Internet Explorer 9 is Finally a Useful Experience
I’ve been working on a new website and decided to download the new Internet Explorer 9 Beta browser to see if it supports CSS3 border-radius code (it does). I was struck by how blatantly Microsoft ripped off Google Chrome, a browser I’ve been using since the end of 2008. This is okay with me, because I love Chrome – but if I was Google’s Chrome browser department, I’d probably be upset. That said, I’ll show some examples below of the similarities between the new IE9-Beta with Chrome & Firefox.
IE9-Beta’s Similarities with Chrome & Firefox:
- Sleek look with no Menu Bar, Status Bar, Bookmarks Bar, etc… as a default setting (like Chrome).
- Address Bar doubles as a search engine (like Chrome).
- The Icons are nearly identical between IE9 and Chrome – the little house (home), the star (bookmark), the refresh arrow… Granted, all three browsers have the same icons now, but IE used to be very different in this aspect.
- When you open a new tab on IE9’s tabbed browsing (by default) you go to a page with your 8 most visited sites shown nearly identically to the way Chrome lays them out.
- Maybe I’m getting petty here, but the larger “back” button, smaller “front” (?) button are similar to Firefox’s browser.
They say impersonation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Either way, I like the new IE9, because I like Google Chrome. If anything, Firefox is the browser that needs to catch up with Chrome and IE to render CSS better (as of the time of this writing). I’m guessing Microsoft got complacent after decimating Netscape and years of 90% browser market share, but now that IE has lost half of its users to the competition (see chart below, from Wikipedia), the IE team seem to have finally awaken… and decided that copying what’s working in the marketplace (Chrome) is the fastest way to getting back into the browser race.
I’m Still Going to Use Chrome
There’s still features on IE9 that I find annoying, and some that I use and find missing on IE9. What do you think?