Internet Explorer (IE) is one of the most used web browsers on the internet today. Its popularity cannot certainly be attributed to its performance. The spread of that browser on personal computers is linked to the fact that Internet Explorer is shipped with most new PCs using the Windows Operating System. Most web users still perceive IE as “the” internet browser because IE used to be tied to Windows OS until recently.
However because of IE’s lack of support of new CSS and HTML features, most web developers consider Internet Explorer as more than a nuisance and start recommending other “more modern” web browsersto their clients and friends: Firefox, Safari, Opera and ”the new kid in the block” Google Chrome.
IE6 is still around because it’s the default web browser for most Windows XP users. Although the percentage of IE6 users is dwindling every month, web developers still have to optimize their web site design (HTML, CSS, Javascript) to accommodate that old web browser.
IE7 and the latest version IE8 are certainly a great attempt from Microsoft to be inline with the recommendations of the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). But there is still more room for improvements. IE lacks some of the most important functions most modern web browsers have today.
But all that is going to change very soon with the upcoming of a new version, IE 9. The rumor is IE9 will support HTML 5, CSS 3 and SVG vector graphics. What that means is the ability among other things to:
- create round corners with CSS without using graphics
- display a multicolumn page content without manually breaking it down in separate containers
- apply multiple background images to the
Those are just a few of the new features the CSS3 specifications include. They are already supported by Firefox, Opera, Safari and Chrome.
For now, let’s wait and see what surprises Internet Explorer version 9 (IE9) has in store for us.
