Internet Explorer 9: RC Includes Many New Features

Microsoft has unveiled what should be the final version of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) before its official release to the public. The company says the latest round of changes take into account 17,000 different suggestions by beta users.

The Internet Explorer 9 download currently available is in the Release Candidate (RC) stage. This is a stage forward from beta testing and represents the point at which Microsoft believes the current version of the program is (with a few exceptions) relatively bug-free, and good to go.

At the Release Candidate stage, it usually means that there won't be any feature changes before the final release, and that any tweaks now should only be for serious performance or security issues discovered from here on in.

IE9: Tweaks, Improvements, Better Security

There are many new ideas to be found in Internet Explorer 9.

Most notably, the IE 9 browser will allow users to set a blacklist of sites that will then be physically blocked from passing on data (such as browser cookies) to third-parties advertisers. The Tracking Protection feature comes in response to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requests. (Source: computerworld.com)

Smaller Memory Footprint + Browser Toolbar Headers

The Release Candidate also introduces some tweaks and improvements. For example, Microsoft says it has found ways to make the browser use less memory than in the beta edition, which means there's less chance of it slowing down a system. There have also been changes to the way Internet Explorer 9 remembers information about commonly visited sites, meaning that, for example, web-based email should load quicker.

It's now possible to put all the tabs for open windows onto a separate browser header, which means there's more room for the icon and text details in each tab, in turn making it possible to keep track of multiple open pages. The tab for the page that's currently open will appear in a lighter color, reducing the likelihood of confusion.

Improved Download Manager + Keyboard Shortcuts

The download manager has also been revised to show the speed at which a file is downloading, which should make it easier to spot a file that has lost a connection and stopped downloading.

There's also a new keyboard command: pressing CTRL + Shift + L will paste the contents of the clipboard straight into the address bar, making it quicker to visit a site when the user only has the address rather than an active link. (Source: msdn.com)