On October 28th, we released Internet Explorer Platform Preview 6. Today, we are announcing Internet Explorer Platform Preview 7 which is focused on real-world performance improvements across sites on the web. We first demonstrated the power of a fully hardware accelerated HTML 5 browser taking advantage of the full power of the hardware through Windows just 8 months ago. We now couple that with dramatic performance gains in Chakra, Microsoft’s JavaScript engine. As a side effect of our focus on real-world performance, Internet Explorer 9 performance in JavaScript micro-benchmarks has also improved and Internet Explorer is now the leading performing browser in WebKit SunSpider. Since we first demonstrated Chakra at PDC in 2009, Internet Explorer has increased JavaScript performance by 345% according to WebKit SunSpider.
Equally important, we continue to see broad developer excitement and rapid user adoption of Internet Explorer Beta. Since the beta launch, we have already had over 13 million downloads of Internet Explorer 9 beta and it continues to be our fastest adopted browser to date.
PERFORMANCE GAINS IN PLATFORM PREVIEW 7
Our recent blog series on performance talked about the approach we have taken to performance. With IE9 our focus has been on real-world performance and giving the browser access to the full power of the PC. The video below has more information on what it means to focus on real-world performance.
One of the browser subsystems that drives performance is the JavaScript engine. We have seen continuous gains in real-world performance since we first announced Chakra, Microsoft’s new JavaScript engine. Chakra delivers new innovations in how JavaScript is handled with performance gains of as much as 100x on some coding patterns. Dean talks more about the work we’ve done on the IE engineering blog. The video below shows how these performance improvements translate into new types of experiences that can be delivered:
REAL WORLD SITE PERFORMANCE vs. MICRO-BENCHMARKS
As a side effect of the real-world performance improvements in Internet Explorer 9, we also see improvements in micro-benchmarks. One of the most commonly cited micro-benchmarks for JavaScript is WebKit SunSpider. Since Chakra was first announces at PDC 09, IE has improved JavaScript performance on this test by 345%. With Platform Preview 7, IE9 is the fastest browser according to WebKit SunSpider.
However, measuring the performance of a browser by looking at small parts of individual subsystem is inherently flawed because it’s not how actual sites work and it doesn’t reflect how subsystems perform together. Instead you will find demos on the Internet Explorer Test Drive like Galactic, HTML5 Sudoku and Shakespeare’s Tag Cloud to be better benchmarks as they represent real coding patterns and engage multiple subsystems at once. The performance difference in these demos is striking and shows what it means to optimize for end-to-end performance rather than a single subsystem.
INTERNET EXPLORER 9 MOMENTUM CONTINUES TO BUILD
The momentum around Internet Explorer 9 continues to build. Since the beta launch, we have already had over 13 million downloads of Internet Explorer 9 beta and it continues to be our fastest adopted browser to date. Download IE9 Beta today and see first-hand what a browser built for real-world performance can enable.
For developers, IE9 now couples industry-leading JavaScript performance with industry-leading innovation in full hardware acceleration. The performance gains combined with HTML5 support and pinned sites provides new opportunities to reimagine web experiences. If you haven’t already, visit the Internet Explorer Test Drive, download Internet Explorer Platform Preview 7 and get your sites ready for Internet Explorer 9.
Stay tuned for more information on the Exploring IE blog about meeting the Chakra team who are excited to field your questions about JavaScript, performance and Internet Explorer 9.
More...