Seven weeks after their last release, Microsoft have let Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 3 out of the bag.

The updated preview release includes support for the HTML5 video tag, canvas tag support and embedded fonts using the WOFF standard.

“The third Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 9, available now, continues the deep work around hardware acceleration to enable the same standards-based markup to run faster. This is the latest instalment of the rhythm we started in March, delivering platform preview releases approximately every eight weeks and listening to developers. You’ll see more performance, same markup, and hardware accelerated HTML5″ wrote Dean Hachamovitch
General Manager, Internet Explorer.

This latest release performs well in benchmarks, now scoring 83/100 in the Acid3 test, up from 68/100 in the last platform preview. SunSpider testing shows the browser is almost on par with the recently released Safari 5, which our own testing confirmed.

Willing testers can check out the IE9 Platform Preview release from the Test Drive IE website.

In response to the recent release of Safari 5, Microsoft has released a video demonstrating the performance difference between the hardware acceleration found in Internet Explorer 9 and Safari 5.

“Since the release of the first Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview at MIX back in March and the second in May, we’ve shown a lot of demos of IE9 with other browsers. Today, Apple announced and released Safari 5. We figured we would show IE9 and Safari 5 together running some of the demos from the Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive website. Watch the Frames Per Second (FPS) Counter” wrote Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc.

From the video it’s clear that IE9 is a long way ahead of Safari 5, with the first benchmark showing IE9 scoring an impressive 50 frames per second, while Safari 5 only manages 9.

LeBlanc also revealed that IE9 Developer Preview has been downloaded over 1,000,000 times. Rumors are also appearing suggesting we may see a beta release very soon. We will keep you updated.

Microsoft is still hard at work on Internet Explorer 9, and today provided an updated on how they are going with the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3) web standards.

Latest results show that IE9 is now fully HTML5 standards compliant.

Microsoft conducted W3C Web Standards tests for HTML5, SVG 1.1 2nd edition, CSS3 media queries, CSS3 borders & backgrounds, CSS3 selectors, DOM level 3 core, DOM level 3 events and DOM level 2 style across a variety of browsers.

These browsers included IE9 May 2010 Preview, Firefox 3.6.3, Opera 10.52, Apple Safari 4.05, and Google Chrome 4.1 all running on Windows. The results are very promising for IE9.

A preview IE9 build can be downloaded from the IE Test Drive website.

Internet Explorer 9 Project Manager Sharon Newman has revealed in depth the upcoming browsers support for CSS3 selectors.

“CSS3 Selectors enable complex styling of webpages using simpler CSS and less script than previously possible” wrote Newman.

“Our goal is to enable new selectors in your webpages in a way that lets the same markup work across browsers [...] IE9 now passes 100% of test cases on css3.info, 100% of the W3C CSS3 Selectors Test Suite, and Acid3 tests 34 through 37 and 39 through 44″ continued Newman.

Interested users can test out a developer preview of Internet Explorer 9 by downloading it from the test drive site.

A full list of CSS3 selectors supported by Internet Explorer 9 can be found after the break.

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Microsoft has made available a second release of its Internet Explorer 9 platform preview, with early results showcasing many improvements in the browser over the first platform preview that was released in March 2010.

“Today’s release builds on the first Platform Preview, delivering improvements to IE9’s performance, support for standards, and hardware acceleration of HTML5.  We’ve also updated the test drive site with a new set of developer samples to show what developers can do with GPU-powered HTML5. As part of our commitment to enabling developers to use the Same Markup – the same HTML, CSS, and script – on the web, we have contributed many new tests to the W3C for HTML5, as well as CSS3 Media Queries and DOM. The Developer Tools in this preview include some new features to make finding and fixing markup issues easier” wrote Internet Explorer’s General Manager Dean Hachamovitch.

Microsoft testing shows the browser is also slightly faster in SunSpider JavaScript benchmark test then the previous preview release, with the browser still being faster than Firefox 3.6 and Firefox.Next builds.

The release come days after figures show that Internet Explorer’s market share has dropped below the 60% mark for the first time since late 1998.

Windows users wanting to test Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview #2 can download the browser from ietestdrive.com.

New images have emerged over on Chinese site LiveSino which appear to be a leaked Internet Explorer 9 interface.

The interface appears to resemble the new minimalistic Metro interface found in the upcoming Windows Phone 7 series.

Microsoft has been tight lipped about the images, and has not yet released a statement. It is uncertain whether they are real, or part of an elaborate April Fools prank.

A second screen shot can be seen after the break.

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Microsoft has clearly been heard at work, and announced today at MIX10 the availability of Internet Explorer 9 “test drive” (IE9) Developer Preview.

The browser, which is clearly still in its early stages, is missing the expected Internet Explorer interface such as tabs and address bar, but it does allow users to test and see the new JavaScript and rendering engine in action.

Available at ietestdrive.com, the browser includes support for some HTML5 and CSS3 features, including the new video element and CSS3 border radius tags.

Video tag support appears to be limited to the H.264 and MPEG4, while audio is limited to MP3 and AAC, totally ignoring the OGG format for both video and audio.

Microsoft really seems to be pushing standards compliance, and performance with this relase, and it shows. While not perfect, the browser is already leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, IE8. With the aid of the new JavaScript engine (codenamed Chakra), the early release browser is able to complete the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark test with a score of 598.80, slightly faster than Firefox 3.6. The browser also scores 55/100 in the ACID3 test, while IE8 only scores 20/100.

Internet Explorer 9 will be limited to only Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, while XP users will miss out on release.

All round, Microsoft really seem to be putting in a lot of effort with Internet Explorer 9, and it really shows. The Internet Explorer 9 “test drive” is available from the Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive website.

Microsoft is looking to push Internet Explorer 9 at this years MIX conference, with a Customer Technology Preview build of the browser expected to be released to the public at the same time.

Two sessions at MIX 2010 give clues as to what we might see in the new browser; HTML5 Now: The Future of Web Markup Today and Future of Vector Graphics for the Web.

“Couple these clues with a post from the IE team on its official blog late last year about increased JavaScript rendering speeds and CSS support, and the team’s recent push to provide better support for SVG graphics and animations, it looks like IE 9 will present a huge step forward for Microsoft into the realm of HTML5, CSS 3 and other modern technologies that drive the most forward-thinking web apps” wrote Scott Gilbertson.

This is good news for browser users, with signs that Microsoft is taking its falling browser market share seriously. It suggests Microsoft are trying to bring the browse back to the forefront of browser technology, something we have not seen since the release of Internet Explorer 6 back in 2001.

Microsoft has filled a patent that reveals it is looking at revamping the tabbed browsing experience with Internet Explorer 9.

The patent appears to be an enhancement of the quick tabs found in IE8,which allows users to see all tabs and close them individually. This parent covers:

• Drag and move the tabs within the Quick Tabs interface.
• Tab thumbnails will enlarge on mouse-hover.
• In case your tab row was over flowing with tabs and in Quick Tabs you were to hover the mouse on a tab not currently visible on the tab bar, the overflow icons would change appearance.

Will it be enough to stop IE from loosing market share? Only time will tell.

A technical preview of Internet Explorer 9 is expected by mid March 2010.

Development of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) seems to be going full steam ahead at Microsoft, with the first news starting to come out from the campus.

Firstly, it seems that IE9 will feature hardware accelerated rendering.

“We think that the hardware you run on should shine through the browser,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live division.

This means that IE9 will be able to use graphics hardware to accelerate the rendering of images, videos and animations.

Early benchmarks of the JavaScript engine are also available, showing that IE9 is about the same speed as Firefox 3.5 in it’s early stage, more than 4 times faster than IE8.

A full run down on what to expect from IE9 can be read in An Early Look At IE9 for Developers.