IE9 Beta: 23 Million Downloads and Counting

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 01 Feb 2011

If Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system is “the fastest-growing operating system in history” since it sold more than 300 million licenses so far, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 (still in Beta) web browser is the “fastest downloaded beta browser of all time.” To date more than 23 million IE9 Beta downloads have been recorded.

“IE9 has been downloaded over 23 million times, and now accounts for 0.5% of all users worldwide while still a beta product. We are pleased to see users continue to leverage Windows 7 capabilities together with IE9 for a more beautiful web experience. On Windows 7, Internet Explorer 9 already accounts for 1.82% of users worldwide,” announced Roger Capriotti, Director, Internet Explorer Product Marketing.

IE9 Beta, as you may remember, was released to the public on the 15th of September 2010. Since then Redmond-based software giant Microsoft, on several occasions, made public figures that shed light on the browser’s success. Just two days after the release of IE9 Beta, Microsoft announced that the browser had been downloaded more than 2 million times. Microsoft also announced that the Beauty of the Web site, which Microsoft set up to tout IE9’s capabilities, registered more than 9 million visits and more than 26 million page views.

On the 1st of October 2010, Microsoft came out to announce that IE9 Beta had been downloaded more than 6 million times and that the Beauty of the Web site has registered more than 30 million page views. A couple of weeks later Microsoft announced that IE9 Beta had been downloaded more than 6 million times.

Barely had 2011 started that Microsoft, on the 1st of January, the first day of the year, announced that 20 million IE9 Beta downloads had already been recorded. Microsoft said at the time that IE9 Beta accounts for 0.46% of internet users worldwide at the end of 2010.

In related news, on the 10th of February Microsoft will hold an “Internet Explorer” event in San Francisco and has already sent out invites to the press. Microsoft said it wants to “share some important news” about Internet Explorer at the press event. Perhaps Microsoft will announce the launch if IE9 Final; we’ll just have to wait and see.

If you would like to get IE9 Beta, you can download the browser from the above mentioned Beauty of the Web site; or you can get the browser in your native language here.

If you don’t know what the browser has to offer, here’s the lowdown:
- IE9 Beta comes with a fresh new UI (user interface) that, as Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Internet Explorer, Dean Hachamovitch said, is meant to put the focus on the site, not the browser.
- You can pin websites to the Windows 7 taskbar.
- The New Tab Page displays the sites you visit most often (like Opera's Speed Dial).
- All notifications are displayed at the bottom of the page.
- Tear-off tabs feature that allows you to snap pages side-by-side using Windows Aero Snap.
- Tabs that are related are color coded.
- Add-on Performance Advisor identifies add-ons that may be slowing down your browser.
- IE9 Beta has a new, faster JavaScript engine.
- IE9 Beta provides support for HTML5.


Latest News


Sony's 'Attack of the Blockbusters Sale' Slashes Prices in Half for a Ton of PS4 Games

17 Aug 2017

How Samsung's New T5 Compares to the Old T3 Portable SSD (Infographic)

17 Aug 2017

See all