IE9 preview shows Microsoft still capable of changing the game

Microsoft offered the world a sneak preview at the new Internet Explorer 9 browser at the MIX10 Conference in Las Vegas earlier this week. Microsoft calls this pre-alpha software the "Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview," and honestly, the interface isn't much to look at. Indeed, my impression after reading various reports is that it was cobbled together just so as to showcase the rendering and JavaScript engine under the hood. (I like my browser with an address bar and back button, thank you very much)

But you won't find anyone complaining about the GUI. You see, they're all busy being blown away by the rendering prowess of IE9. And it's no wonder; in its quest for speed, Microsoft has built the ability to access the computer's GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) to assist in rendering webpages.

And yes, Microsoft is serious about compliance this time, and has managed to achieve an ACID score of 55/100 so far, which is a world apart from IE8's 20/100. Standards such as HTML5, CSS3, DOM and SVG, just to name a few, were being repeated almost like a mantra.

It was also overheard that Microsoft engineers have "completely rewritten" the IE9 JavaScript engine to take advantage of the multiple cores found in a modern CPU. Called "Chakra," the new engine could see one core being tasked with compiling new JavaScript code, while another does the actual interpretation.

The result is compiled scripts that run much faster than before without developers having to change their markup, according to Microsoft. The Redmond-based company also released a chart showing the performance of the IE9 Platform Preview on the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, which shows the browser coming in just behind Safari, Chrome and Opera. Remember though, that this is just alpha-quality software.

In a video interview, PC World's Lance Ulanoff asked Dean Hachamovitch, the general manager for Internet Explorer if his main goal was to make IE9 the fastest browser on the planet. The univocal reply: "Yes."

Skeptics will of course, be skeptical. After all, this was the same company that created IE6, the monstrosity that is still giving web designers recurring nightmares. And IE8, while much better, is still way behind the curve--for example, its SunSpider JavaScript result is literally off the charts (or should I say "out of the charts").

But as I listen to Microsoft's refreshed vocabulary and new mantra of keywords like "compliance" and "speed," it is clear that a paradigm shift has somehow taken place. If all goes according to plan, IE9 could finally see Microsoft placed at the forefront of the browser race--and maybe even slightly ahead.

To me, this proves that Microsoft is very much a software juggernaut that could completely change the game. - Paul Mah (Twitter: @paulmah)