5 ways Internet Explorer helps you get more done
Each version of Windows Internet Explorer seems to be faster, safer, and easier to use than the last. And it's free. You can always download and install the latest version of Internet Explorer for free from the Microsoft Download Center.
Here are some recently added features that'll make your browsing experience more productive, too.
1. Maximize your viewing space with the new minimalist interface
The new Internet Explorer 9 interface is sleek. It fits all the controls you need in one row at the top of the browser, leaving lots of room for displaying the webpage.
Internet Explorer 9 can make your browsing experience even easier.
In the upper-left corner of the window, you’ll see a convenient, extra-big Back button. Next, you'll see a single box, which is also the address box and the search box, so you can type URLs and search terms in the same place. To the right of the box are the tabs—you can add as many as you want by clicking the New tab on the right—with a bright focus on the current tab. If you open enough tabs, you'll see arrows on either side of the tab bar, so you can scroll through them easily. And you can quickly close a tab without switching to it by clicking the X on the tab.
On the far right are three simple icons: Home, Favorites, and Tools. When you click the Tools icon, you'll see that most of the controls you're used to seeing in the main menu bar have been collapsed into this simple, clear menu. If this seems a little too minimalist for you, you can right-click anywhere on the tab bar and select further display options.
Even the Notifications, providing information about the pop-up blocker and other warnings, now appears discretely at the lower portion of the screen. So you can choose to ignore it and continue browsing if you want.
2. Find information fast using One Box and the New Tab page
Speed and convenience are the words I think of first to describe the new One Box. I love that I can surf and search from a single location at the top of the window. And I love how this clean-looking box is packed with so many useful features designed to help you find what you want fast. For example:
You can add search providers and pick the one you want to use for a particular search, right from the search list.
Internet Explorer will automatically complete addresses for you, so you don't have to remember full web addresses. You'll see suggestions as you type, and you can simply click the one you want.
Internet Explorer 9 helps you search faster with One Box.
As I've mentioned, I'm a creature of habit, and I have a set of favorite pages that I tend to visit frequently. As always, I can add these to my Favorites list. But with Internet Explorer 9, I have another way to get to my most visited sites. I just click an empty tab to display the New tab page with thumbnails of my most popular sites. I click a thumbnail to go to the site. You can hide one or all of these if you don’t want everyone seeing your favorite sites. From this page, you can also reopen closed tabs or your entire previous session. And try clicking Discover other sites you might like to see suggested sites.
It's easy to access your favorite sites with thumbnails in Internet Explorer 9.
3. Control what you want to share, using security and protection features
Although there's nothing to look at, I'm reassured to know that Internet Explorer 9 continues to make advances in its ability to detect malware and phishing attempts. And it's given me added protection during downloads, by providing reputation-based security, which means that downloads from trusted sites trigger fewer pop-up warnings.
And with Internet Explorer 9, there's even an aspect of protection that I can control. I know people are out there tracking my personal information. Now I can use Tracking Protection to find out who's watching and to choose whom I want to share my information with. To use Tracking Protection, click the Tools menu, point to Safety, and then click Tracking Protection. Then, identify the sites you want to block so that they can't track your actions.
4.Treat websites like apps, using Pinning
If you use Internet Explorer 9 together with Windows 7, you’ll be able to take advantage of integration features that let you treat webpages like applications. For example, you can drag a webpage’s icon down to the taskbar to create a new, pinned site. From there, you can click the icon to go to the site directly, anytime you want. The site’s logo and colors are used in both the browser and the taskbar to help you quickly identify them.
Pinned sites allow you to get to your favorite sites directly from your Windows 7 taskbar.
And you can manipulate browser tabs on the page, just like you do apps. For example, you can drag a tab out of the browser window to create a new window. When you drag to the left or right edge of the screen, the new browser window created fills exactly half of the screen, making it easy to compare one page with another.
5. Enjoy a faster, smoother, and cleaner viewing and listening experience
Finally, I want to mention a more general reaction I’m having to Internet Explorer 9. I’m enjoying the way the browser elements have managed to take a back seat, allowing me to have a more direct experience with the webpages I visit. The graphics seem clearer, the videos look smoother, and everything feels faster and cleaner. I spend a lot of time each day with my browser, and these things matter. Speed, convenience, and beauty have combined to give me an even better browsing experience.
Adapted from an original article written by S.E. Slack.
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