Posted by The Blogging Desk on Tue, Mar 29, 2011
- by Andrew, "OneNote Is My Wingman", Levin
So, IE 9 is out. My initial reaction is that I like it. This is mainly because Microsoft did a great job at removing the main sources of clutter, allowing IE to take a back seat to the user's browsing experience, and letting the web content be at the forefront. Once installed, the default configuration presents a very minimalistic approach, thus rendering a good amount of real estate for the web to take over. Let's do a quick review of some of the main features and layout.
Tabs, of course, are a necessity. Luckily the only aspect of these that were modified was their location. Now you have the option for the tabs to be shown next to the address bar, as opposed to just below it. The address bar itself has changed too, as you now enter your search phrases directly into it, rather than having a separate search bar. The same row as your address bar also contains buttons and menus for your basic functionality, such as home, favorites, and tools.
As in IE 8, the menu bar is not present by default. At first though, I always immediately made it viewable on any machine I was working on. But more recently I came to realize that the only time I use it is for the Internet Options menu, so I started hiding it. I also used to use the favorites bar often as well, and enjoyed the company of the status bar at the bottom. But now that I see that I can have everything I really need (back/forward buttons, address bar, search bar, tabs, home, favorites, tools) all in the in same row. So, I ousted the favorites and status bar along with the others.
The end result of IE 9 is a very pleasing experience and appearance. None of my favorite functionality was lost, only modified to allow for a better customization of the browser. It also has a slightly updated design which fits very nicely with Windows 7. Overall, I think it’s a winner. Without even reading any of Microsoft's release notes on the browser I could immediately tell that their design goals were to produce a product that can provide the various type of functionality and features required when browsing the web, while keeping as low of a profile as possible. IE 9 is definitely a success in both categories. If you'd like to know how Trigon can help IE 9 benefit your business, don't hesitate to contact us.
