Microsoft has outlined its roadmap for the upcoming version of Internet Explorer, unveiling a list of planned technologies and features for inclusion.
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Among these technologies mentioned on the IEBlog, are many that its rivals already support, including Web Audio API (allows developers to natively process and manipulate audio in web apps), Media Capture API (allows native access to audio, image and video capture on a webpage), support for ES6 Promises and HTTP/2 (the next planned version of the HTTP protocol). These will allow the future-proofed browser to take advantage of more densely interactive HTML5-based webpages.
Sam George, partner group program manager of Internet Explorer, has outlined one vision for the future of the web through the use of Internet Explorer 12 namely that: “The Web should just work for everyone – users, developers and businesses.”
Ironically, many developers loathe Internet Explorer, due to its lack of supported technologies. After Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers have switched to a rapid release cycle, both now see a major update released around every six weeks. Microsoft hasn’t intrinsically updated Internet Explorer since it released version 11 back in October 2013.
According to W3Counter’s global stats, the browser has also lost ground to Chrome in the market. 18% of the online population are still using a version of Internet Explorer, while more than double use Chrome. The move to make version 12 a more open browser will allow Microsoft to compete with its open-source rivals, beyond the common user, and for Microsoft’s sake, rid it of its stigma. Those interested can access a full list of technologies planned and under development by Microsoft over on status.modern.IE. There’s no word on when the browser will be officially released.
