Internet Explorer 9 racks up 2.35 million downloads in 24 hours

by Steven Mostyn - Mar 17 2011, 13:07

Keen to let everyone know just how popular Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) is, software specialist Microsoft is busy trumpeting that its browser has already been downloaded millions of times.

Since launching on Monday, the final release-ready version of IE9 has, according to Internet Explorer senior director Ryan Gavin, been racking up more than 250 downloads every 10 seconds and was downloaded 2.35 million times within 24 hours.

“We want to thank everyone around the world for downloading IE9 and the enthusiastic reception,” enthused Gavin in an official blog post.

Gavin added that the final version of IE9 has already doubled the amount of downloads amassed during first-day availability of the IE9 beta, and four times that of the IE9 Release Candidate.   

Some of the improvements IE9 delivers to users include a cleaner interface, HMTL5 support, an overhauled JavaScript engine (a.k.a. Chakra), accelerated text and graphics rendering through the system GPU, Windows 7 integration, Tracking Protection, and an evolved address bar.

Having upgraded from the Release Candidate version yesterday, while I find IE9 to be a clear improvement over previous offerings (as many reviewers do), it still carries that unmistakable air of sterility that hangs over Microsoft creations.

For this writer, while IE9 works best when I’m working amid The Tech Herald’s back-end, I still find myself using Chrome for its simplicity and speed… and I’m looking forward to seeing if Mozilla can forge (further) forward with version 4 of Firefox.

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