Internet Explorer 9: Three Things You'll Love
With Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft is doing more than just play catch-up with the likes of Chrome and Firefox. It's innovating, to the point where users may stop regarding IE as "the browser that comes with Windows" and start thinking of it as "the browser I want to use."
Having spent some time with the IE9 beta, which Microsoft unveiled earlier today, I can point to three new features (out of about nine in all) that you're sure to love -- especially if you're a Windows 7 user.
- Pinned Sites You already know about pinning programs and folders to the Windows 7 taskbar, right? With IE9, you can pin your favorite sites there as well. Now you can go straight to Business Hacks with just one click -- no need to open the browser ahead of time. It's a slight improvement over Chrome's similar implementation, which opens its "Application Shortcuts" in a single, tab-free window.
- Tear-off Tabs You know how Windows 7 can "snap" programs to either side of your monitor? IE9 lets you do likewise, dragging a tab out of the browser and into a new window, then snapping it for side-by-side viewing. My only complaint is that IE doesn't automatically resize and snap the original window. Some kind of "auto side-by-side" shortcut would be great.
- Address-bar Search Okay, so other browsers have had this for awhile. But I like IE9's approach, which displays search-engine icons at the bottom of a box that appears as you type your search terms. That means you don't have to choose a single engine beforehand -- you can click the one you want for each and every search (or just hit Enter to use the default).
You may need to relearn a few things and master a few more keyboard shortcuts, but ultimately I think any IE8 user will be delighted with IE9 -- and users of other browsers will almost certainly want to check it out.
Keep in mind, however, that for now it's a beta, so you may want to avoid installing it on any mission-critical PCs.