8 things to know about IE9

Software giant Microsoft has launched the latest version of its browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), in India. Unveiled at TechEd India 2011, Microsoft claims that Internet Explorer 9 uses full capabilities of Windows and enables a Web that is faster, cleaner and more trusted by default.

The IE9 launch comes at a time when the race to capture browser markets share is heating up. The browser market is becoming increasingly competitive with an increasing number of devices going online every day. According to one report, when all versions of browsers are taken together, Internet Explorer leads the pack with 45% market share.

Available for download in 30 languages, the latest version of Microsoft Web browser reportedly tallied 2.3 million downloads on its first day of release.

Here's looking into all that's new in Microsoft's latest browser.

1. Speed: Internet Explorer 9 claims to be much faster than its predecessor.
   
   According to Microsoft, IE9's new graphic capabilities boost the browsers' performance. This means high-definition videos can now run smooth, graphics would be clearer and responsive and colours will be more clear, claims Microsoft.
   
   Hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics speed up performance and make websites perform like programmes that are installed on the computer.
   
   
2. New design: The latest version of the Internet Explorer has all several design changes. The back button has gone larger, the address bar and search box are combined into one address bar, and the multiple menus from previous versions of Internet Explorer are consolidated into a single menu.
   
   
3. Pin your favorite sites: The Pinned Sites feature in IE allows users to get their favourite sites directly from the Windows taskbar without having to open the browser first.
   
   To pin a site a user just needs to click the icon on the left of the Web address in One Box, or the tab for the website, or the website's icon on the New Tab page, and then drag it to the taskbar.
   
   Once a site is pinned, it shows up as its own thumbnail, separate from Internet Explorer.
   
   
4. Combined search and Address bar: The latest version of Microsoft IE comes with One Box which has the functionality of combined search and Address bar.
   
   One Box allows users to either navigate to a website or start a search from one place. With this, users can start typing a Web address and AutoComplete helps them get to the websites quickly.
   
   And with the integrated search functionality, users don’t have to remember the full web address.
   
   
5. Tab Page: With IE9, users can get a quick access to the sites they visit most often and can also reopen closed tabs or the last browsing session, or start an InPrivate Browsing session.
   
   The New Tab page also gives suggestions and information to help users decide what to browse next.
   
   
6. Performance Advisor: Add-on Performance Advisor tells users if an add-on is slowing down the browser. The features works by identifying add-ons that may be slowing down the browser. It gives users information about which add-on they need to disable or how to fix the problem.
   
   
7. Privacy: IE 9 has also added several new privacy features. There's a Tracking Protection that limits the browser's communication with certain websites to keep users' browsing activities private.
   
   The Tracking Protection feature helps users decided which third-party sites can receive their information and track them online.
   
   
8. Download Manager: Internet Explorer 9 has also got a Download Manager. The feature lets users see the status of their downloads, provides information about whether they might be potentially harmful, offers security checks on the downloaded files, and shows the final location of downloads.
   
   Download Manager keeps a running list of the files downloaded from Internet, notifies if a file could be malicious, and allows to pause and restart a download.