Wednesday, August 25, 2010

My 6 Wishes for Internet Explorer 9



I realize that I have been M.I.A. lately doing like, work type stuff. Since September 15 is coming around the bend and Microsoft's IE9 Beta should be rearing its ugly head, I thought I would take a moment and give some last minute wishes to include in their newest browser.

Actual CSS3 and HTML 5 Support I know Microsoft has been spouting on and on about IE 9 and its ability to do everything HTML 5 and CSS3. They have pulled claims such as these in the past and have a history of showing that what they say and what they do are two completely different things. Since this new technology is still not supported across the board, this could help to garner a little bit of their falling market share.

Speed it Up Already Google Chrome and Opera have both claimed to be the fastest browser available. Some FireFox fanboys will claim that FireFox still speeds by them. Regardless, all of them run rings around IE. If it is to compete, they will need to find a way to make the browsing experience faster.

Get Rid of Compatibility Mode This was a huge drawback for IE8 - having to know to click a special 'Compatibility' button on certain sites so that it renders correctly. Get rid of this and have the browser render the page correctly intrinsically without requiring a user command.

Give Users the Ability to have Complete Control of Privacy and Security Too many times in the past have I found certain sites that I visit just don't work because something is being blocked in IE - whether it be a cookie, a downloadable file, etc. I realize that Microsoft is trying to save certain users from themselves and keeping things like this from being set or allowing a download. For advanced users, give us the ability to make that decision on our own. They can set the defaults as high as they would like.

Simplify Internet Options All other browsers have relatively straight forward 'fine tuning' options. IE has been using the same tab system since IE5. Simplify and merge several tabs. Right off the top of my head, 'Security' and 'Privacy' can be merged. 'Connections' and 'Programs' can be merged. 'Content' can be added to 'Advanced'. That would leave four tabs - a lot more usable like FireFox and Chrome.

Do Something, Anything Innovative Microsoft has used the last two browsers to play catch up with the rest of the industry and hasn't added anything new. It is time. Show us that there is a reason to come back and ditch Chrome, FireFox, Opera, or Safari.

BONUS: Automatically Detect if the User is Using IE6, give them the proverbial Microsoft backhand, and Force an Upgrade I know it is wishful thinking but anything to kill IE6 would be nice.

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