Internet Explorer 10

Windows Internet Explorer 10 (abbreviated as IE10) is the next version of Internet Explorer currently being developed by Microsoft, and the successor to Internet Explorer 9. On April 12, 2011, Microsoft released the first "IE10 Platform Preview", which runs only on Windows 7 and later; subsequent platform previews run on only Windows 8. The release, only four weeks after the final release of Internet Explorer 9, has been noted as a fast release cycle in the context of the new browser wars. IE10 expands on Internet Explorer 9 functionality in regards to CSS 3 uptake, hardware acceleration, and HTML5 support.

On Windows 8, it will be divided into two versions with different user interfaces: a new Metro app that will not support plug-ins, and a traditional desktop application that will retain plug-in support. On 64-bit versions of Windows 8, the Metro version of IE10 will be the 64-bit version of the browser by default.

Internet Explorer 10 is the last version of the Internet Explorer to be called Windows Internet Explorer.

History
Internet Explorer 10 was first announced on April 12, 2011 at the MIX 11 conference in Las Vegas. In this conference, Microsoft showcased a demo version of Internet Explorer 10 along with a demo version of Windows 8. On the same day, a Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 10 was released on the Microsoft Internet Explorer Test Drive website. It only supports Windows 7; later platform previews only support Windows 8. The beta and release candidate will be available for Windows 7.

Reviewers' responses to the release of Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview were varied; however, they noted how soon (29 days) after the release of Internet Explorer 9 is Microsoft talking about the next version. While Don Reisinger of eWeek listed his requested features for the next version, Michael Muchmore of PC Magazine tested Platform Preview 1's performance and HTML5 support with both Microsoft's and third-parties' test suites. In his test, Platform Preview 1 performed better than Internet Explorer 9 but not always better than the competing web browsers.

On September 13, 2011, Microsoft released Windows 8 Developer Preview to the general public, which came with Internet Explorer 10 Developer Preview (the first full browser incarnation of Internet Explorer 10). Although Internet Explorer is the last major web browser – among Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari – to support spell checking, it is the first desktop browser to support auto-correct.

On version ES5 of the ECMAScript standards conformance Test 262, Internet Explorer 10 Consumer Preview scored 67/11563 (Tests To Run: 11563 | Total Tests Ran: 11563 | Pass: 11496 | Fail: 67 | Failed To Load: 0). Lower scores are better, as the figure represents the number of failed tests out of the total number of tests. This score of only 67 failed tests represented one of the best ECMAScript conformance score for all browsers on version ES5 of the test. Test 262 is still undergoing active development and is not yet complete. IE10 is also the first iteration of Internet Explorer to fully pass the Acid3 test.

Release history

 * A. Refers to the Internet Explorer (engine) version, not the Platform Preview version
 * B. Platform Preview version is 2.10.1000.16394
 * C. Platform Preview version is 2.10.1008.16421
 * D. This version is only included as part of Windows 8 Developer Preview, and is a full version rather than a usual Platform Preview.
 * E. Platform Preview version is 2.10.0.8103.0. Does not replace Internet Explorer Developer Preview included in Windows 8. This Platform Preview is compatible only with Windows Developer Preview.

User agent string
Internet Explorer 10 uses a new user agent string, which changes if the browser is using compatibility mode. The MSIE 9.0 token was changed to. The Trident/5.0 token was likewise changed to Trident/6.0.