Internet Explorer and the Windows 10 Technical Preview

Windwos 10

I’ve been a proponent for HTML5 for some time now (and better WebGL support!), so naturally today was an exciting day for me, as a web developer at Microsoft.

 

This morning we posted a new blog that talks about Internet Explorer and the Windows 10 Technical Preview, which describes the changes to IE in the Windows 10 build available today. This is a small glimpse at all the things we’re working on and what’s to come. We’re well aware the IE still has a lot of catching up to do, especially when to the developer tools and usability offered in FireFox and Chrome, but from what I’ve seen, the future is bright.

 

We have also launched a new User Voice site to collect feature requests for IE. For platform features, the site is uservoice.modern.ie and this is integrated into the status.modern.ie site. For UX features in the IE app, there is a different site at aka.ms/ieapp-uservoice.

 

Some new features

  • Performance improvements to the Chakra JavaScript engine
  • HTTP/2
  • Interoperable Top Level Domain Parsing

To learn more, be sure to join us on October 2nd at 10AM-12PM PST for our regular #AskIE Twitter chat hosted by @IEDevChat.

Windows 10

Windows 10 is obviously a large part of this conversation, so let me answer some questions for you immediately:

What does Windows 10 mean for developers?

  • Windows 10 will evolve the universal Windows app model we introduced with Windows and Windows Phone 8.1. Windows 10 will make building great universal Windows apps even more rewarding and efficient. Windows 10 also expands developer opportunity both by targeting a wider range of devices through a common Store and by creating more ways for end users to discover and engage apps. The ability for Windows Store apps to run on the desktop (in a window) is one of the important new ways that we are creating developer opportunity.  Those who use Windows 10 in desktop mode will now have greater access to and a more effective way of using your apps. We’ll have more to report in the coming months.

What should developers be doing in anticipation of Windows 10?

  • Universal Windows apps for Windows 10 build on the platform changes we introduced with Windows and Windows Phone 8.1, meaning that developers building universal Windows apps today are already on track to support Windows 10 and the many ways it improves app discoverability, engagement and capabilities.
  • In Windows 10, Windows Store apps will be able to run in a window on the desktop.  This is great for developers because it means that apps will be downloaded and used by desktop users in addition to those with tablet and touch devices.  To prepare for this new opportunity, we recommend that developers a) ensure that universal apps follow the guidelines for supporting multiple screen sizes, b) test apps for mouse and keyboard compatibility to ensure that desktop users will have a great experience.

Wrapping it all up

Think about that for a moment: One store. For everything. That means your Windows Phone games will be visible with your Xbox Games, alongside your Windows games. My best piece of advice? Get started on abstracting your UX, so that it can expand to all of those platforms at once!

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3 thoughts on “Internet Explorer and the Windows 10 Technical Preview

  1. Pingback: Internet Explorer and the Windows 10 Technical Preview - Dave Voyles for Gaming, HTML5, Startups, & Xbox - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

  2. The version number of IE 11 on Win10TP is 11.0.9841.0, but update version 11.0.8. Meanwhile, IE 11 on Win8.1 is 11.0.9600.0, but update version 11.0.12. Can you clarify?

    • I’m confused — are you looking to see if they are using a different version of IE on Win10, than they are are on Win 8.1?

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