May, 2010

Our recent post generated many comments and questions. The discussion of intellectual property rights is complex and invites many different points of view. This is a good opportunity to talk through the certainty and uncertainty relative to our goals for IE9 from Microsoft’s point of view. Developers have consistently conveyed that they want certainty and predictability in the underlying browser platform. We want to deliver a great HTML5 experience in IE9 with great certainty. The goal of certainty...

When we started planning IE9, we recognized the need for a better feedback loop with developers. The developer community was clear that they wanted pre-release builds of the browser platform in a consistent rhythm, with a good feedback mechanism. Seven weeks ago at the MIX Conference, we released the first IE9 Platform Preview. We committed to updating the Preview approximately every eight weeks. Today, we’re releasing the second Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 9, available now at...

The blog platform migration is now complete and the blog and comments are working as usual. If you notice any problems or want to comment on the new platform, please use this post to do so. Thanks for your patience. And now back your regularly scheduled programming...

CSS3 Selectors enable complex styling of webpages using simpler CSS and less script than previously possible. As we demoed back in November , and updated in March and May with the IE9 Platform Preview Builds, IE9 includes full support for CSS3 selectors . This is a feature which web developers requested and we are excited to fulfill this need. E:root E:nth-child(n) E:nth-last-child(n) E:nth-of-type(n) E:nth-last-of-type(n) E:last-child E:first-of-type E:last...

A recent article incorrectly suggested that Internet Explorer add-ons must send and store cookies when making HTTP requests. That’s simply not true-- Internet Explorer APIs enable add-ons to respect the user’s privacy and not leak information. Existing APIs are available to add-ons running in any version of IE to accomplish the task described in the article. An add-on using WinINET to issue HTTP requests can suppress default cookie behavior by passing the flag INTERNET_FLAG_NO_COOKIES...

Good add-ons are an important aspect of keeping IE running stable and fast. We made managing add-ons easier for users . We also made developing quality add-ons easier with clear guidelines and requirements for add-on developers . When users can stay in control of their browser and their information, everyone is better off. The IE guidelines and requirements are designed not only to aid in easier and faster development of add-ons but also to prioritize user control and protection of privacy. As...

In previous posts , we described why IE9 will support H.264-encoded HTML5 video. Microsoft and other browser providers see hardware support, customer and partner readiness , and intellectual property rights as key factors making H.264 an excellent choice for video encoding and playback. These posts generated a significant amount of support and suggestions. This feedback together with today’s industry announcements create a good opportunity to follow up and provide more information about HTML5...

We’ve written a lot about the support we’re building in Internet Explorer 9 to allow developers to write the same markup and get the same results across browsers. IE9 includes two new features that are great for web developers writing same markup: DOM Range and the HTML5 Text Selection APIs. DOM Range provides a simple, consistent way to extract and manipulate a piece of a document. It’s also the underlying unit of the HTML5 Text Selection APIs , which help you connect with one of the common ways...

Dear Readers – This week Microsoft is rolling out a platform update to all MSDN and Technet blogs. During the rollout period comments are being disabled on all blogs including the IE blog. Comments will be shut off at about 9pm PST tonight and will be off until mid-day on the 24 th . We do not expect to publish any blog posts during this time. If you want to read a bit about some of the platform improvements that will be coming, Sean Jenkin’s blog is a good resource. Thanks for your patience during...