Microsoft is set to enable Internet Explorer 9 RC downloads later today. The official Internet Explorer 9 test drive is currently offering the latest public beta build for download. Read on to find out how to download Internet Explorer 9 RC ahead of the crowd.
Users who do not want to wait can download the English 32-bit and 64-bit web installers by following the links below:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Users who want to download different language editions need to alter the three letter language code at the end of the file name, for instance from enu to esn for Spanish, ptb for Portuguese or deu for German.
There does not seem to be a need to uninstall a beta version prior to installing the release candidate. An upgrade worked fine on a Windows 7 test system that had the latest beta installed.
Please note that the installation requires a restart of the computer system.
So what’s new in Internet Explorer 9 RC? Microsoft has overhauled the user interface slightly. Tabs have been improved not only visually but also with an option to move them below the address bar of the web browser.
Both tracking protection and ActiveX filtering have been added to Internet Explorer 9 RC. The two features are available under Tools > Safety.
Tracking Protection can be used to automatically block contents on websites that are used to track the user. This can be maps, advertisements and other elements that have been designed for that purpose.
Tracking Protection is an opt-in feature that users need to activate individually before it can protect from tracking related scripts.
ActiveX filtering is another opt-in feature, this time however without configuration screen. It can be activated under Tools > Safety and acts as a global filter. There does not seem to be an option to turn it on or off selectively.
Microsoft made progress compatibility-wise. The Acid 3 test is now showing a result of 95/100, the HTML5 test a score of 116 / 300 and 5 bonus points. This is still far away from browsers such as Google Chrome who score more than twice the points:
- Internet Explorer 9 RC 116+5 / 300
- Google Chrome 10 244+13 / 300
- Opera 11.01 177+7 / 300
- Firefox 4 Pre-Beta 12 207+8 / 300
No official release notes have been posted yet, we keep you updated on that and update the article as soon as the offline installers become available as well.
Internet Explorer 9 is expected to be released at Mix 11 which takes place between April 12 and 14 in Las Vegas.
Update: The official release notes are now available. (thanks lohhw3)
Update 2: Offline installers have been posted (thanks lohhw3). Change the language code to download the browser in a different language.
- Win7 x86: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/A/5/2A50895F-4BF1-4A68-837B-506AE8301E9D/IE9-Windows7-x86-enu.exe
- Win7 x64: http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/1/5/C154F0CF-4BC8-454D-A4E8-314682963937/IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe
- Vista x86: http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/1/7/C1754A31-1B2B-44F6-A51F-E7B2BB2E750E/IE9-WindowsVista-x86-enu.exe
- Vista x64: http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/7/7/377E5AD2-756A-4FFF-982F-78D5B411EC74/IE9-WindowsVista-x64-enu.exe
Update 3: Check out Windows 7 News for a list of all web and offline installers.
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Official release notes: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/ff959805.aspx
Offline Installers:
Win7 x86: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/A/5/2A50895F-4BF1-4A68-837B-506AE8301E9D/IE9-Windows7-x86-enu.exe
Win7 x64: http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/1/5/C154F0CF-4BC8-454D-A4E8-314682963937/IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe
Vista x86: http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/1/7/C1754A31-1B2B-44F6-A51F-E7B2BB2E750E/IE9-WindowsVista-x86-enu.exe
Vista x64: http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/7/7/377E5AD2-756A-4FFF-982F-78D5B411EC74/IE9-WindowsVista-x64-enu.exe
Thanks for the offline installer links, lohhw3.
I can’t find the offline installer for RC ptb version, i’m getting 404 error. Can anyone help me?
Jordan,
try this official page. links are all working, including PTB
That’s for WEB-INSTALLER 3mb+ file. =|
Not the offline installer. =\ Tried from windows7news, and didnt get the right link too… =\ anymore help?
sorry, here’s the link :)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-MY/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-9/worldwide-languages
Just found the PTB OFFLINE INSTALLER: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=90&p=&SrcDisplayLang=pt-br&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=0c97c49c-bbb0-41f2-8074-10fa4dd03513&u=http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2f1%2f1%2fE%2f11E8A7AB-6807-4E63-8C3F-A7C42312837A%2fIE9-Windows7-x64-ptb.exe
Hope it help others.
There are more features added in IE 9, it looks more beautiful and can run faster now. But there is one question related to compatibility issues. Can toolbars that run on IE 8 still run IE 9? For example, can the text-to-speech toolbar from http://www.panopreter.com work on this revamped IE 9 version? Thanks!
I think it will do fine, since is RC = Release Candidate. ;D
At least, bing bar and google bar is working as a charm.