IE9 to arrive Monday as Firefox 4 hits RC

[alphaomega]

Mozilla and Microsoft are ready to go toe-to-toe with new browsers
Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 9 on 14 March, while Mozilla has signed off on the release candidate for Firefox 4.
The release candidate for IE9 arrived last month, after a series of developer previews, but Microsoft suggested there were "still a few surprises left".
"There are a lot of new amazing things to share," said IE senior director Ryan Gavin, in a post on the IE blog (http://windowsteamblog.com/ie/b/ie/archive/2011/03/09/a-more-beautiful-web-launches-on-march-14th.aspx).
The Monday release coincides with the start of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.
Mozilla release
Meanwhile, Mozilla developers said the first release candidate for Firefox 4 would arrive either today or tomorrow, as soon as quality assurance (QA) checks were finished.
That's already happened this afternoon, according to developer Asa Dotzler on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#%21/asadotzler/status/45520717411913728): "QA just signed off on Firefox 4 release candidate builds."
In notes from a Firefox delivery meeting (http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.planning/browse_thread/thread/908bd21400034d0b) today, Mozilla reported that there would likely be no need for a second release candidate - good news given the browser has seen 12 betas and is already trailing rival IE by a few weeks.
"QA has requested more time for thorough testing, so expect at least one to two more weeks before final ship," the meeting notes said.
Google today released the latest Chrome browser (http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/365827/google-hits-double-digits-with-chrome-10), as part of its six-week update cycle.


Copyright © PC Pro, Dennis Publishing (http://www.pcpro.co.uk/)

[garycorbett]

Nice, IE users need to update ASAP so they can finally have CSS rounded-corners. I enjoyed Microsoft vs Mozilla on the 'modern browser' debate.

More reading on the mozilla page at: people.mozilla.com/~prouget/ie9

[frank911]

id like to try the new IE9. i hope they fixed the problems of speed.

[alphaomega]

id like to try the new IE9. i hope they fixed the problems of speed.
Best way to find out is to give it a go. No theory will tell you.

[Alice_Ink]

I've used Firefox strictly for the last few years, and I really like it. IE9 has recently piqued my interest though. Sadly, I'm running XP on my work computer, so I can't try it out here because it's not compatible.
It's really time for an OS update. ;)

[alphaomega]

I've used Firefox strictly for the last few years, and I really like it. IE9 has recently piqued my interest though. Sadly, I'm running XP on my work computer, so I can't try it out here because it's not compatible.
It's really time for an OS update. ;)
I don't want to sound like Microsoft advocate, but if you like fast operating system that runs on lesser machine well, is more secure and nicer on top of that, update to Windows 7 pro. Have it on my work horse since Beta version (now full version of course) and really like it. Out of all the different OS it suits me best. Have Linux and XP Pro as well, but use Win 7 for work. All programs I use work on it, hardware works as well. http://www.webproworld.com/webmaster-forum/images/icons/icon14.png

[kgun]

Mozilla and Microsoft are ready to go toe-to-toe with new browsers
Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 9 on 14 March, while Mozilla has signed off on the release candidate for Firefox 4.



Is IE9 W3C DOM compliant? http://www.kjellbleivik.com/bt.htm
Does it support the HTML5 Canvas element? http://www.w3schools.com/html5/tag_canvas.asp Click Try it yourself and check.

IE8 is not DOM compliant and does not support the HTML5 canvas element. FF 4 is DOM compliant and support the Canvas element. I have not installed IE 9.

[kgun]

IE8 is not DOM compliant and does not support the HTML5 canvas element. FF 4 is DOM compliant and support the Canvas element. I have not installed IE 9.
IE9 is both DOM compliant and it supports the HTML5 Canvas element.

And it takes half of the Resources that Opera takes.

This seems 2 Good 2 be true Microsoft. Have your got a new manager that has started to listen to the world?

Now it is up to the world to push standards and get people to upgrade their version of IE. That can save the webmasters as a group billions.

[kgun]

Was I too fast to praise the browser?

It seems that a new version of IE starts when you visit a new site, and memory use increase far above what Opera uses after a while. There may be memory leaks due to dangling pointers or that threads are not closed correctly. Garbage collection could perhaps be improved.

My impression is that a new instance of the browser is started for every new tab. Is that a potential security risk?

Nevertheless, an improvement since it is DOM compliant and supports the Canvas element.

[deepsand]

Watch for Firefox 5 Release in June (http://www.pcworld.com/article/224795/watch_for_firefox_5_release_in_june.html#tk.nl_dnx _h_crawl)



Mozilla has set an aggressive schedule for the next version of Firefox, slating the release of Firefox 5 for June 21.

If it meets that schedule, Mozilla could crank out Firefox 6 just two months later.

Mozilla is currently planning a truncated schedule for Firefox 5, which should ship June 21. To meet that deadline, Firefox 5 has to hit the "aurora" channel April 12 and reach beta by May 17.

With Firefox 5 done, Mozilla will shift to a standard 18-week schedule that will put Firefox 6's release around mid-August.

Quite frankly, I am weary of the browser wars; it's rapidly approaching the point where one will have barely become accustomed to a given version by the time it's replaced by a new one.

[kgun]

Watch for Firefox 5 Release in June (http://www.pcworld.com/article/224795/watch_for_firefox_5_release_in_june.html#tk.nl_dnx _h_crawl)


I very much miss an export favourites as html file on the file menu.



Quite frankly, I am weary of the browser wars; it's rapidly approaching the point where one will have barely become accustomed to a given version by the time it's replaced by a new one.
That is a good description of how Opera handles upgrades. That browser may also be more stable when it comes in a new version or am I biased because I am Norwegian?

[deepsand]

Well, with regards to FF, I've observed no correlation between stability and version. And, with IE, I've never had stability problems.

With any complex application, any change to the body of code brings with it the risk of unknown adverse effects. Trying to stabilize an application whose code is in a persistent state of flux is akin to trying to analyze a multivariate function where the number of variables and their coefficients are constantly changing.

I am particularly concerned re. Mozilla's plans to follow Google re. silent updates, a feature that they failed to have ready for FF4, but expect to incorporate into FF5. Google eventually learned that such was not well suited to institutional users, and now provides standard MSI install files for the Chrome browser. Hopefully Mozilla will provide for such function being disabled.

[frank911]

the NEW IE is good but still need a lot work.

[deepsand]

the NEW IE is good but still need a lot work.
Elaboration very much needed.