Internet Explorer 9 is a big improvement over its predecessor. Unfortunately, the newest version of Microsoft’s popular browser isn’t compatible with Windows XP. For that, you’ll need to use Internet Explorer 8, which is still a solid browser by anyone’s estimation.

Cookies are pieces of information stored on your computer that personalize your experience every time you visit a website. If cookies are disabled on IE 8, you will often encounter problems such as being unable to complete an online purchase, among other important actions.

Fortunately, managing cookies in IE 8 is a relatively simple process. I’ll show you how to enable, disable and even delete your cookies entirely in a few simple steps!

Internet Explorer 9 is a great improvement over its predecessors, as well as boasting a sleek look that really makes it stand out.

Its new look has also changed the location of important settings and features. If privacy is important to you, you'll want to know how to do things like view or delete temporary internet files and manage cookies.

These are easy to do - if you know where to look. With a few simple steps, we'll show you how to get your browser cleaned to your liking and keep it that way!

This week saw Microsoft release its Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 2. The preview allows you to check out IE 10, which will come with Windows 8, expected next year.

It's important to note that a platform preview is not the same as a Beta release. Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 2 allows you to test out some of the new technical implementations in the browser, but it is a long way from a fully functional, user friendly browser (insert sarcastic comment about Internet Explorer here).

What you can do with Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 2 is check out a range of tests designed to show off upcoming capabilities. There are speed demos, HTML5 demos, graphics demos and browser demos. The app opens on Microsoft's Test Drive page, which allows you to easily play around with all the demos, and also features a user guide. You will notice there's no address bar - you can actually browser wherever you want on the web, but to navigate you have to click CTRL+O which opens a window so you can enter a URL.

Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 2 is free to download, and requires Windows 7.

Internet Explorer 9 is finally available for download. Microsoft has released the final version of their popular browser for Windows 7 and Windows Vista, both in 32 and 64-bit versions. You can download them all from Softonic.

There are no significant changes since the Release Candidate we tested a few weeks ago. But we thought it would be a good idea to go over the most outstanding features in Internet Explorer 9 once more, especially for those of you who haven’t been testing the previous versions (Platform Preview, Beta and RC).

Web Slices

Internet Explorer 9 lets you add special web elements like top lists to the browser's Favorites bar. These elements are known as Web Slices and their content is updated automatically.

Microsoft's positively ancient browser, Internet Explorer 6, has been in the firing line for quite some time. Although it was first released in 2001, which is centuries ago in internet years, it's still used by a surprising amount of people, especially in China and India. Lots of people complained about the browser, claiming it was outdated, slow and, in certain cases, downright dangerous. Until now, however,  Microsoft didn't do much to kill it off, even releasing regular security patches for it!

Well, it looks like the giant corporation has come to its senses - it has formally asked users to upgrade to a newer version, preferably Internet Explorer 8 or 9. This is an encouraging change from Microsoft, and it's true that compared to IE6, most things can be considered an improvement. Even so, we really think that if you are making the jump to a newer, better browser, try something like Chrome or Firefox instead. You'll be surprised at the difference it makes.

Five months after taking a look at its first Beta version, we're finally able to test Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate. At first sight it may seem that nothing has changed since that first beta. However, a deeper look soon reveals small appearance and performance improvements, as well as new features related mainly to security.

As for appearance, Internet Explorer 9 RC has applied a few minor changes: tabs are now squared (no rounded corners anymore), and the design of the buttons inside the address bar has been improved. There's also a new option to show tabs on a separate row, for those who prefer having the address bar on one line, and the tab bar on another.

Talking about functionality, IE9 includes everything we already saw in the Beta version: Webslices, a new Download manager, a Performance advisor for add-ons, inPrivate browsing and the ability to pin specific websites to the superbar in Windows, among others.

If you're a developer using a Mac to design web pages, you'll be aware of one big problem - how to test web pages for Windows users on Internet Explorer which no longer works on Mac. In 2003, Microsoft ceased development of the browser for Mac with support ending 2 years later. As a result, most web designers on Mac have to run Windows either via Boot Camp or Parallels which isn't ideal not to mention expensive too. Many will therefore be eager to try a new application called ie4Mac which allows Mac users to run an original, unmodified version of Windows Internet Explorer on Mac.

Most web developers need to make sure that their web pages work in at least Internet Explorer 7 and 8 and even sometimes 6. Ie4mac.com claims that they can use the original, unmodified Windows Internet Explorer natively on a Mac. This will allow users to verify that web pages render correctly, test HTML and CSS compatibility and interactively debug AJAX and JS.

How does it do this? According to the developers:

ie4mac makes this possible by running a cluster of Windows Terminal Servers and delivering the Internet Explorer to your Mac using a protocol called RDP. This way we can provide you with four different versions of IE, running side by side, namely Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 and even 9 (the latest beta release by Microsoft).

This won't come for free although at the moment, ie4Mac is inviting requests to participate in free private beta testing of it. All you have to do is enter your e-mail address. Everyone that's chosen to take part in the private beta test will be able to use ie4Mac for free during the whole testing period. Look out for a full review here if we get accepted.

17 Feb Update: The launch of ie4Mac has been delayed slightly but will be released for beta testing soon. We'll be one of the first to be invited so watch this space!

June Update: The launch of ie4Mac has been delayed again due to legal issues which have now been resolved but the project is now back on track and it should be available soon at the following address: http://www.browser-test.net/

You were the first one to download it, you tested all of its tools and functions, and you collected a bunch of webslices and accelerators... But now you just want to get rid of Internet Explorer 9. Don't worry, we won't judge you for it!

However you may need help to uninstall Microsoft's latest browser, as the process is not as clear as you might think. Here's a short guide on how to remove Internet Explorer 9 from your system and move on to another browser.

1. Click the Start button, go to the Control Panel and select Uninstall a program (if you have the settings sorted by Category) or Programs and Features if you have the Icon view.

2. You'll see Internet Explorer 9 is not included in the default list of installed software, because it's considered to be an update. You'll need to select the View installed updates option in order to make it appear on the list.

3. Wait until the program list has been populated, and scroll down until you find Internet Explorer 9. Select it and hit the Uninstall button.

4. Windows will uninstall Internet Explorer 9. The process can take a few minutes and requires a system restart afterwards. Note that this doesn't mean you don't have Internet Explorer on your system - Windows just downgrades it to version 8.

[Via: OnSoftware Spain]

The waiting is finally over: the first beta of Internet Explorer 9 has launched. After testing several preview versions over the last few months, I've been looking forward to this moment. I wanted to see with my own eyes if Internet Explorer 9 is really the revolutionary browser Microsoft wants us to believe.

After testing it for a while, I must say this new version does include some great new features, and has improved in many ways, especially when it comes to performance and web standards compliance. Whether this will be enough, only time will tell. As for now, let's take a look at the new features included in Internet Explorer 9, and how it performs in comparison with other browsers.

New features in Internet Explorer 9

The new version of Internet Explorer now lets you pin specific websites to the superbar o the Start menu, for faster access. This makes the toolbar in Windows 7 even more useful.

It's clear to us at Softonic that a huge number of people, after switching from Windows to Mac, still want to use Internet Explorer. Well the bad news for Mac newbies is that Internet Explorer for Mac is absolutely atrocious so you'll have to say goodbye to it now. In fact, it's so bad it's virtually unusable nowadays because websites simply won't render in it properly anymore.

This is what I got when I tried to visit Softonic's Mac site with it:

Not only does it fail to load most of the page but the elements it did load were badly aligned. Anything other than Google's homepage seemed to crash Internet Explorer for Mac immediately. Added to the fact that it doesn't even support Flash, tabbed browsing, modern JavaScript engines, extensions or even ad-pop-up blocking, you'd have to be absolutely masochistic to use it.

Part of the problem, apart from that it's not even a decent browser on Windows, is that Microsoft abandoned support and development of Internet Explorer for Mac in 2005. Since the browser is subsequently no longer designed to handle the requirements of most modern web pages, we strongly advise you to try Firefox, Chrome, Safari or Opera instead.

Alternatively, just check out all of the other browsers available for Mac. You have been warned!

After unveiling Internet Explorer 9 for the first time at the Professional Developers Conference in 2009, Microsoft has finally made a first version of its new browser available for download.

Well, not exactly. What you get when hitting the download link on Microsoft's website is not what I'd call a web browser; it's more of a web-capable playground with a bunch of testing links that lets you check all the new features included in the all new Internet Explorer 9.

It's come to something when even the State has to speak out on how atrociously bad a piece of software is. In this case, the French and German governments have seen fit to declare Microsoft Internet Explorer a security threat and issued official statements advising users to switch to Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

Surprise surprise however; the British government has decided to go along with the Americans on this issue. The Americans being Microsoft and the issue being the gaping security holes in IE.

The British government have decided not to endorse this view and recommended that instead users take a look at getsafeonline.org. And would you believe it, apart from sounding like some kind of online contraceptive, getsafeonline.org has been set up by both the British government and Microsoft, amongst others.

While I don't generally agree with states sticking their nose in on such issues - and most are absolutely years behind on this one - I do think powerful interests need to take a stand against Microsoft. They have cunningly managed to ensure that Internet Explorer has found its way into almost every home computer by bundling it with Windows and it's taken until the release of Windows 7 for users to be spared having it pre-installed when they purchase their machine.

Ok, so I'm a Mac user and a bit biased on this issue. But today I'm once again a little ashamed of my government: so vive la France and well done Germany!

Internet Explorer 8 has finally hit the shelves today, without many differences in comparison with the release candidate launched two months ago. Accelerators, Web Slices, InPrivate browsing and the so called SmartScreen filter are some of its most outstanding new features. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, we though you might get a better idea if you see Internet Explorer 8 in action. Here's a video we just recorded with the newly launched browser: an overall review that covers its main tools and explains all the new stuff.

Yes, Microsoft have just dropped Internet Explorer 8 final. It still fails the Acid3 test, though, meaning not much has changed since the release candidate. Which isn't much of a surprise.

Stay tuned for our video tour of the new browser. In the meantime, download it from Microsoft here.

Internet Explorer 8 is one of the new elements included in Windows 7. And while Microsoft keeps working on their next operating system, they've launched a first release candidate of their browser, so that we can have a sneak peek at all the new features it includes.

The first thing we notice is that Internet Explorer 8 RC1 hasn't changed its interface that much comparing to previous beta versions. The address bar is again on top of the interface, and Favorites are accessible via a drop-down menu. However, there's one big difference, especially if we remember the minimalist interface used in Internet Explorer 7: version 8 shows up to four different bars on its first launch (address bar, menu bar, Favorites bar, command bar) that cause an overall sense of clutter and take browsing space away.

Regarding new features, Internet Explorer 8 includes a bunch of them. The two most outstanding ones are Accelerators (previously known as Activities) and Web Slices. The first one gives you direct access to various online services just by right-clicking anywhere on the webpage or on highlighted text. For instance, you can look up a word, map an address, perform an online search and blog about or send by email something you just saw on the web straight away. The main drawback is that all these options are tied to Microsoft's Windows Live services and there's no option to switch them to other online tools.

As for Web Slices, they work as a kind of RSS-style tool that allows you to track changes and updates on selected websites, without having to be constantly visiting them. It comes in really handy to track small changes that can't be followed by RSS, like online auction bids, stock exchange values or weather information, to name a few. On the downside, the truth is I couldn't really find any website where I could use Web Slices, except for the one provided as example on Internet Explorer's website.

Besides these two major features, Internet Explorer 8 also includes a few other characteristics I found particularly interesting. One of them is InPrivate Browsing, which is more or less the Microsoft's equivalent to Google's Incognito browsing in Chrome. While InPrivate Browsing is on, the browser won't save any data, including cookies, history and temporary internet files. No wonder they also call it Porn mode.

Web browsing has also been improved thanks to an enhanced address bar, similar to the Smart Location Bar you find in Firefox 3.  This address bar makes your browsing easier and more comfortable by suggesting URLs based on your own Favorites and your web browsing history.