With constant growth, it seems that Microsoft latest web browser, Internet Explorer 9, will soon be the second most used modern web browser on Windows 7 coming after IE8. While this is certainly good news for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team, developers will also be delighted to develop for a browser on the rise.
In what Microsoft describes on its Internet Explorer blog as “Treat for Developers”, Roger Capriotti from the IE team is predicting, rightfully so, that IE9 will be the second most used modern browser behind IE8. With month-to-month for IE9 growth of browser market share, such prediction is not too far from the realm of reality.
Since Microsoft first released IE9, which by the way is only available on Windows 7 and Vista, it has continuously gained browser market share despite not being available for Windows XP users. According to the latest data from Net Application, IE9 has a 31% market share, while internationally the browser market share is at 22%; but there are other advantages to IE9 growth.
“It also means more and more top websites are recognizing the value of IE9 and are adding additional functionality to their sites to provide their visitors with even more access to new content. The Wall Street Journal recently implemented various pinning scenarios across their primary sections for their readers. If you pin the “Tech” or “Life & Culture” page or to your Windows 7 taskbar, you’ll be able to access the latest stories in that section in just one click!” writes Roger in the blog.
IE9 offer developers a browser with technology like hardware acceleration that allows developers to take advantage of computer graphic capabilities. IE9’s browser large market share and the supports of HTML5, CSS and other web standards allow developers to spend fewer resources tweaking their website to work for different internet explorer version, especially for IE6 which is becoming more irrelevant day after day.
So it looks like IE9’s continuous growth is indeed a treat for web developers. Anyone think otherwise? Post your feedback in the comments below.
Further reading: IE9, Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft
