Before starting this one, yes you can download the IE9 platform preview now at http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/ but it is very limited as to what it can do as it’s for demonstration purposes only. This is not a completed browser by any means. It’s meant for developers, but if you want to try it out for yourself, go right ahead.
Quick installation notes:
- This IE does not replace your current IE.
- You can run IE8 and IE9 side by side.
- A reboot is not required after installing.
This is what it looks like when you’re running the IE9 platform preview:
You can test out whatever you like from here. And yes, you can load any web page you want by clicking Page then Open from the toolbar at top left. When you want to jump back to the main preview page as seen above, click Page then Home or just tap F10.
Flash does work if you’re testing pages with Flash in them.
For you web designers out there, you’ll appreciate the debug menu because you can force IE5, IE7, IE8 or IE9 mode. This will come in very handy if you’re testing out things such as WordPress theme compatibility.
What will make IE9 better than IE8?
From a normal (meaning non-developer) web user perspective, the big deal here is HTML5. This is the the first major revision to HTML in seemingly forever, and it’s long overdue. While it’s true IE9 will have a whole host of other features besides HTML5 compliance, all modern web browsers are going in this direction. Opera and Firefox are already there, and now it’s IE’s turn.
If you’re developing for the web, you should download the preview to examine the platform. Or if you’re just curious to see if certain web sites (particularly shopping and business sites) will work in IE9, you can see for yourself right now how they’ll look without messing up your existing IE.
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