IE11 preview for Windows 7, updates for modern.ie, 25% discount on Parallels for Mac

    Today, a preliminary version of Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 was released. Previously, it was available only to users of Windows 8.1 . The new browser will provide high performance, high page loading speed, and support for the latest standards required for the work of a new generation of websites. In addition, developers will be able to use the completely redesigned F12 tools.



    You can download and try the IE11 Developer Preview today.

    With IE11, developers can use professional-quality video, hardware-accelerated 2D and 3D web technologies, including WebGL, on websites.

    From today, all the advantages of IE11 are available to more than 700 million Windows 7 users. In addition, today we present an updated tool for developers - www.modern.ie with free virtual machines and an online site testing service on all platforms.



    Even faster and smoother internet


    Speed ​​is one of the most important qualities of a browser. IE11 code is optimized so that sites are displayed as quickly as possible, and web services run at the speed of applications installed on the computer.

    IE11 is the first browser in the world to decode real-time JPG images using a computer's GPU. Thanks to this, pages load faster, use less RAM - this helps reduce power consumption and extend the battery life of mobile devices. IE11 is also the first browser in the world that uses a graphics processor to render text. Text and pictures are the foundation of the Internet, which means these two technologies will help to display almost every page you visit faster.

    To load pages faster, the browser must be able to optimally choose the loading order of the site elements. IE11 is the first browser to use the W3C Resource Priorities standard . This means that developers can specify which page elements should be loaded first. Support for the SPDY protocol, the foundation of the emerging HTTP 2.0 specification, also speeds up loading of some existing sites.



    You can evaluate the speed of IE11 yourself with the new demos at www.ietestdrive.com . Pay attention to Levitation and Lawnmark : they allow you to evaluate the speed of work with 2D and 3D graphics. Markup display can be evaluated using LiteBrite as an example .combining the use of HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript.

    JavaScript high performance


    The JavaScript “Chakra” engine has undergone significant improvements. It has become even faster, while maintaining compatibility with previous versions and a high level of security. IE11 also supports the described features of the latest ECMAScript 6 standard : let, const, Map, Set, and WeakMap, as well as __proto__ for compatibility.

    The JIT compiler now supports new optimization methods, including polymorphic cashing of properties and inlining functions, which means that more code goes through the JIT and less time is spent on calculations. Engineers working on Internet Explorer 11 focus on scenarios for working with existing sites. However, IE11 in JavaScript tests such as WebKit SunSpider continues to be significantly ahead of the competition.



    In addition, IE11 uses the ECMAScript Internationalization API (version 1.0).

    3D hardware acceleration


    Internet Explorer 11 supports WebGL, a new technology that will allow web developers to create sites with complex 2D and 3D graphics that are displayed using the computer’s GPU. WebGL technology, which used to be used only for experiments, is becoming an important development tool, allowing you to create completely new types of interfaces.

    For example, recently in partnership with GlacierWorks , an interactive site was created that talks about the impact of climate change on the Himalayan glaciers and the impact of melting glaciers on the ecosystem. Today we updated this site by creating an interactive 3D map.Himalaya using WebGL. This is a great example of how the 3D interface can interact with photo and video content already existing on the site. The site works on any device: for example, if you went to www.glacierworks.org from a tablet on Windows 8, you can appreciate another great feature of IE: CSS device orientation, the ability to navigate a mountain range by simply picking up a tablet.



    IE11 provides WebGL on any device with Windows 7 or 8, and can use the resources of the GPU without compromising the security or reliability of the browser.

    Professional quality videos


    Internet Explorer 11 allows you to use HTML5 video without additional plugins. IE11 supports closed captioning standards ( TTML and SDP ), so the videos you post to your site can be of the highest quality. IE11 also supports the HTML Full Screen API, making it easy to deploy HTML5 video to full screen while watching. IE11 can download videos without caching files on the hard drive, which helps to extend the battery life of devices.

    New F12 Developer Tools


    IE11 includes fully updated F12 developer tools to help optimize sites. IE team engineers worked on them together with Visual Studio developers. With the new F12 tools, developers can quickly get the necessary data that will help optimize performance, diagnose errors and get complete information about how IE displays the site.

    New F12 tools include:
    • UI Debugging and Memory Usage Diagnostic Tool
    • Live DOM Explorer and CSS inspection which updates information simultaneously with the page, giving the opportunity to evaluate the impact of dynamic content on layout and styles
    • JavaScript debugging - a tool that does not require page refresh




    It is also important that the F12 tools are very similar to the usual Visual Studio tools. Try the new F12 tools in the F12 Adventure Interactive Review .

    Everything that already works will continue to work


    Internet Explorer 11 is fully compatible with existing sites. APIs have appeared in it that will allow developers to make sites even better. Some APIs were also changed and removed so that the sites that are working now continue to display without errors in new versions of the browser. IE11 supports more HTML5 and CSS features, such as improved Canvas 2D (smoothing, filling, dashed lines), CSS border image, Device fixed positioning, Pointer Events and CSS Flexbox, mutation observers and more .

    IE11 includes many other changes. For example, the built-in text editor was significantly improved :. it will be easier for developers to create applications that use text editors due to the ability to paste images from the clipboard, undo actions, etc.
    For a complete overview of the new IE11 features, click here . And the IE team is waiting for your suggestions and wishes in Connect .

    However, do not forget that in IE11 the substantially updated User Agent String.

    Update Modern.ie


    Along with the release of Internet Explorer 11 Developer Preview for Windows 7, we updated the site www.modern.ie - a set of tools and materials designed to make website development (including for IE) easier. We want the Internet to evolve, and do everything possible so that the developers devote more time to finding a new one, and do not spend too much time testing.

    So, from today on modern.IE:
    1. Limited Offer: 25% off Parallels for Mac.
    2. New virtual machines for testing IE11 for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1
    3. A new free tool that allows you to get screenshots of your site for free on most devices and browsers


    In addition, the modern.ie website scanner is now available as open source (licensed under Apache 2.0). You can download it from GitHub for your own projects.

    Limited Offer: 25% off Parallels for Mac.


    Our friends at Parallels helped us in April by providing the Windows Quickstart Kit for iOS developers and we were delighted with your reaction: everything was sold out in 25 minutes. Today, we are announcing the availability of a limited Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac purchase offer at a 25% discount. Get one of 2500 sets of special code on modern.IE before August 19, 2013.

    IE11 Preview on Virtual Machines


    We know that virtual machines are an indispensable tool for testing sites, which does not depend on the environment in which you work. On the website modern.IE we have posted all possible versions of virtual machines: from IE6 for Windows XP to IE11 for Windows 8.1 All of them are available for:
    • Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
    • Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 Pro w / Hyper-V
    • Virtual PC on Windows 7 (note that VPC cannot run virtual Windows 8)
    • VirtualBox on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux
    • VMWare Player on Windows and Mac OSX


    Download virtual machines here .

    How do users see your site? On Android, Safari, Xbox?


    Visitors to your site can use a variety of devices. Things like responsive design can help developers create sites that look great on screens of any size. But often web developers are forced to create different sites for different devices, while not being able to buy all the new devices that appear on the market.

    We are pleased to introduce a simple tool for testing, which in one click will show you how your site looks on various popular devices. The service is provided by BrowserStack.com. Here's what www.modern.ie looks like on the screens of several popular gadgets:



    After receiving the screenshots, you can immediately add them to the real work of art created by Chairman Ting . And hang on the wall.



    References


    Download Windows 8.1 Preview: preview.windows.com
    Download IE11 Preview for Windows 7: go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=316880
    Website Modern.ie: modern.ie
    MSDN by IE: msdn.microsoft.com/en-US / ie
    Examples and demos: ietestdrive.com

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