Today was an incredible day for us here at Microsoft and on the IE team. Not only did we announce the availability of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, we also introduced Platform Preview 5 of Internet Explorer 10. As Dean Hachamovitch, Corporate Vice President of Internet Explorer engineering, highlighted earlier today, we reimagined the browser with IE10. It’s built from the ground up to be the best way to experience the Web on Windows, thanks to new features like the edge-to-edge UI and crazy fast performance.
Of course, today is also the last day of the month, which means a fresh batch of usage share data. As always, we focus on our core metric – IE9 growth on Windows 7 – and we look to Net Applications for the most current data. Check out their website for more details on their methodology, particularly since they just released some new info on the impact of prerendering on usage share.
In line with recent months, we’re pleased to report that IE9 growth on Windows 7 continues, passing 30% worldwide as of the end of February. The data is particularly encouraging for users and developers in the US where IE9 is over 40% usage share at the end February.
Source: Net Applications, February 29, 2012 (daily). Latest mainline browsers compared.
This is great news for consumers and developers alike who benefit from the richer web experiences and standards support in IE9 – experiences and support that will continue to get better and better as we introduce IE10.
If you haven’t already made the move to IE9 on Windows 7, try it by visiting www.beautyoftheweb.com.
Roger Capriotti
Director, Internet Explorer Marketing
More...