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Chrysalis · 05-05-2011, 04:09

seems I am not the only one who thinks IE9 is a GUI disaster zone.

Here is a list of features removed, to me personally at least a few of these are very important which I mentioned in earlier posts. Microsoft copying chrome?

While Internet Explorer 9 represents significant improvements to the Trident rendering engine and the Javascript engine, certain user interface elements and some functionality that are present in Internet Explorer 8 are no longer present in Internet Explorer 9. The following is a list of such features that have been removed in IE9:

• Internet Explorer 9 setup cannot be sequenced using Microsoft App-V.
• Tabs from the previous session (after IE is closed and opened again) can no longer be opened selectively. Only tabs from current session which were recently closed can be selectively opened or the entire last session has to be opened.
• The dedicated search box has been removed. Searches can be performed from the address bar as was already possible in all previous IE releases. Because of the removal of the search box, users have to repeatedly type the same search terms if they want to search using a different search provider. Textual descriptions for search providers are no longer shown except in a tooltip when hovered over.
• Tab list menu button has been removed. (Accessible using Ctrl+Shift+Q)
• The page title is no longer shown in the browser's title bar.
• Each download does not get its own button on the taskbar showing the progress of individual downloads. All downloads are grouped without user preference in a single download manager button.
• The progress bar when loading pages and 'Done' message after page loading is complete have been removed from the status bar.
• All functionality from the status bar except zoom button and showing hyperlink upon mouse hover has been removed. The status bar in Internet Explorer 8 showed security zone info, Protected Mode status, SmartScreen information, certificates info, addon manager, pop-up blocker, privacy policy/report and InPrivate Filtering status.
• The ability to freely move browser elements in unlocked state has been removed. The menu bar, favorites bar and command bar could be moved in Internet Explorer 8.
• Large icons cannot be used on the command bar.
• Completed MB and the progress bar have been removed when downloading.
• The Notification Bar replaces the Information Bar which appeared above the page content. The Notification Bar overlaps a certain part of the page and requires the user to close it to see underlying parts of the page.
• Internet Explorer can no longer be set to notify download completion with only a sound. Every download completion shows a visual notification on top of the page which has to be closed.
• When clearing browsing history from within the browser, there is no progress bar or any sort of indication. Instead, a visual notification is shown on the notification bar which has to be closed by the user to see underlying page content.
• Save As is no longer the default option when downloading files. Instead Save is the now the default option which always saves to the Downloads folder.
• The about:tabs page cannot have the status bar enabled. Recently closed tabs from the current or previous session no longer show the URL below.
• The following configurable options have been removed without explanation:
- Reset text size to medium while zooming.
- Force offscreen compositing even under Terminal Server.
- Enable page transitions.
- Always use ClearType for HTML.
- Smart image dithering.
- Print background colors and images.
- Do not submit unknown addresses to your auto search provider and Just display the results in the main window.
- Security Zone settings: Automating prompting for file downloads.
- Security Zone settings: Open files based on content, not file extension.

List obtained from tuxplorer - link http://xpwasmyidea.blogspot.com/2011...-internet.html

The good news is someone is working on fixing the most severe issues with an app called classic shell, http://xpwasmyidea.blogspot.com/2011...-released.html I upgraded to IE9 on my test pc and installed classic shell, it is an improvement but have requested the privacy report icon gets added back.

Now here is the dillema, there is no denying IE9 is fast, its very fast. However fast page loading times is an improvement lost if the GUI is less efficient to use, because at the end of the day IE8 is 'fast enough' in terms of web page loading times. Apparently firefox dev's have gone down the same path they made a shocking decision also to remove their status bar which has led to various security and useability concerns.

I read a few blogs which give some pointers as to where microsoft are heading with IE9, its probably built with more in mind for people using portable devices such as laptops and notebooks, hence been very light, and also with cloud in mind. So IE8 could be their last desktop focused browser, for mozilla probably going down the same path and chrome was already going down that path.

05-05-2011, 04:09	#30
Chrysalis cf.mega poster Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 12,047	Re: Internet Explorer 9 Released seems I am not the only one who thinks IE9 is a GUI disaster zone. Here is a list of features removed, to me personally at least a few of these are very important which I mentioned in earlier posts. Microsoft copying chrome? While Internet Explorer 9 represents significant improvements to the Trident rendering engine and the Javascript engine, certain user interface elements and some functionality that are present in Internet Explorer 8 are no longer present in Internet Explorer 9. The following is a list of such features that have been removed in IE9: • Internet Explorer 9 setup cannot be sequenced using Microsoft App-V. • Tabs from the previous session (after IE is closed and opened again) can no longer be opened selectively. Only tabs from current session which were recently closed can be selectively opened or the entire last session has to be opened. • The dedicated search box has been removed. Searches can be performed from the address bar as was already possible in all previous IE releases. Because of the removal of the search box, users have to repeatedly type the same search terms if they want to search using a different search provider. Textual descriptions for search providers are no longer shown except in a tooltip when hovered over. • Tab list menu button has been removed. (Accessible using Ctrl+Shift+Q) • The page title is no longer shown in the browser's title bar. • Each download does not get its own button on the taskbar showing the progress of individual downloads. All downloads are grouped without user preference in a single download manager button. • The progress bar when loading pages and 'Done' message after page loading is complete have been removed from the status bar. • All functionality from the status bar except zoom button and showing hyperlink upon mouse hover has been removed. The status bar in Internet Explorer 8 showed security zone info, Protected Mode status, SmartScreen information, certificates info, addon manager, pop-up blocker, privacy policy/report and InPrivate Filtering status. • The ability to freely move browser elements in unlocked state has been removed. The menu bar, favorites bar and command bar could be moved in Internet Explorer 8. • Large icons cannot be used on the command bar. • Completed MB and the progress bar have been removed when downloading. • The Notification Bar replaces the Information Bar which appeared above the page content. The Notification Bar overlaps a certain part of the page and requires the user to close it to see underlying parts of the page. • Internet Explorer can no longer be set to notify download completion with only a sound. Every download completion shows a visual notification on top of the page which has to be closed. • When clearing browsing history from within the browser, there is no progress bar or any sort of indication. Instead, a visual notification is shown on the notification bar which has to be closed by the user to see underlying page content. • Save As is no longer the default option when downloading files. Instead Save is the now the default option which always saves to the Downloads folder. • The about:tabs page cannot have the status bar enabled. Recently closed tabs from the current or previous session no longer show the URL below. • The following configurable options have been removed without explanation: - Reset text size to medium while zooming. - Force offscreen compositing even under Terminal Server. - Enable page transitions. - Always use ClearType for HTML. - Smart image dithering. - Print background colors and images. - Do not submit unknown addresses to your auto search provider and Just display the results in the main window. - Security Zone settings: Automating prompting for file downloads. - Security Zone settings: Open files based on content, not file extension. List obtained from tuxplorer - link http://xpwasmyidea.blogspot.com/2011...-internet.html The good news is someone is working on fixing the most severe issues with an app called classic shell, http://xpwasmyidea.blogspot.com/2011...-released.html I upgraded to IE9 on my test pc and installed classic shell, it is an improvement but have requested the privacy report icon gets added back. Now here is the dillema, there is no denying IE9 is fast, its very fast. However fast page loading times is an improvement lost if the GUI is less efficient to use, because at the end of the day IE8 is 'fast enough' in terms of web page loading times. Apparently firefox dev's have gone down the same path they made a shocking decision also to remove their status bar which has led to various security and useability concerns. I read a few blogs which give some pointers as to where microsoft are heading with IE9, its probably built with more in mind for people using portable devices such as laptops and notebooks, hence been very light, and also with cloud in mind. So IE8 could be their last desktop focused browser, for mozilla probably going down the same path and chrome was already going down that path.