IEBlog 2010: Connecting With You

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When IEblog was inaugurated on July 21, 2004, we set out to establish “a better connection with the IE Team.” 2010 took that connection to a new level by introducing 7 pre- and post-beta Platform Previews, a Test Drive site of 75 informative, entertaining, and discussion-provoking demos, and 137 IEBlog posts—more than any year other than 2006, the year of IE7’s release. For the first time, we included HTML5 H.264 video directly in posts.

You responded with over 7,050 comments, the most-commented posts being those describing the IE9 beta and third and fourth platform previews, two articulating our point-of-view regarding HTML5 video, and two outlining the site-centric design of IE9’s user experience.

The table below lists 2010’s seven most-commented-upon posts:

Web Sites at the Center

As the title of our top-commented post indicates, IE9 is all about putting Web sites at the center of the browsing experience. In addition to browsers and Web sites, we talked a lot about performance, developers, JavaScript, HTML5, SVG, and standards. We explained IE9 features, documented using its DOM, and provided interoperable examples. Though we directed most of our 2010 energy toward IE9, we continued to support users of IE7 and IE8 by providing important security updates throughout the year.

The following Wordle™ word cloud visualizes the 150 most popular words used in 2010’s posts (open SVG in its own window):

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Same Markup and Hardware Accelerated

Two IE9 themes we emphasized repeatedly during 2010 were same markup and hardware-accelerated rendering (42 of 137 posts used the phrase “same markup” while 26 mentioned “hardware accelerated”). We underscore these because we believe it is these two attributes, along with overall DOM and JavaScript performance, that will most distinguish the HTML5 Web sites and applications of the future. By being able to use the same HTML, CSS, SVG, and JavaScript markup and code across browsers, more Web developer time can be spent delivering new end-user value while less is spent dealing with annoying differences between browsers. By building on a hardware-accelerated graphics platform using new features such as SVG, <canvas>, and CSS3, developers will be able to deliver the kinds of experiences designers dream of—experiences such as those showcased at our Beauty of the Web site.

Where Next?

For sure, we’ll be writing a lot more about IE9 in the weeks and months to come. We hope the information presented in IEBlog is useful and actionable. What information on this blog do you find most valuable? We want your feedback on the IEBlog itself. How can we make this a better resource for you?

The feedback you provide us through your comments is valuable as we assess where to go next with Internet Explorer as well as the IEBlog itself. Thank you for your support during 2010 and here’s looking forward to a great 2011!

—Ted Johnson for the Windows Internet Explorer Engineering Team

IEBlog