Download Internet Explorer 9

Download Internet Explorer 9

Internet Exploder, an excellent browser? With Internet Explorer 9, it's possible! Microsoft's made a very pretty browser that feels like it's a part of Windows 7, loaded with HTML5 compatibility and unmatched graphics hardware acceleration for whizzy, whizzy web apps. 

It's way more standards compliant than any previous version of IE, with a 95 score on the Acid3 web standards test. Like every modern browser, it's packed in a bunch of HTML5 features, though what Microsoft's pushing the hardest, particularly in its big shebang demos—that you can catch here—is the fact that it's using Direct2D and DirectWrite for hardware-accelerated graphics rendering with your GPU.

The promise is that by tapping your graphics card, the browser can run more hardcore web apps, like games in the browser, as some of Microsoft's impressive, if slanted, demos attest to. (Google's pushing its own ways to reach the same end.)

In terms of usage, IE9 is the first time Internet Explorer didn't immediately make me wanna plunge back into Chrome or Firefox—oh the bliss of the unified search/address bar—both in terms of the interface and the way it renders pages. It has its share of wonkiness while it's still in beta, though. In addition to the weird way it renders our quicklink headlines, for instance, it completely chokes out on Apple's spiffy new HTML5-powered iTunes Showtimes, even though the page works perfectly in Chrome, Firefox 4 beta 4 and of course Safari.

Internet Explorer 9 system requirements
Computer/Processor
Computer with a 1 gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.
Operating System

Windows Vista 32-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher

Windows Vista 64-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher

Windows 7 32-bit or higherWindows 7 64-bit or higher

Windows Server 2008 32-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher

Windows Server 2008 64-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher

Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit

Memory

Windows Vista 32-bit – 512 megabytes (MB)Windows Vista 64-bit – 512 MBWindows 7 32-bit – 512 MBWindows 7 64-bit – 512 MBWindows Server 2008 32-bit – 512 MBWindows Server 2008 64-bit – 512 MBWindows Server 2008 R2 64-bit – 512 MB
Hard Drive Space

Windows Vista 32-bit – 70 MB

Windows Vista 64-bit – 120 MB

Windows 7 32-bit – 70 MB

Windows 7 64-bit – 120 MB

Windows Server 2008 32-bit – 150 MB

Windows Server 2008 64-bit – 200 MB

Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit – 200 MB
DriveCD-ROM drive (if installation is done from a CD-ROM)
DisplaySuper VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor with 256 colors
PeripheralsModem or Internet connection

Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouse, or compatible pointing device

DOWNLOAD INTERNET EXPLORER 9