Speaking at its Financial Analyst Meeting, Microsoft told investors that Internet Explorer 9, also known as IE 9, will enter beta this fall. According to Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner, IE9 is slated for beta in September, though spokespeople for Microsoft would not comment on whether it will be a closed beta for developers or an open beta for public trial.
Microsoft, after many years of dormancy in the browser market, is now making a big push with its Internet Explorer browser; as of the end of June, IE had 60.3% of the market.
The company did not commit to a date for the final release, but many are speculating that IE 9 won’t be available until Fall 2011, which will be a similar development timeline and release schedule to IE 8. The new browser will only run on the newer Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating system, but not on XP, which is still a popular OS that accounts for 68% of the Windows operating system market.
Internet Explorer 9 has demonstrated very high graphics performance in a recent preview.
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