Microsoft has debuted its long-awaited Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Platform Preview.
The latest iteration of the popular browser includes support for HTML5, hardware-accelerated graphics and text, as well as a new JavaScript engine that uses the multiple cores of modern chips to effectively manage computing resources and optimize Web performance.
Microsoft also detailed its support for a number of HTML5 specifications, such as CSS3, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), XHTML parsing and the video/audio tags using industry-standard (H.264/MPEG4 and MP3/AAC) codecs.
It should be noted that IE9 has already received ringing endorsements from a number of analysts and corporations, including graphics company Nvidia.
Indeed, in a Tuesday blog post, Nvidia spokesperson Drew Henry referred to IE9’s GPU-accelerated HTML5 as a “milestone” for virtual computing.
“Today, with introduction of Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft gives us another milestone for visual computing. [It] is the first browser designed to take advantage of modern hardware, resulting in graphics and performance improvements throughout the browser including the first to deliver hardware accelerated scalable vector graphics( SVG); the first to enhance JavaScript engine performance with the benefit of shifting from the CPU to the GPU; and the first to deliver GPU-Powered HTML5,” wrote Henry.
“There is a global movement underway to enhance the visual computing experience in every type of device. Internet Explorer 9 and its GPU hardware acceleration will kick that in to overdrive. It is truly a killer app for visual computing. It is a huge proof point for the optimized PC concept.”
