IE9 - Review

I was suring around that darned interweb on my beloved Chrome browser, when I thought I might give IE9 a try. After all, this was the new IE9 that has been optimized for HTML5, CSS3, and hardware acceleration, right?

The basics that IE9 gets right:

• UI:
  
  • Finally. Microsoft is getting with the program. The IE9 UI is lean and mean - a la Chrome or Firefox. I know this isn't some revolutionary advance in UI design, but it's still nice to see.
  • One of several cues borrowed from other browsers is that that address bar now does double duty for search and address.
• Speed Demon:
  
  • IE9 still scores slower than Chrome, Opera, and Safari on the benchmarks, but not by much. We're talking about 100 milliseconds behind the #1, Chrome. The days of using sluggish performance as an excuse not to use IE are over. Firefox and Chrome are baking in hardware acceleration into the next versions, so that gap may widen again. But for now, 110 ms isn't enough to make me look past IE9 as a candidate for my everyday browser.
  • Add in Management - IE9 has an add-in manager that includes such information as the estimated time each add-in addsto the start time of the browser. And yes MS add-ins are listed.
• Tab Management:
  
  • When you have more than one active tab, if you select the top-right "X" button for the browser, IE9 actually asks if you would prefer to close the current active tab, or close all tabs. Nice, right?
  • Also, taking a page from Chrome IE9 has the ability to easily pull off a tab into it's own browser session. I found myself doing this a lot when I wanted to compare tabs side by side using the "snap" feature.
  • Another feature "borrowed" from Chrome - When opening a new tab, recently visited sites appear. Additionally, the frequency of visits to the sight are represented by a volume bar. The longer the bar, the more visits to that url.
• Pinning url's from a Tab to the Taskbar:
  
  • I've always been a fan of the taskbar in Windows 7. It may not look as cool as the dock on Mac's, but I find it to be every bit as functional and a bit less cluttered. This is a matter of taste though.
    
  • Another neat trick when pinning to the taskbar is that the icon on the taskbar is "branded" like the site. When opened, the browser gets "branded" with the sites colors, including the forward and back buttons. This is not something that changes the game, but in a day and age where more and more websites are becoming like applications, it is nice to know that Redmond appears to be paying to both the big and small details.
    
  • One other unique possibility is the fact that the pinned sited can take advantage of Windows 7 "Jumplist" feature. That holds promise for such features as baking in right-click navigation into a site pinned to the taskbar. Hopefully this won't go the way of "slices".
  
  
  

Overall, IE9 represents a huge leap forward for Microsoft. They have addressed many of the issues with IE that have prompted so many users to switch browsers. It will be interesting to see how (read:if) this integrates with Windows Phone 7. Will they integrate such features as "IE9 to phone" like Google with their Chrome to Phone? Hint hint: Both would be awesome. Microsoft has shown that they can listen to feedback and has created some great products recently (Kin debacle aside). Let's hope they continue this trend. In the meantime, I'm going to keep IE9 on my laptop.

Fanboys

A friend's recent post on Facebook asking for feedback on whether to switch to "The Now network" highlighted on of my pet peeves: fanboy's.

A post by one person who had the EVO led to a debate between an Apple fanboy and an Android supporter. I'm not going to state the obvious, but I think you know where I would fall in this debate.

The thing that irks me so much about this is the fact that no matter how good Android gets, Apple fanboy's will always have on the blinders. At the end of the day, there is room for both OS's. Even webOS and WP7 can (and hopefully will) join the party. The worst part is that the Apple fanboy is in IT. Crazy, right?

I may prefer the open nature of Android to the vice grip of control that Apple keeps on it's products, but I think the more at this party, the merrier. Not only does it serve as an incubator for innovation, but it also benefits all of us.

From 120PSEye

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The Wonders of Modern Technology

How great is this? I've managed to pull down an app from the Android market that allows you to post to your Blogger account from the comfort of your Swype enabled Android superphone.
All kidding aside, it is pretty amazing that you can now do just about anything that can be done on the traditional mobile platforms from your phone. Prior to purchasing my Android device, I had a Web OS device. It's easy to see why iphone users were such gadget snobs.
Now that I've gone droid, I'm not sure that I'll ever go back. Not only do I no longer have iphone envy, I can actually do everything an iphone can do. And all that without having to deal with being oppressed by "the man".
And with Google's Android eco-system growing at the rate of one new superphone per month, it's no wonder Mr.Jobs has not been himself lately. The only downside to all of this fantastic innovation is that my wonderful new toy will be obsolete within the next 6 months. That being said, we are all winners, since the competition and innovation trend to trickle down. Viva la revolution!

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EVO: Update

OK.

I was on the fence.

I loved the hardware, but I was torn over the UI.

What a difference a few days make. I still miss Synergy, cards, and the overall intuitive nature of WebOS, but HTC's Sense along with Android are growing on me every day.

Leap has now become second nature, and while it may not be as intuitive as WebOS's cards, there is no functionality missing.

As I was sitting at the hotel bar last night, I struck up a conversation with a Pre owner. We swapped phones and played around for a few minutes. The end result is that Sense/Android is for the most part a wash with WebOS. I still have to say that I miss swipe to delete though.

The lack of a physical keyboard was a worry of mine, but I've made the transition pretty well. Adding Swype as an app has certainly not hurt. Find it here. It has allowed me to type faster than I ever thought possible from a mobile platform.

I was also able to get a 4g connection while I was at the hotel outside of Boston. All I can say is "Wow". I was able to watch YouTube effortlessly. It loaded without buffering, streamed flawlessly, and was a high quality crisp picture.

Overall, I'm giving it an A-. It's a powerful, customizable platform that compromises in very few (if any) areas.

I'd like to see some better apps, but who wouldn't? It's truly a viable competitor to the 4th gen iphone, and offers more to the open source crowd (I am root).

I'll be pulling down the SDK soon and playing around to see what all of the buzz is about.