7 Big Changes Coming in Internet Explorer 11

Microsoft thinks very highly of its homegrown web browser, Internet Explorer. IE has been intertwined with Windows itself for over a decade, and when Microsoft debuted Windows 8 last year, it also released a new version of the browser, Internet Explorer 10, that was created specifically for the full-screen, touch-first experience that Windows 8 emphasizes.

By its nature, IE10 was a big change, but it also had some strange limitations. Web content took up the whole screen unless you right-clicked — only then did you see your tabs or the URL bar. You couldn't manage Favorites. You could only have 10 tabs open at once. To make the transition bearable, Microsoft kept a version of IE10 in the traditional desktop environment, although the same engine powers both.

When Windows 8.1 debuts this fall, it will bring with it an upgraded browser for the modern UI: Internet Explorer 11. Just as Windows 8.1 does with Windows 8, IE11 fixes, tweaks and reverses some of the functionality in IE10. Just as with Windows, Microsoft says user feedback guided many of its decisions.

Some of the new features (outlined in this blog post) make the modern-UI version of IE more like a traditional browser. With IE11, some users may be inclined to spend more time in the new UI — something Microsoft certainly wants to encourage, as it turns to developers to create more Windows 8 apps.

Here are the highlights of what's new in IE11:

Live Tiles for Sites

IE10 always let you pin sites to the Start screen, but they were very plain squares that looked muted next to the dynamic live tiles of apps. In IE11, pinned sites get live-tile support. Sites need to support the feature for it to work, but it encourages users to pin more often, and the usefulness is obvious for media sites and blogs.

Permanent Tabs

One of the awkward things about Windows 8 in the modern UI is that tabs aren't really, you know, tabs. Which is to say, they don't work like browser tabs in other environments, since you can't see them all at once and just click on which one you want. Instead, you have to right-click before you see them.

IE11 fixes this with a mode that lets you display tabs and your URL bar permanently. Tabs become visible in a strip along the bottom, above the URL bar (see photo). The icons are actually smaller than the normal right-click view, so the strip doesn't take up too much room. Of course, you can go back to full-screen mode at any time.

WebGL Support

IE11 finally bring support for WebGL, an open-graphics standard that can render 3D graphics within web browsers. Until now, Internet Explorer was the last major browser to lack support for WebGL (although it's disabled on Safari and Opera by default), apparently for security reasons.

Microsoft says new standards have addressed the security concerns, and its implementation of WebGL ensures any problematic operations won't crash your whole browser. Thus, IE11 will now allow users to experience the wonders of WebGL sites such as this one.

Apps Play Nicer With Web Pages

If you click on a link in, say, the Windows 8 Mail app, you're shunted to IE10, and you need to switch back to Mail manually. In IE11, the app will be able to open a smaller browser window, putting the two apps side by side in Snap mode. No more "one thing at a time."

Infinite Tabs

IE10 limits users to just 10 tabs at a time. In IE11, you can crank things way past 11 — in fact, Microsoft says the number of tabs is unlimited. The experience won't slow down for tab addicts, however, since the browser intelligently allocates memory, "pausing" tabs that haven't been used in a while. But as soon as you click on an old tab, it powers back up instantly.

Multi-Window (Snap) Browsing

It's a little odd to hail multiple browser windows as a "new" feature when it's been a hallmark of the desktop version since its inception, but IE11 in the modern UI now supports it. There probably aren't that many situations where you'd want to have side-by-side web pages open in Windows 8, but IE11 lets you do it.

Favorites Center

If you wanted to manage your favorites in IE10, you had to go to the desktop. IE11 lets you stay in the modern UI while editing your bookmarks, and you can even give each one a customized image so it's instantly recognizable when you call up the list.

Images by Mashable, Pete Pachal