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Internet Explorer 11 made available for Windows 7 users

by Mark Tyson on 8 November 2013, 10:10

Tags: Internet Explorer

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The latest version of the Internet Explorer browser has been made available by Microsoft for its older Windows 7 OS. This free update can be downloaded from here, however Windows 7 users with auto-update turned on should receive the option to install it as an automatic upgrade. The latest version of IE should run faster, support more web standards and includes new developer tools. Meanwhile users of older OSes like Vista or XP can’t upgrade past IE9. In other IE news the browser now has its own “anime personification,” in the shape of a young lady called Inori Aizawa.

IE11 has been made available globally for Windows 7 users. The headline improvements over the previous version of IE include the “performance, security, privacy, and reliability that consumers enjoy on Windows 8.1,” it’s also optimised for touch.

Microsoft are particularly happy to boast about the faster performance on offer in IE11. “IE11 on Windows 7 improves performance across the board with faster page loading, faster interactivity, and faster JavaScript performance, while reducing CPU usage and improving battery life on mobile PCs”. The company says that the latest version of Internet Explorer can make real world web sites perform 30 per cent faster.

Redmond suggests you try out its EtchMark browser etch-a-sketch benchmark, pictured above, available here. This single web page uses “a broad range of technologies available to developers in IE11, including HTML5, CSS3, SVG Filters, touch, orientation events, pointer events, power efficiency, and more”. Niftily you can shake your device to start your sketch anew - if your Windows machine has device orientation support.

Other significant performance increases are observable in JavaScript. “On Windows 7, IE11 is 9% faster than IE10, which is nearly 30% faster than the nearest competitive browser,” we are told on the IE Blog. For a more rich experience Microsoft IE11 now supports 25 new and improved modern web standards including; hardware-accelerated 3D Web graphics, HTML5 video without plugins, WebGL and HTML5 drag and drop.

“My name is Inori and I'm an anime personification for Internet Explorer! Shall we explore the web?”

Inori Aizawa, born 16th August 1995, made her debut at the AFA - ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA in Singapore at the end of October. At that time we saw a silhouette of Inori and were told “The world’s most popular browser just got cuter.”

Yesterday she introduced herself on her official Facebook page and we got a short but informative bio, reproduced below;

“Hey everyone! My name is Inori and you can think of me as a personification of Internet Explorer.

When I was younger, I used to be a clumsy, slow and awkward girl.

However, just like the story of ugly duckling, people told me that I have really matured and changed over the years. I feel confident in my abilities now, and I'm eager to show you what I can do.

Why don't you get to know me a little better?”

However at the time of writing the special IE11 (Inori version) is still not available to download. At least you can watch a short video of Inori fighting angry chrome robots while you wait...



HEXUS Forums :: 21 Comments

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This has made my day big time! I didn't expect Microsoft to pull such an Anime move. Inori looks OK and reminds me of Vocaloid's Hatsune Miku.

I bet the Inori edition will have a Clippit version of Inori with AOL voice. Remember those “ You ahve e-mail ” days ?
Inori will say :
“Wakarimashta, we shall go to your website”
“Sensei, your page has loaded ”
“ Taskitey, the tab has crashed!”
So we should be using internet explorer because of etch-a-sketch, and teenagers in short skirts?

Not only has microsoft lost the plot, they've given up looking.
“Hey everyone! My name is Inori and you can think of me as a personification of Internet Explorer.

When I was younger, I used to be a clumsy, slow and awkward girl.

However, just like the story of ugly duckling, people told me that I have really matured and changed over the years. I feel confident in my abilities now, and I'm eager to show you what I can do.

Why don't you get to know me a little better?”

I've suspected Microsoft let the IE team a little more loose after IE8 so they would be more free to develop faster and as they see fit but they may have become a little too unhinged. Then again, Microsoft are no strangers to this, as the OS-tan (OS - operating system, tan - a suffix denoting a character which may be cute/girly/child) meme proves.

This kind of advertising might do well in the East, but I'd be pretty amused if an anime character pops up on all those enterprise/business systems stuck on IE. :P

Imagine you're at your GP, his face serious. ‘Keith, its about your recent test’ He turns his monitor to show you the result of that CT scan… You've been bracing because you knew your family had a tendancy to develop that fatal disease… Then it appears… “Hey everyone! My name is Inori”
one thing… the one thing that's blindingly obvious to me (and probably you now that im mentioning it)…

Microsoft couldn't even get the girls name right :mad:

they missed a blindingly obvious initial.. I.E. use that for her initials. not I.A.

just mind boggling they didn't even think of that.