Feb 12, 2011 13:11 GMT  ·  By

Don’t expect Internet Explorer 9 to cook for much longer now that the Release Candidate development milestone is available for download. On February 10, 2011, Microsoft launched IE9 RC 9.0.8080.16413 worldwide in no less than 40 languages.

The RC Build introduces a comprehensive set of improvements across various aspects of Internet Explorer 9, including performance, standards, user experience, and safety and privacy.

Not only is IE9 RC faster than Beta and rival browsers, but it now comes with such features as Tracking Protection, allowing users to control what third-parties can track them while online.

The day before IE9 RC was launched I had a chat with Rob Mauceri, group program manager of IE, and Ryan Gavin, senior director of IE over the phone.

Of course, I asked about the next major development milestone of Internet Explorer 9, RTW (release to web).

It’s critical to underline that the Release Candidate is the feature-complete and near-final Build of IE9.

Moving forward, the IE Team will focus almost exclusively on fine-tuning the next generation of IE and get it ready for launch.

There won’t be an RC2, just as a Beta 2 also never became a reality. The next stop is RTW. And it will happen very soon, in fact, sooner than most people expect, it appears.

I didn’t get a specific general availability deadline for IE9 RTW, and although I do have some indications as to when exactly the successor of IE8 is launched, I won’t engage in speculation, at least for the time being.

However, I will say that officially, members of the IE Team told me that IE9 RTW is extremely close.

“Over the next few weeks, we will continue to listen closely and carefully to feedback from the worldwide community about the Release Candidate. We appreciate the work that developers and IT professionals will do to test their sites and prepare for the final release that will come shortly,” noted Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice president, Internet Explorer.

This is not to say that Microsoft will not continue to produce interim releases of Internet Explorer 9. There’s even the possibility that additional Platform Preview Builds could follow IE9 RC, per the post-Beta model.

IE9 RC Supports HTML5 Geolocation, Advances Interoperability

IE9 Privacy and Security Evolve with the RC, Tracking Protection Now Available

IE9 RC Sports a UI Facelift

IE9 RC Performance Superior to IE9 Beta, to All Rival Browsers

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Release Candidate (RC) Build 9.0.8080.16413 is available for download here.