Redmond talks big about the new Internet Explorer 11 installed by default in 8.1

Oct 8, 2013 06:34 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has rolled out another lengthy blog post to highlight features implemented in Windows 8.1, this time talking big about the brand new Internet Explorer 11.

The company used the occasion to claim that Internet Explorer 11 provides the best browsing experience on a tablet, explaining that it supports not only up to 100 tabs per window and faster switching from one website to another, but also side by side browsing for up to three different pages.

“When you click a link from the Mail app or launch an article from the Reading List app IE is automatically arranged side-by-side. You can check a map while reading directions to a friend’s house,” Microsoft explained.

“And whether you are using a small device or a large one, you can see two things at once on the web by opening multiple windows of IE side-by-side. Easily compare two sites at once or use two sites together by launching multiple, full-featured windows of IE11.”

In addition, Internet Explorer 11 now comes with the option to call phone numbers using Skype, as Microsoft’s VoIP app is now pre-installed on all versions of Windows 8.1.

Live tile with your favorite websites, Reading View, and a touch optimized address bar are all available in the new Internet Explorer 11.

Microsoft also claims that IE11 comes with enhanced battery life and touch responsiveness, thus making it the perfect choice for users who want to browse the Internet with a tablet.

“IE11 produces ‘stick to your finger’ touch responsiveness by using the whole PC to process gestures such as panning, zooming, and swiping. Also using the entire PC – and specifically the GPU – allows us to offload intensive tasks like image decoding so we can improve battery life and keep your CPU free to render page elements,” it noted.

“For you this means IE11 makes browsing fast and fluid by prioritizing work and by pre-fetching content in the background so pages load almost instantaneously.”

As you know, Internet Explorer 11 is installed by default in Windows 8.1, but the desktop version of the app will also be available for Windows 7 users as an optional download.