Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Platform Preview 3 Just Around the Corner

UPDATE: Download Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Platform Preview 3 Build 1.9.7.8.74.6000. Microsoft is gearing up to release the third preview release of the next major iteration of Internet Explorer. According to third-party sources, Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 3 could be offered to developers and early adopters as early as today, June 23rd, 2010. The Redmond company has yet to confirm officially a delivery deadline for IE9 Platform Preview 3, however, the fact of the matter is that the software giant is indeed getting closer to the moment when it is slated to release the successor of Platform Preview 2. (via Mary-Jo Foley)

At the time of this article, IE9 Platform Preview 3 wasn’t available for download, with the IE Text Center website still offering Windows Internet Explorer Platform Preview Build 1.9.7.7.66.6000, namely the second preview release of the browser. IE9 Platform Preview 2 went live on May 5th, at which point Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch confirmed to Softpedia that Microsoft was going to continue to release additional developer milestones once every week.

IE9 Platform Preview 3 is bound to feature many of the same enhancements as its predecessor, including improvements to performance, web standards support, hardware acceleration, etc. One certain aspect of Platform Preview 3 is that this is the milestone after which Internet Explorer 9 will finally support the HTML5 < video > tag. With IE9, users will be able to watch HTML5 video via the H.264 codec, which will be included by default in the browser, or through WebM VP8, provided that a codec is installed in Windows.

“As part of our support for HTML5, Internet Explorer 9 will ultimately support the < video > tag that we demonstrated at MIX10. This will be released in a coming Platform Preview update. Stay tuned,” Microsoft said when it launched Platform Preview 2.

Keep your eyes on Softpedia and I’ll provide and update once IE9 Platform Preview 3 becomes available for download.

UPDATE (June, 24): IE9 Platform Preview 3 is now available for download, read more about it here.

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Platform Preview 2 Build 1.9.7766.6000 is available for download here.