The Evolution of IE

Sep 3

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Uncategorized | No Comments

With just under 2 weeks to go until the launch of Internet Explorer 9 we thought now would be a good time to look at how IE has evolved over the years.

One of our favourite blogs is by Scott Orgera – a venerable browser expert who regularly reports the latest news on Internet Explorer and our rivals Firefox, Opera and Chrome. His blog is full of tips on everything you can do with a modern web browser from the latest news, tips and tricks and cataloguing the history of web browsers. You can take a look at http://browsers.about.com

He even includes a timeline charting the launch of the different versions of IE. We noticed that there are two more recent omissions… so just for Scott, here’s the complete timeline of Internet Explorer:

August 1995: Internet Explorer v1.0 – Came with Microsoft Plus! For Windows 95 (remember that?)

November 1995: Internet Explorer v2.0 – Supported 12 different languages

August 1996: Internet Explorer v3.0 – First to have the blue ‘e’ logo. 100 people in the IE team

October 1997: Internet Explorer v4.0 – Included Outlook Express for the first time

March 1999: Internet Explorer v5.0 – 1,000 people now working on IE

August 2001: Internet Explorer v6.0 – Support for RSS feeds

October 2006: Internet Explorerer v7.0 – Integrated tabbed browsing for the first time

March 2009: Internet Explorer 8 – Added Accelerators, webslices and Smartscreen

15th September 2010: Internet Explorer 9 Beta – Will reveal the beautiful web in HTML5

To add the date to your diary take a look at http://www.thebeautifulweb.co.uk

We’re looking forward to seeing Scott’s take on our new browser when it launches.

IE8 continues to be the fastest growing browser worldwide

Sep 2

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Uncategorized | No Comments

Following last month’s market share success, IE8 continues to be the fastest growing browser worldwide.  

Based on figures from Net Applications, we can announce IE8 grew 1.17% in August, accounting for 32% of usage share worldwide – more than three times that of Chrome’s 0.36% share growth.

Running alongside this positive news, IE9 beta is on the horizon (15 September) and Ryan Gavin, our Senior Director for Internet Explorer Business and Marketing, outlines the excitement and anticipation which is building:

“Today, people on the web are demanding an even more beautiful web experience. The Internet Explorer 9 Platform Previews continue to generate great buzz among developers and browser enthusiasts, and we have now registered over 2.5 million downloads and 20 million page views to the IE Test Drive Site, our developer site where we show new capabilities in HTML5 and Internet Explorer 9. We are looking forward to even more great things with the release of IE9 Beta this month.”

You can read his full blog post here.

The countdown to IE9 has truly begun, make sure you don’t miss anything by staying tuned here

15 days until IE9 Launch

Aug 31

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Uncategorized | No Comments

We’re just week’s away from the launch of IE9 and the team here are very excited about the impact this will have on how millions view the web.  IE9 is almost unrecognisable from previous incarnations of our browser – the step up is equivalent to upgrading from an old 14 inch TV to a bright, clean HD plasma screen. We can’t wait to get it out there.

The new browser is incredibly fast. Our current speed tests prove it is 11 times faster than IE8 alone! For web developers this is truly revolutionary. It means that webpages can become even more graphically rich and advanced websites (like Radian6) will feel like normal applications on your start menu in Windows.

If you really can’t wait for the launch then you might want to take the developer trial version of IE9 for a test drive. We’ve already had over 2.5 million downloads of the Platform Preview alone on the IE Test Drive site and love getting feedback we can take on board to make sure IE9 meets your needs better than ever.

http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/

This week we’re counting down to the IE9 launch and giving you more of an idea of what the browser includes to make the web feel more beautiful than ever!

It’s 15 days until IE9’s launch on 15th September. Get ready for a whole new way to experience the web…

Tags: , , , , ,

Hidden Gems of the Internet

Aug 27

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Tips & Tricks | No Comments

This week the team here at Internet Explorer have shown some of the hidden gems of the internet, including everything from gaming networks to video sites. In our last post of the week we wanted to show some of the great tools that are out there.

First up is Tumblr. This clever site allows you to share your videos, images, videos and much more through a simple blogging application. You can even email your posts directly to your blog!

Calling all Twitter fans, check out Paper.li . This website will organise links shared on Twitter into an easy to read newspaper-style format. You can create it for your own username or any hashtag.

Lastly Scribd is a social publishing and reading site. Here you can read extracts from soon to be released novels or even checkout Guy Ritchie’s comic book talents . Users are invited to share their documents within the online community which also features companies such as Lonely Planet and Microsoft’s own templates. 

Tags: , , ,

Hidden Gems of the Internet: Video Sites

Aug 25

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Uncategorized | No Comments

We’ve all heard of YouTube but there are a number of other video sites out there that offer a great variety of entertainment and advice.

A favourite from the team here is Videojug. Launched back in 2006, Videojug is a free factual video guide website. The site offers advice on everything from ‘How to chat someone up on the tube’ to ‘making egg fried rice’.  In fact the site features over 60,000 professionally made videos!

Another great video site we can’t get enough of is Daily Motion. This website not only allows you to upload and share your own video content, including our very own Life Academy but also showcases full length movies, art movies, celeb gossip and even animations

And lastly who could forget the recently re-launched MSN Video . The channel boasts full TV episodes including Little Britain and Skins. The website also has all the latest trailers, pop videos and news.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Hidden Gems of the Internet

Aug 23

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Uncategorized | No Comments

With over 300 million of us now on Facebook it’s easy to forget that there is a lot more to the internet than commenting on your friend’s photos. This week the team at Internet Explorer HQ have pulled together some of the hidden gems that the web has to offer. In today’s post we wanted to showcase some of the alternative social networks out there and first up is Badoo.

Badoo is a social network similar to Facebook but with one clear difference, fans of Chatroulette will love the inbuilt video chat that Badoo offers. User can also specify their location and meet new friends in their own area. http://www.badoo.com.

Playfire is not only a multiplatform social network designed for gamers, by gamers but is also an Official Microsoft Community Developer. The network has over 300,000 members with some really neat features including a database of over 40,000 gaming titles allowing you to showcase your collection to your friends. You can also track all of your friends gaming activities. For more information visit http://www.playfire.com

For music fans out there, Music Vita has it all. This ‘online music club’ has the latest news and interviews but also allows its members to create their own profile where they can showcase their own music. The site also includes reviews and advice for aspiring musicians.

Check back on Wednesday when we will show some of the best video gems on the internet

Tags: , , , , ,

Internet Explorer 9: The future has arrived

Aug 20

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

With Internet Explorer 6 nearly a decade old, now really is the time to upgrade if you’re stuck on the old browser. Looking forward we wanted to showcase the new Internet Explorer 9 and highlight some of the key features of the soon to be launched browser.

Internet Explorer 9 is a significant milestone in internet and computing history and is launching in beta on September 15. Internet Explorer 9 uses the power of your PC’s hardware and Windows 7 to transmit the optimum speed, clarity and depth of vision for world’s best, most beautiful web content.  It is a new category of browser, different and better to any other in the market right now.

Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive Site

 

Key features include:

1. Unlike any other browser, IE9 takes better advantage of hardware advancements like the  full capabilities of graphics processing units

2. IE9 uses the whole PC to unlock the next class of experiences on the Web

3. IE9 is the first browser to take standard Web patterns that developers use and run them better on modern hardware

4. IE9 creates a richer, more colourful and powerful browsing experience

5. For enthusiasts, now is the time to start taking IE9 for a spin to see how it lights up your PC Web experience. Ahead of the launch on the 15th September why not try out Product  Preview 4  

Internet Explorer 9 is a gateway to an exciting and visually rich web experience which will give consumers and brands a new way of connecting. If you cannot wait until the 15th September why not try out the test drive here http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/

Tags: , ,

The Death of Internet Explorer 6

Aug 18

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Announcements | No Comments

This week at Internet Explorer HQ we’ve been reminiscing over the granddaddy of browsers, Internet Explorer 6.

Despite the browser being over nine-years-old it is still used by around 20% of internet users however with modern threats such as malware the browser does not protect as sufficiently as newer browsers such as Internet Explorer 8. We would recommend anyone who uses Internet Explorer 6 to update their browser as soon as possible so that they are not leaving themselves vulnerable.

Numerous sites from the BBC to YouTube recommend moving away from Internet Explorer 6 and now with its great grandson Internet Explorer 9 about to be born, IE6’s time has come to an end. With the threat of new viruses and the many innovations in the Internet it is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of Internet Explorer 6.

This Friday we will take you through some of the key features of Internet Explorer 9, the great grandson of IE6.

Tags: , , , , ,

Internet Explorer 6

Aug 17

Posted by Blue E Blogger in In the news | No Comments

We’re all counting down the days until the launch of Internet Explorer 9 but the team here at IE HQ wanted to do a quick look back at the granddaddy of browsers who was loved and hated (almost in equal measures); Internet Explorer 6.

Launched in 2001 the 6th browser by Microsoft was the default browser for Windows XP and despite its age is still used by many businesses today. IE6 was the most widely used web browser during its tenure, surpassing Internet Explorer 5. At its peak in 2002 and 2003, IE6 achieved a total market share of nearly 90%, with all versions of IE combined reaching 95%.

However despite its popularity IE 6 did have its problems and in 2006 was voted one of the worst tech products of all time by PC World. Luckily for all its brother IE7 and the current IE8 were far superior products. 

In Wednesdays post we will continue to look at Internet Explorer 6 before finishing off the week with a post on Friday discussing the next instalment of IE, Internet Explorer 9.

Tags: , , , , ,

Smart Screen: Top Tips

Aug 13

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Tips & Tricks | No Comments

This week the team at Internet Explorer have been taking you through the SmartScreen Filter feature from IE8 that has blocked over one billion attacks since its launch last year. In our final post of the week we wanted to offer some quick tips to protect your PC against virus attacks.

1. Make sure the SmartScreen Filter is turned on. To activate it:

  – In Internet Explorer, click the Safety button. Point to SmartScreen Filter, and then click Turn On SmartScreen Filter.

  – In the Microsoft SmartScreen Filter dialog box, click OK.

2. Can’t find SmartScreen? Are you sure you have Internet Explorer 8? Get the latest IE to offer the best protection against malware attacks http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/internet-explorer/browse-with-confidence.aspx

3. Get Security Essentials for your PC. It’s free, yes free and offers additional protection http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx?mkt=en-gb#dlbutton

4. If you think your PC may already have a virus give it a quick virus scan http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

5. Make sure your machine always has the latest updates http://www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/vistadefault.aspx?ln=en-us

Tags: , , ,