Those running the Windows 8.1 Preview have already gotten a taste of Internet Explorer 11, but today Microsoft extended the privilege to Windows 7 users.
The Developer Preview of Redmond’s next major browser update brings significantly improved rendering, up to 50 percent faster JavaScript performance than its primary competitor, Google Chrome, better standards support, and new WebGL support.
As noted by Microsoft journalist Paul Thurrott, the company didn’t bring all of the browser’s features from Windows 8.1 to Windows 7, however. Those running IE 11 on Microsoft’s older operating system will miss out on integrated cryptography and adaptive bitrate support, technologies that are required for native access to services like Netflix Instant Streaming (note that Windows 7 users running IE 11 will still be able to access Netflix streaming, but they’ll need to install a plugin to do so).
While consumers will benefit from the improved speed and compatibility, developers will enjoy IE 11’s new developer tools interface, which offers powerful debugging capabilities directly from within the browser.
The final release of IE 11 for Windows 7 should shortly follow that of Windows 8.1 this fall. It will be a free update for all users running the latest version of Windows 7. Those interested in test driving the preview build can download it today in both 32- and 64-bit versions from Microsoft. Developers who need to test website and application compatibility can also download free virtual machines containing the new builds. These VMs are available for most popular platforms including Hyper-V, Virtual PC, VirtualBox, VMware, and Parallels.
