10 Reasons Why We Should Upgrade to IE9

Today, we're going off "film location" topics to discuss something a little closer to home. Since most of us are computer users, I thought this subject is definitely worth exploring.

You’ve been reading the technology pages these days and have probably seen all the news surrounding Microsoft’s newest baby: Internet Explorer 9. If you’re a current Internet Explorer user (be it IE8, IE7 or goodness gracious some other older versions), you’re probably wondering if an upgrade (albeit free) is really worth the effort.

As an IE8 user, I wanted to do some research on the subject before deciding whether to take the plunge. It didn't take long for me to reach a verdict. My PC is now sporting the new beautiful, simplified IE9 interface.

Here are the top 10 reasons why you should absolutely download IE9 today.

1. Amazing Speed

One of the first improvements you'll notice is that text, graphics and videos now load much faster with IE9. Not only that but “high-definition videos are smooth, graphics are clear and responsive, colors are true, and websites are interactive like never before.” (See this article.) Websites perform so speedily they feel like programs installed on our own computer. The speed applies to more than just text, graphics, and videos. Installation of IE9 is also faster and simpler than all the previous versions. This gives you the best web surfing experience on Windows thus far.

2. Clean, Simple Interface

IE9 interface is streamlined and simplified to maximize screen real-estate for your browsing experience. The back button is larger. Multiple menus in IE8 are now consolidated into a single menu. Bottom line? IE9 gives you a more beautiful, simplified web browsing experience so you can focus fully on the websites you are viewing.

3. A Combined Search + Address Bar

The address bar and search box are now combined into one new address bar (One Box). Just start typing a web address and AutoComplete will help you get to your websites quickly. You don’t have to remember the full web address!

4. One-Click Access to Your Favorite Sites

With Pinned Sites, you can access your favorite sites straight from the Windows taskbar without needing to open your browser first. How to pin a site? Very simple. Just click the icon to the left of the web address in the new One Box (address/search bar), or click on the tab for the website or the website’s icon on the New Tab page, then drag it to the taskbar. All the pinned sites show up as their own thumbnails, separate from the browser. Now you can access your favorite websites in just one click!

5. A New Tab Page For Your Most Visited Sites

IE9 has a New Tab page that collects your most popular sites and displays them beautifully on one page to help you surf faster and easier. The sites you visit most frequently are listed first. Should your browsing habits change, you can remove them. You can also reopen closed tabs or your last browsing session, or start an InPrivate Browsing session.

6. Smooth Integration with Windows 7

With new features such as Snap, Jump Lists, Thumbnail previews, and Icon overlays, IE9 works seamlessly with computers running Windows 7:

SNAP

Snap lets you see two sites or pages on your screen at once.

Just drag each site or page to opposite edges of your screen and the sites will show up side-by-side. You can see both contents together without having to decide whether to use tabs or windows. You'll find yourself using this awesome feature often - I do!

JUMP LISTS

Jump list is a quick and easy way to access your favorite websites without having to open IE. Just right-click on IE icon on the taskbar, and the sites you visit most often will display. You can also browse the web privately using InPrivate Browsing.

THUMBNAIL PREVIEWS

A few of your pinned websites have controls that can be accessed from the taskbar. Point to the icon for a website that's pinned to the taskbar and you'll see the thumbnail preview controls for that website underneath the thumbnail preview. Very convenient!

ICON OVERLAYS

A few of your pinned sites also have icon overlays, which provide information about the website, such as the number of new incoming messages. That way you're kept up-to-date about new information without having to go to the website.

7. Improved Add-On Management

Add-on Performance Advisor sounds the alarm to let you know if an add-on is slowing down your browser. It then also allows you to disable or remove it, to keep your browser perform at its maximum speed over time.

8. Control of Your Private Data

Tracking Protection enables you to limit the browser's communication with certain websites which in turn helps keep your information secured and private.

9. Improved Download Management

The new Download Manager keeps a running list of the files you download from the Internet. It lets you know if a file could be malicious, and gives you the ability to pause and restart a download.

User's security is safely protected with IE9. Microsoft has integrated the SmartScreen Filter with the new Download Manager to strengthen security for the users. This means your computer will be better guarded against harmful downloads.

With the new Download Manager, the status of downloads can also now be monitored from a single location. IE users now finally a single pane that displays download history and provides centralized access to running or opening downloaded files. I love it when things are simplified!

10. And Finally ... HTML5 Support

I'm saving the best for last! IE9's long-awaited support of HTML5, CSS3 (SVG, ECMAScript5, DOM) is - hands down - my most favorite reason of all to upgrade to IE9.

IE9's support for HTML5 and CSS3 enables developers to write one set of markup that will work and look the same across all modern browsers. Up to now, designing websites to work on IE has always been a huge challenge for developers because IE doesn't support many of the existing codes.

With IE9, all that has changed. Among many other new coding supports, IE9 now also takes the video and audio elements which enable video and audio to be inserted onto a web page seamlessly as if they're images. IE9 also supports the canvas element which render dynamic graphics.

CONCLUSION

If you're an IE user, you have to upgrade to IE9. There's just no other way around it.

With IE9, you'll experience the web at its very best on Windows. Your screen will display websites the way they're designed to look, so you won't have to wonder again why things usually seem a bit "off" whenever you browse the Internet using IE.

IE9 is the only way to go if you're an IE user. Period.

If you're ready to enhance and improve your web browsing experience, download IE9 today. You'll love it!