The browser offers faster and more fluid browsing than before

Jun 2, 2012 10:45 GMT  ·  By

The newly-launched Windows 8 Release Preview was designed to provide users with a new, better experience when browsing the web on the Metro style Internet Explorer 10.

We already had a look at some of the main enhancements on this IE10 release, such as Adobe Flash Player integration, Do Not Track features or touch optimizations, but there’s more that users might want to know about it.

The new flavor of the browser comes with better interface and controls, so that people would be able to easily access the needed functionality. Of course, the browser follows the Metro UI design principles, but the overall experience should be much better than in Consumer Preview.

The browser delivers improved visual feedback when following links with touch, as well as optimized context menus and form controls, while also offering support for keyboard shortcuts on traditional desktop computers.

The same as before, IE10 comes with a focus on the sites that users browse, and not on the tab and window management as before.

To ensure that, the browser comes with Navigation tiles meant to offer fast access to sites, in line with the entire Metro UI. Moreover, pinned sites are market for fast recognition, and the browser will also show frequently visited sites to enable easier and faster browsing.

When typing in the address bar, the tiles are filtered to show sites from the history and favorites. Moreover, Windows 8 roaming and connected accounts enable users to have these sites at hand at all times.

When needed, the Navigation bar in IE10 emerges on the screen, with easy-to-use controls (touch or keyboard/mouse) for common operations. The browser also comes with a “Paste and Go” command, as well as with a progress indicator in the address box for when a page is loading.

Commands for Find on Page, and Open in IE on the desktop, and more are also present on the navigation bar. Notifications have been also enhanced. All alerts come through a bar at the bottom of the screen.

The improvements to the touch browsing in Release Preview’s IE10 include the possibility to flip ahead when reading a magazine to visit sites without clicking on a link. Users can also swipe to read other article or move to a new page.

To move through tabs, users can either swipe from the bottom of the screen or right click on the page, or through pressing Windows key+Z on the keyboard. Active tabs are displayed as thumbnails, and users can also close them or create new ones. The browser will show the last 10 used tabs for easy management.

The browsing with IE10 is part of the Metro experience in Windows 8, as the browser can take advantage of snap, charms, and integration with the Store and the Start screen.

Users can easily pin sites to the Start screen, while devs can provide higher resolution PNG file site icon and can also set the tile background color.

Not to mention that the browser offers integration with a range of other Windows 8 features, including the Device, Share, Settings and Search Charms, as well as with the Windows Store (it will prompt users to download apps if one is available related to the site they are visiting).

Download Windows 8 Release Preview Build 8400

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IE10 in Windows 8 Release Preview
IE10 in Windows 8 Release PreviewIE10 in Windows 8 Release Preview
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