, Microsoft has stripped out from the interface  everything nonessential and reduced the size and prominence of the remaining widgets to  emphasise the Web content which invites comparsion with  Chrome.

 IE9’s best features stem form its tight integration with Windows 7 e.g. the ability to drag-and-drop a Website tab to the Windows 7 taskbar,and  to transform it into an icon which when right-clicked, opesn up a “jump list”of one-click links to that Website’s main content.

Windows 7 users can  “Aero Snap” their browser windows to the left or right of the screen, to organize multiple Websites or  to view two Web pages side-by-side. .

IE9 also leverages  PC’s GPU and CPU, along with a revamped JavaScript engine named Chakra, tospeedily render rich Web content.  Microsoft’s claim that IE9 is their fastest browser ever,  .

IE9 is however  incompatible with Windows XP  –   with around 55%  of PCs still running XP this will impact user adoption.

IE9 is also compatible with the much less popular Windows Vista .

Security features include  InPrivate Browsing  for Web surfing without leaving any traces a nd a  SmartScreen Filter to evaluate  suspect Websites based on their reputation with pop-up windows and lists of suggested actions. Tracking Protection lets users decide which types of information they want viewable by third parties.

As we predicted in this blog last year Microsoft’s share of the browser marekt has declined and stands at 56.77 percent, down from the 68.46 percent it held in March 2009.