How to Update Internet Explorer 8 to 9

After a year since the first release of Internet Explorer 9 preview which is crippled in most functions and don’t even have an address bar, Microsoft has finally decided to release the final stable version of Internet Explorer 9. I guess most of you already know about the release since this news is practically mentioned in a lot of tech websites but if you don’t, you should definitely update Internet Explorer 8 to 9 even if you don’t use it at all. Reason is some third party software uses the Internet Explorer engine to work properly and also Internet Explorer has always been a part of Windows. There are more pros than cons in having an updated latest version of Internet Explorer on a Windows system.

First of all, the most notable improvement in Internet Explorer 9 compared to Internet Explorer 8 is the speed of opening new windows and tabs. You will be able to notice the difference without even using a benchmark tool to time the opening of new IE9 windows or tabs. The Internet Explorer developers are finally willing to improve the download manager by adding pausing and resuming capability which is already available to most popular web browsers.

Internet Explorer 9 also scored very well (95/100) in Acid3 which is a test to see how well a web browser follows certain selected elements from web standards. Internet Explorer 8 failed miserably with only 20/100. You can also now search for keywords directly from the address bar which by default uses the Bing search engine. You can easily change that to Google or other search engine by clicking on the small magnifying glass icon at the end of the address bar and then click at the Google icon.

You can download the full standalone version (but not offline installer) of Internet Explorer 9 from this link. You can download Internet Explorer 9 in the language that matches your version of Windows or choose the English version, which works with all versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. Although the download links for IE9 seems to be the full standalone version, but the installation of Windows Internet Explorer 9 still requires an internet connection to download additional prerequisite software and components, based on the destination operating system.

If for some reason Internet Explorer 9 don’t work for you due to old software that needs IE8 or older, then you can uninstall IE9 by typing Programs and Features in the search box, click on “Turn Windows features on or off” at the left pane, and uncheck Internet Explorer 9 listed at Windows Features box. You will get a warning saying “Turning off Internet Explorer 9 might affect other Windows features and programs installer on your computer including default settings. Do you want to continue?”. Click Yes button to confirm uninstalling IE9.