With the success of Internet Explorer 8--gaining 1.38 percent market share in the United States to lead the pack with more than 42 percent of the market--it is easy to forget that Microsoft is hard at work developing Internet Explorer 9. Today, Microsoft unleashed the fourth Platform Preview release for developers, and told partners and developers to start preparing--the public beta of IE9 is coming soon.

Internet Explorer 9 is in high demand in the developer community. The IE9 Platform Preview has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times, and the Test Drive site has been viewed 20 million times.

The focus of the IE9 team has been on developing a cutting edge Web browser as fast as it is capable. When Microsoft shipped IE8, the Acid3 score was a paltry--perhaps even shameful--20. Responding to feedback from developers who have used the IE9 Platform Preview releases, Microsoft has increased the Acid3 score for IE9 by 40 points. This release has an Acid3 score of 95--almost five times that of IE8.

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