Microsoft: What's new in IE10 in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Summary: The Metro-style version of IE10 that's integrated into the Windows 8 Consumer Preview includes a number of new features added since September. Here are some of them. — Microsoft made quite a number of changes …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already used IE10 platform previews to prepare developers for HTML5-ready sites. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview moves that work into a Metro-style browser experience, while Microsoft has also said third-party browsers will be able to integrate with the Metro interface.
The update matters because IE10 is no longer only a rendering-engine preview: it is part of the Consumer Preview's touch-oriented application environment. The story's broad pickup across technology and Microsoft-focused outlets underscores developer and platform interest in that integration.
First-order effects
- Developers testing against the Windows 8 Consumer Preview gain a more complete IE10 target for checking how their sites behave in the Metro-style environment.
- Microsoft makes IE10 a more visible part of the Consumer Preview experience, tying browser feature adoption to Windows 8 evaluation.
Second-order effects
- Browser vendors seeking a Windows 8 presence must weigh Metro integration against competing solely on web compatibility, since Microsoft has opened that interface to web browsers.
- Web developers face an added incentive to test not just against IE10's HTML5 implementation but also against the interface context in which Windows 8 users will encounter it.
Third-order effects
- If Metro integration becomes a primary route to Windows browser usage, competition shifts toward operating-system integration alongside standards support, giving the Windows interface greater influence over browser distribution.
- Microsoft's work links browser iteration to preview releases of its operating system, a platform strategy that can make web experience design increasingly dependent on OS-level interaction models.
The trend: Windows 8 is turning the browser from a standalone desktop application into an operating-system-integrated touch experience, with standards support and interface access advancing together.