MIX '11 Ushers IE, Windows Phone Updates

Internet Explorer (IE), Windows Phone, the Windows Azure platform, and Silverlight were among the technologies highlighted at the MIX ’11 Web developer and designer conference in Apr. 2011. The first platform preview of IE10 and a Silverlight 5 beta were made available during the event. Details of a Windows Phone software update (code-named Mango) coming later in 2011 were provided. Other announcements included new Azure services, an SDK for writing Windows PC applications that use the Xbox Kinect peripheral, and updates to developer tools. A key message of the conference was Microsoft’s investment in HTML5 in its platforms and tools.

IE10 and Silverlight 5 Previews Available

A platform preview of IE10 is now available, showcasing enhanced HTML5 support and performance improvements over IE9, which was released just a month earlier in Mar. 2011. The preview also includes support for more features of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 3 specification. Updated IE10 previews are expected to arrive quarterly. A final release date for IE10 was not announced, but it may be released with the next version of the Windows client OS (for which a release date has also not been announced). Microsoft stressed its support for the emerging HTML5 standard, claiming that HTML5 is the best technology to facilitate the development of applications that run on multiple devices and platforms. Microsoft also demonstrates early prototypes of HTML5 specifications at its HTML5 Labs Web site.