting enhanced reliability in rendering complex scripts that combine , CSS, and . The optimized DOM integration with further boosted scripting performance by allowing native, low-latency communication between objects and the document structure. Moreover, 's efficiency paired with IE9's via enabled smoother script-driven animations, such as those using or elements, by offloading graphical computations to the GPU while the engine handled rapid updates, resulting in fluid interactions without blocking the main thread.

CSS and HTML Compliance

Internet Explorer 9 marked a substantial advancement in web standards compliance, particularly enhancing the browser's adherence to CSS3 and HTML5 specifications for improved layout rendering and semantic structure. Building on the Trident engine's updates, IE9 enabled more accurate interpretation of modern web markup and styling, reducing the need for proprietary hacks and promoting cross-browser consistency. This shift facilitated the creation of more sophisticated, standards-based websites without compromising compatibility. In terms of CSS3, Internet Explorer 9 introduced support for key features from the Backgrounds and Borders Module, including the border-radius property for rounded corners, which allowed developers to apply curved edges to elements natively without relying on background images or . The browser also implemented CSS3 linear and radial gradients via the background and background-image properties, enabling vibrant, image-free visual effects that enhanced page aesthetics and performance. Additionally, support for the box-shadow property provided drop shadows for block-level elements, contributing to depth in layouts, while the Module allowed conditional styling based on device capabilities such as screen width and resolution, laying groundwork for responsive design. These implementations were part of broader CSS3 module integrations, including Selectors and Values and Units, though support remained partial compared to later browsers. For HTML compliance, IE9 advanced HTML5 parsing algorithms, enabling robust handling of semantic elements like <article>, <section>, and <nav>, which improved document structure, accessibility, and by allowing content to be marked up with meaningful tags rather than generic <div> containers. This included better validation and rendering of these elements in standards mode, inheriting from the base HtmlElement for consistent DOM interactions. A notable enhancement was the native support for inline rendering, compliant with SVG 1.1 (Second Edition), permitting to be embedded directly within via the <svg> tag without plugins or external files. This enabled scalable, resolution-independent illustrations, animations, and icons, integrated seamlessly with content for applications like data visualization and interactive diagrams. Web typography saw improvements through expanded @font-face rule capabilities, with IE9 adding support for the (WOFF), a compressed format for and fonts that reduced file sizes while maintaining . Developers could now specify custom fonts in CSS, such as src: url('example.woff') format('woff'), allowing precise typographic control across platforms without embedding restrictions. IE9 fully passed the Acid2 test, validating its compliance with CSS 2.1 rendering, HTML parsing, and PNG transparency, a milestone first achieved in IE8 but reaffirmed with IE9's refinements. Overall, these updates represented significant progress toward conformance, with contributing over 2,000 test cases to the W3C to refine standards implementation.

Media and Graphics Features

Internet Explorer 9 introduced native support for the HTML5 <video> and <audio> elements, enabling playback of content without requiring plugins. This support included the H.264 codec for video and AAC for audio, leveraging the framework in Windows for decoding. The browser also implemented the Canvas 2D API, allowing developers to create dynamic graphics and perform scripted drawing operations directly in HTML documents. This API provided a resolution-independent bitmap canvas for rendering paths, shapes, text, and images, supporting methods like fillRect, stroke, and drawImage for real-time visual effects.) Hardware acceleration enhanced these media and graphics capabilities in Internet Explorer 9 by utilizing the GPU for rendering through and DirectWrite APIs. Specifically, video playback benefited from GPU-accelerated decoding and compositing, while SVG animations and rendering were optimized via for smoother performance on supported hardware. DirectWrite handled subpixel text rendering with hardware support, improving clarity in media-rich pages. Additionally, Internet Explorer 9 added support for the (WOFF), permitting web designers to embed custom fonts in pages for consistent typography across media and graphics without relying on system fonts. This complemented CSS font properties like font-size and font-stretch, enabling more immersive designs.) One notable limitation was the absence of support, which would have enabled 3D graphics rendering; this feature was introduced later in Internet Explorer 11.

Security, Privacy, and Performance

Protection Mechanisms

Internet Explorer 9 introduced Tracking Protection Lists (TPLs), a feature enabling users to subscribe to curated blocklists that prevent third-party websites from tracking browsing activity or delivering targeted content. These lists, developed by in collaboration with partners including PrivacyChoice, TRUSTe, Abine, and , operate entirely on the client side, filtering out trackers without requiring server-side changes or impacting primary website performance. IE9 also introduced support for the (DNT) header, an opt-in feature that sends an HTTP request header asking websites not to track the user's browsing activity for or purposes. Users could enable it through the Safety menu in the browser settings. The browser's SmartScreen filter received significant enhancements in IE9, expanding beyond URL-based detection to include reputation-based analysis for downloads and applications, thereby blocking and untrustworthy files before execution. This update allowed SmartScreen to evaluate file signatures against a cloud-based database, providing proactive protection against drive-by downloads and zero-day threats while minimizing false positives through refinements. IE9 bolstered memory security with improvements to Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and Data Execution Prevention (DEP), randomizing the layout of key modules like the JavaScript engine to thwart address prediction in exploits and enforcing non-executable memory regions to halt code injection attacks. These mitigations addressed known bypass techniques, significantly raising the bar for successful remote code execution vulnerabilities in real-world scenarios. To counter web-based threats, IE9 featured an advanced (XSS) filter that parsed and neutralized reflected XSS payloads in real time, reducing the attack surface for script injection. Complementing this, the browser fully supported HTTP-only cookies, a flag that restricts access to session cookies, thereby mitigating even if an XSS vulnerability is exploited.

Performance Optimizations

Internet Explorer 9 introduced the Navigation Timing API, enabling developers to precisely measure key phases of webpage loading, such as DNS lookup times, TCP connection establishment, request and response durations, and DOM rendering intervals. This API, implemented via the window.msPerformance interface, provided a standardized way to access high-resolution timestamps for performance analysis, helping web developers optimize site speed and diagnose latency issues. A cornerstone of IE9's performance enhancements was its support for , which leveraged the GPU through for compositing page layers, including text, graphics, canvas, elements, and video playback. By offloading these tasks from the CPU to the GPU, IE9 reduced overall system load and improved rendering efficiency for graphically intensive content, resulting in smoother scrolling and faster page interactions. This feature was enabled by default on compatible hardware, marking a shift toward hardware-accelerated browsing experiences. also enabled quicker rendering of test animations compared to software-only rendering on supported systems. The browser's performance saw notable gains, largely due to the new engine, which utilized and multi-core processing; in the SunSpider benchmark, IE9 achieved competitive scores, outperforming IE8 by over 50% in execution speed. To enhance stability and prevent performance disruptions, IE9 implemented tab isolation for plugins, running third-party content like Flash in separate processes. This out-of-process execution isolated plugin failures, avoiding full browser crashes and maintaining overall session responsiveness without impacting other tabs.

User Agent and Extensibility

Internet Explorer 9 introduced an updated (UA) string designed to enhance compatibility with web standards by more closely aligning with common browser identification practices. The default UA string for IE9 on was "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; 6.1; /5.0)", which included the version of the Trident rendering engine to facilitate feature detection without relying on outdated sniffing techniques. This adjustment from the IE8 string—"Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; 6.1; Trident/4.0)"—aimed to minimize proprietary UA parsing issues that had plagued earlier versions, thereby improving overall web compatibility for developers targeting standards-compliant sites. A key feature for handling legacy content was Compatibility View, which emulated older rendering behaviors to support websites not optimized for modern standards. Users could toggle this mode on a per-domain basis via the Tools menu under Compatibility View Settings, allowing selective activation for specific sites while maintaining standards mode elsewhere. This granular control helped balance without compromising the default standards-focused experience. IE9 retained the Accelerator framework from IE8, providing a mechanism for quick, site-specific actions integrated into the browser's context menu. For instance, right-clicking selected text could trigger accelerators for tasks like searching with Bing or mapping an address via , streamlining workflows without leaving the current page. These XML-based shortcuts were customizable and discoverable through the browser's provider list, enhancing for common web interactions. Extensibility in IE9 primarily relied on Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), in-process COM DLLs that allowed third-party developers to extend browser functionality, such as adding toolbars or injecting scripts. To promote safer extensions, introduced an official add-ons gallery accessible from the Tools menu, where users could browse, review performance impacts, and install approved BHOs, with options to disable problematic ones via the Add-ons Manager. This approach limited the risks associated with unvetted extensions compared to prior versions.

Deprecated and Removed Features

Eliminated Interface Elements

Internet Explorer 9 introduced a streamlined user interface by eliminating several traditional elements to prioritize web content and reduce clutter, aligning with a site-centric design philosophy. The separate search box, a staple in previous versions, was removed and its functionality merged into the address bar, now termed the "One Box," allowing users to perform searches and enter URLs in a single field with inline auto-complete support. This integration simplified navigation by consolidating inputs while maintaining search provider options through a dropdown in the address bar. The , previously displayed at the bottom of the browser window to show loading progress and link information, was eliminated by default to maximize screen real estate for web pages. Relevant notifications, such as status or security alerts, were relocated to a new Notification Bar at the bottom of the window or provided via tooltips on hover. The , which housed traditional dropdown menus for File, Edit, View, and other commands, was hidden by default in IE9 to create a cleaner, tab-focused layout. Users could access it temporarily by pressing the , with many functions consolidated into a Tools dropdown or right-click context menus for quicker interaction. DirectX filters and transitions, proprietary technologies used for applying visual effects like shadows, glows, and page animations in web content, were deprecated starting with IE9. These features, previously enabled via the -ms-filter CSS property and meta tags for transitions, were no longer supported to encourage adoption of open standards such as CSS3 for similar effects. The deprecation aimed to phase out non-standard extensions in favor of hardware-accelerated rendering via Direct2D. The Favorites Center sidebar, a left-pane panel for managing bookmarks, feeds, and history introduced in earlier versions, was removed as a persistent interface element due to low usage rates—fewer than one-third of users accessed it regularly. Its capabilities were integrated into the main UI, with favorites accessible via a star icon that opened an overlay pane, and further enhanced through features like site pinning to the .

Deprecated Technologies

Internet Explorer 9 marked a shift toward web standards, deprecating certain proprietary technologies in favor of emerging and related specifications, while maintaining through warnings and optional controls. ActiveX controls, long a Microsoft-specific extension for embedding rich content, were still supported in IE9 but actively discouraged for new development in preference to native elements like <video>, <audio>, and <canvas>. To mitigate risks associated with , IE9 introduced ActiveX Filtering, an opt-in feature that allowed users to block content on untrusted sites, signaling Microsoft's intent to phase out reliance on this technology over time. Proprietary CSS features, such as the property that attached HTML Components (HTC) files for dynamic effects, were retained in IE9 for legacy support but deprecated in favor of standard CSS3 modules like transitions, animations, and transforms. Similarly, the non-standard filter: alpha(opacity=...) syntax for transparency effects was superseded by the cross-browser opacity property introduced in CSS3, which IE9 supported natively in standards mode. These changes encouraged developers to adopt interoperable CSS3 alternatives, reducing dependence on IE-specific hacks that hindered cross-browser compatibility. The legacy ActiveX-based Microsoft.XMLHTTP object for asynchronous requests was no longer recommended in IE9, with the shift to the standardized XMLHttpRequest object, which had been natively available since IE7 but became the primary method in IE9's enhanced JavaScript engine. This transition aligned IE9 with W3C specifications, improving performance and security by eliminating the need for ActiveX fallbacks in modern scripting. Support for the obsolete Gopher protocol, an early menu-driven system predating the web, was not available in IE9, having been fully removed as part of the WinInet API updates starting with IE7, reflecting its irrelevance in the HTTP-dominated ecosystem. Developers handling legacy links were advised to redirect to HTTP equivalents. To address compatibility challenges during the upgrade from prior IE versions, IE9 introduced enhanced support for the X-UA-Compatible meta tag (originally from IE8), allowing web authors to force rendering in older modes like IE8 or IE7 standards via values such as content="IE=8" in the document head. This mechanism helped legacy sites maintain appearance without full rewrites, though Microsoft urged adopting IE9's standards mode for optimal performance.

Reception and Legacy

Critical Reviews and Adoption

Upon its release on March 14, 2011, Internet Explorer 9 achieved over 2.35 million downloads in the first 24 hours, marking a strong initial uptake compared to previous versions. Contemporary reviews highlighted its performance gains, with TechCrunch praising the browser as "built for speed" due to enhancements like hardware acceleration and the new Chakra JavaScript engine. ZDNet echoed this sentiment, noting that the Chakra engine's just-in-time compilation made IE9 faster than the Firefox 4 beta in JavaScript benchmarks, positioning it as a competitive option for dynamic web applications. However, critics pointed to limitations in standards compliance and compatibility. described IE9 as "the most modern browser there is" for its streamlined interface and broad support, including video, canvas, and elements, but criticized its conservative implementation, which resulted in incomplete coverage of emerging features and lower scores on HTML5 test suites compared to rivals like . highlighted delays and the ultimate exclusion of support as a significant drawback, arguing that the decision left millions of users reliant on older, less secure browsers and accelerated shifts to competitors like Chrome and . The beta phase, spanning from September 2010 to February 2011, saw over 23 million downloads, providing extensive feedback that informed refinements in the release candidate, such as improved stability and security features. In terms of adoption, IE9 captured about 4.4% of the global browser market by May 2011, growing to approximately 12% by late 2011, though it trailed Chrome's explosive expansion from about 11% to over 25% in the same period. The browser's launch at the SXSW Interactive conference underscored Microsoft's push for broader web standards adherence amid these competitive pressures.

Long-Term Impact and Criticism

Internet Explorer 9 marked a significant turning point in Microsoft's browser strategy by substantially improving standards compliance, particularly in HTML5 support, which helped bridge the gap between IE's earlier versions and more modern competitors. This advancement positioned IE9 as a leader in certain HTML5 benchmarks at launch, surpassing rivals in areas like video and audio rendering, and set the foundation for subsequent iterations such as IE10 and IE11, which further refined these standards before the transition to Microsoft Edge. The release intensified the browser wars, spurring competitors like Firefox to accelerate their own HTML5 implementations amid heightened industry focus on web standards. Despite these gains, IE9 faced criticism for its protracted development cycle, spanning approximately 18 months from initial planning to release, in contrast to Google Chrome's rapid six-to-eight-week update cadence that enabled quicker feature rollouts and responsiveness to user feedback. Additionally, the browser launched with notable omissions in emerging web technologies, such as native support for WebSockets, requiring experimental add-ins from Microsoft's HTML5 Labs for partial functionality rather than built-in integration. These gaps underscored perceptions of Microsoft lagging behind in innovation pace and completeness. In the long term, the end of mainstream support for IE9 in 2015 compelled many enterprises to upgrade to IE11 or alternative browsers, accelerating IE's overall market decline from a dominant position to niche usage. However, as of 2025, remnants of IE9 persist in legacy systems, particularly through Edge's IE mode for compatibility with outdated ActiveX-dependent applications, exposing organizations to unpatched vulnerabilities and compliance risks. As of 2025, IE9 remnants persist in enterprise legacy systems through Edge's IE mode, where unpatched vulnerabilities continue to pose risks despite overall IE in 2022. Retrospectives view IE9 as a pivotal but ultimately outdated , with its security flaws—such as those in the engine—continuing to be exploited even after extended support ended in 2020, highlighting the challenges of transitioning from proprietary extensions to open standards. IE9's launch also generated cultural commentary, with online jokes and memes in 2011 lampooning Microsoft's catch-up efforts in the browser space, often portraying the update as a belated response to agile rivals like Chrome. These humorous takes, including rage comics and image macros depicting IE's slow evolution, reflected broader frustrations with the browser's historical dominance through non-standard features.

Technical Specifications

System Requirements

Internet Explorer 9 requires a 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor and at least 512 MB of RAM as minimum hardware specifications. A 9-capable (GPU) with a (WDDM) driver is also necessary to enable . Additionally, a (800 × 600) display with 256 colors or higher is required, along with a or connection for online functionality. The browser officially supports Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (both 32-bit and 64-bit editions), (both 32-bit and 64-bit editions), with Service Pack 2 (both 32-bit and 64-bit editions), and (64-bit edition). It does not support in its final release. Installation of Internet Explorer 9 is available as a web-based download of approximately 18 MB, which expands to require 70 MB of hard disk space on 32-bit systems or 120 MB on 64-bit systems. Offline installers are provided for manual deployment without . Updates are delivered automatically through , ensuring security patches and improvements are applied seamlessly on supported platforms. While Internet Explorer 9 launched without a dedicated 64-bit version for some platforms, full 64-bit support was available on and from release.

Mobile Implementation

Internet Explorer 9 was adapted for mobile devices as the default browser in 7.5, codenamed "," which began rolling out on September 27, 2011. The mobile version was first announced by at the in February 2011, where CEO confirmed its upcoming availability on the platform. This implementation shared the core codebase with the desktop edition, enabling consistent web standards support while being tailored for mobile hardware and interactions. Key features included hardware-accelerated rendering for elements, leveraging the device's GPU via APIs to enhance performance for graphics-intensive web content. The user interface was touch-optimized, incorporating support for the <meta name="viewport"> tag to control page width and the -ms-text-size-adjust property for dynamic text scaling on smaller screens. Pinned Sites functionality allowed users to pin web pages directly to the Start screen, creating live tiles that could display dynamic updates from compatible sites, bridging web apps with native mobile experiences. In terms of standards compliance, the mobile browser utilized the same rendering engine as its desktop counterpart, including the Chakra JavaScript engine for improved scripting performance. It supported HTML5 video playback through the <video> tag, using H.264 encoding with full-screen native controls and GPU acceleration identical to desktop IE9, though thumbnail sizing via width/height attributes was emphasized for mobile previews. However, it lacked full desktop extensibility, such as support for add-ons or browser helper objects, to maintain a lightweight and secure mobile footprint. Additional limitations included deep integration with Bing as the default , aligning with 's ecosystem, and no provisions for third-party extensions. Performance was optimized for ARM-based processors in devices, with efficient for battery life and smooth rendering. support encompassed interactions like pinch-to-zoom, enabling intuitive navigation without dedicated buttons. Support for IE9 on ended with the platform's extended support on October 14, 2014.

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