Internet Explorer 11 Release Preview For Windows 7 Now Available
For the past few months, Windows 8.1 Release Preview users have been able to test drive the latest Internet Explorer – Internet Explorer 11. Now Windows 7 users are getting that same opportunity.
Microsoft announced today that the Internet Explorer 11 Release Preview is now available on Windows 7. Just like the Windows 8 version, IE11 will make extensive use of hardware acceleration. According to Microsoft, this new version is about 9% faster than IE10 and 5% faster than the developer preview. Microsoft also claims Internet Explorer 11 is 30% faster than any other browser.
Microsoft also has removed the prefixes from the Pointer Events API for HTML5. That means that the API will no longer an IE-specific flag to work in non-IE browsers. The API governs how the browser reacts to input from multiple “pointers,” including mouse, pen, and touch screens, which are of utmost importance to Microsoft now that most Windows 8 hardware ships with touch screens.
“This release also signals the final preview release before general availability of IE11 for Windows 7 later this fall,” said Roger Capriotti, Microsoft’s senior director of product marketing for Internet Explorer, in a statement.
No word yet on the final release, but given the timing, certainly by the end of the year, we’re guessing within 30 days of the general availability of Windows 8.1.
It can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download site here: Internet Explorer 11 Release Preview for Windows 7.
