Windows 8′s Browser: Internet Explorer 10

Internet Explorer 10 serves dual roles as the default Metro and desktop browser, and its HTML5 support breaks new ground for a Microsoft browser.Windows 8′s browser, Internet Explorer 10, leads a double life. You can run it in Metro, you can run it in the traditional Windows desktop view. Underneath, however, both use the same rendering engine. This engine has been considerably improved, in both speed and support for new Web technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3. Maybe even more significantly, IE10 isn’t just the browser for Windows 8, it actually becomes the underlying engine that powers Metro style applications that use HTML5 and JavaScript. When you realize that, it becomes clear that Internet Explorer 10 is a crucial piece of the Windows 8 puzzle.

At the moment, Microsoft is only making the preview version of IE10 available for Windows 8 Release Preview, but, at release, it will be available for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012. To try out Microsoft made a big push with IE9 for more standards support, and, indeed, that browser version far outstrips what IE8 offered. This is of particular importance for Windows 8′s role as a tablet operating system, even though the Metro (the touch-tablet-centric part of Windows 8) guise of IE10 will include the Adobe Flash plugin built-in, as Google Chrome does. But more and more sites are relying on HTML5 to take over that plugin’s functions.

One gauge of HTML5 readiness is the HTML5Test.com site, which reports a score based on how many HTML5 features it supports, along with bonus points for non-standard-specific extras like video codecs. Out of a possible 500, IE9 earns a score of 138, compared with 414 for Google Chrome. IE10 changes this picture considerably, with a score of 319 and 6 bonus points.