Seamless with Windows 7

Internet Explorer 9 integrates seamlessly with computers running Windows 7 to bring you the best web experience for Windows.
Snap

Snap makes it easy to view two websites at the same time

Whether you're comparing menus for restaurants on different websites, watching a video while going through email, or looking at a map while reading an itinerary for a trip, it often takes more than one webpage or window to accomplish a task.

Snap is a quick—and fun—way to show two sites or pages on your screen at one time. Simply drag each one to opposite edges of your screen and the sites will appear side-by-side. Content on the sites is rendered continuously and video frames remain when snapping a window in place, providing a fluid experience. And you’re able to see more content at one time without having to waste time thinking about whether to use tabs or windows.
Jump Lists

Jump Lists make it easy to access your favorite sites

A quick and easy to way to get to your favorite websites without having to open Internet Explorer, Jump Lists take you right to the websites you use every day.

To open the Internet Explorer 9 Jump List, right-click the Internet Explorer icon on the taskbar. You’ll see the sites that you visit often. There’s also quick access to start InPrivate Browsing, open new tabs, or close a window. Any website that you’ve pinned to the taskbar has a Jump List, too. What you see in each one depends on the website, but all of them include InPrivate Browsing, opening the site, unpinning the site, and closing the window.
Thumbnail preview controls

Some websites that are pinned to the taskbar have controls that can be accessed from the taskbar. Point to the icon for a website that's pinned to the taskbar and you'll see the thumbnail preview controls for that website underneath the thumbnail preview.
Icon overlays

Some pinned sites also have icon overlays, which provide information about the website. For example, the number of new messages are shown on the icon in the taskbar. That way you're kept up-to-date about new information without having to go to the website.

SmartScreen Filter

Internet Explorer 9 is designed to help protect you from evolving web and social engineering threats. Whether it's a link in email that appears to be from your bank, fake notifications from social networking sites, search results for popular content, or malicious advertisements—you name it, someone's trying it. With SmartScreen Filter, you can browse with more confidence knowing you have better protection if you're targeted by one of these types of attacks.

SmartScreen Filter helps combat these threats with a set of sophisticated tools:

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Anti-phishing protection—to screen threats from imposter websites seeking to acquire personal information such as user names, passwords, and billing data.
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Application Reputation—to remove all unnecessary warnings for well-known files, and show severe warnings for high-risk downloads.
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Anti-malware protection—to help prevent potentially harmful software from infiltrating your computer.

If a malicious website is detected, Internet Explorer 9 blocks the entire site, when appropriate. It also can do a "surgical block" of malware or phishing hosted on legitimate websites, blocking malicious pages without affecting the rest of the site.

Smartscreen Filter also works with Download Manager to help protect you from malicious downloads. Potentially risky downloads are immediately blocked. Download Manager then clearly identifies higher risk programs so that you can make an informed decision to delete, run, or save the download.

We recommend that you turn on SmartScreen Filter. You can turn it on or off at any time. You can also help improve the web for everyone by reporting suspected malicious sites.

Pinned Sites

With Pinned Sites, you can get to your favorite sites directly from the Windows taskbar—without having to open Internet Explorer first.

Pinning a site takes seconds: click the icon to the left of the web address in One Box, or the tab for the website, or the website's icon on the New Tab page, and then drag it to the taskbar. That's it. Once a site is pinned, it shows up as its own thumbnail, separate from Internet Explorer. Now all it takes is one click to get to your favorite website.

Each site that's pinned to the taskbar has a Jump List. Some also have thumbnail preview controls like playing or pausing a video, which you'll see underneath the thumbnail preview. And some sites you pin have icon overlays, which provide information about the status of a website, such as the number of new messages in your inbox.

By pinning a site, the site is at the center of the experience, not the browser. When a pinned site is launched from the taskbar, the browser frame and navigational controls integrate the site's icon and primary color, providing an experience that's tailored to the site you're viewing.

You can also add additional home page tabs for each site you pin. That way when you open a site that's pinned you can open several webpages or websites all at once. To add additional home page tabs to a pinned site, navigate to the webpage or website you want to add as a home page tab, right-click the pinned website's icon to the left of the Back button, and then click Add as a home page.

One Box

Whether you want to navigate to a website or start a search, you have a single place to go in Internet Explorer 9—One Box.
Surfing and searching—all in one place

With One Box, surfing or searching the web is a snap. You can start typing a web address and AutoComplete anticipates what you’re looking for to help you get to your websites quickly. And because search functionality is integrated into One Box, you don’t have to worry about remembering the full web address—type in familiar terms like “news” or “music” and you can get to the sites you love in a flash.

Trying to locate something on the web? Searching from One Box gives you a quick way to find what you're looking for. Depending on the search providers you use, as you type words, search suggestions, search results—including visual search results—and headline matches or other relevant suggestions are shown in the drop–down list. Click a suggestion to run the search without having to type any more words. And you can add search providers or change the provider you want to use right from the bottom of the drop–down list as well.
Your privacy

The privacy of information that you enter into One Box is an important part of the Internet Explorer promise. You're in control of what information, if any, gets shared with search providers. From the Address bar drop-down list, you can choose to turn on search suggestions or turn them off. If you choose to turn search suggestions on, the text you type is sent to the search provider as you type it rather than being sent after you finish typing and press Enter.

Focused on your websites

Internet Explorer 9 is designed to bring your websites forward

The new browser frame makes any website shine.

Designed based on what you use most, the navigational controls in Internet Explorer 9 are streamlined and simplified. The back button is larger, the address bar and search box are combined into one new address bar, and the multiple menus from previous versions of Internet Explorer are consolidated into a single menu. The result? You'll only see what's essential to your browsing experience on the Internet today.

Simplified yet enhanced, the user interface brings sites forward. Characteristics of each website are reflected throughout the browser, allowing you to be more immersed in each site you visit.

See it in action at beautyoftheweb.com.

Hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics

Hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics

The new graphic capabilities and improved performance in Internet Explorer 9 set the stage for immersive and rich experiences. Hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics mean your websites perform like the programs that are installed on your computer. High-definition videos are smooth, graphics are clear and responsive, colors are true, and websites are interactive like never before. With sub-system enhancements like Chakra, the new JavaScript engine, websites and applications load faster and are more responsive. Combine Internet Explorer 9 with the powerful graphics capabilities that Windows 7 has to offer, and you'll get the best web experience on Windows yet. See it in action at beautyoftheweb.com.
Installs faster, starts faster

The shorter, streamlined installation of Internet Explorer 9 is faster than previous versions. It requires fewer decisions on your part, takes less time to load pages, and doesn’t require that you install updates separately. Once it's installed, you're ready to start browsing.

Is Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate right for me?

Before you download the Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate (RC), you should weigh the pros and cons of installing software that's still in development. The "Release Candidate" designation means that Internet Explorer has most of the features that will be included in the final release, but it's still being tested. Information from Release Candidate users will help to make the final product even better. If you install the RC, you'll get to try out the many new features in Internet Explorer 9, but you might also experience a higher frequency of errors than you would using an earlier version of Internet Explorer.

You should consider downloading the Internet Explorer 9 RC if all of the following apply to you:

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You like to use the latest software and enjoy experimenting with new technology.
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You feel comfortable troubleshooting computer problems yourself.
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You don't mind updating software frequently.

You might want to wait for the final release of Internet Explorer 9 if any of the following apply to you:

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You prefer to install software once, and don't want to mess with it again.
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You get frustrated if software doesn't always behave as you expect it to.
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You want to continue using Internet Explorer 8 (Internet Explorer 9 RC replaces it on your computer).
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You rely on assistive technology software, such as a screen reader or screen magnifier, to browse the web.

If you think the Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate is right for you and you want to download it, go to the Internet Explorer 9 page.
Internet Explorer 9 RC system requirements

Computer/Processor

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Computer with a 1 gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.

Operating System

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Windows Vista 32-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher
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Windows Vista 64-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher

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Windows 7 32-bit or higher
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Windows 7 64-bit or higher

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Windows Server 2008 32-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher
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Windows Server 2008 64-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher

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Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit

Memory

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Windows Vista 32-bit – 512 megabytes (MB)
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Windows Vista 64-bit – 512 MB

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Windows 7 32-bit – 512 MB
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Windows 7 64-bit – 512 MB

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Windows Server 2008 32-bit – 512 MB
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Windows Server 2008 64-bit – 512 MB

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Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit – 512 MB

Hard Drive Space

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Windows Vista 32-bit – 70 MB
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Windows Vista 64-bit – 120 MB

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Windows 7 32-bit – 70 MB
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Windows 7 64-bit – 120 MB

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Windows Server 2008 32-bit – 150 MB
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Windows Server 2008 64-bit – 200 MB

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Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit – 200 MB

Drive

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CD-ROM drive (if installation is done from a CD-ROM)

Display

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Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor with 256 colors

Peripherals

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Modem or Internet connection
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Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouse, or compatible pointing device