IE9 technology preview goes live, Microsoft claims scores 55% on Acid3

This afternoon, Microsoft lifted the curtain on the first Internet Explorer 9 technology preview for developers. Initial demos at MIX 10 in Las Vegas by IE9 team leader Dean Hachamovitch reveal a minimum of end user features at this point -- the preview is described as a lightweight frame on top of a highly improved chassis.

"We are committed to updating the preview every eight weeks," Hachamovitch told developers today, just after a demo (along with Windows Division President Steven Sinofsky) of various graphics-oriented tests and games that the IE9 preview rendered with extraordinary precision. It is not a complete browser by any stretch of the imagination, but it's purpose is to show developers where the company is going with the new chassis.

HTML 5 is the message of the day, almost the first word (or abbreviation) out of Hachamovitch's mouth. At the time of this posting, Hachamovitch promised an update of the platform preview to come later, that will attach compliance with HTML 5 video standards. That's browser-based rendering of full-motion video, for the first time in IE.