Microsoft’s making an Internet Explorer Developer Channel

To say that Internet Explorer has lost a step in the browser wars is a bit of an understatement; there was a point in time, not too long ago, where if you told someone you used IE to browse the web, you were mocked.

But Internet Explorer has since cleaned up its act and is a way more capable browser than it once was, and now the IE team has decided to try and get more power users on board by creating an IE Developer Channel Release.

In the release, you’ll get access to all of the latest and greatest updates that the Internet Explorer team has in the works before they are incorporated into an official Internet Explorer build. So if you’re the tinkering type, then this is the release for you. The best part is, it is an install that is completely independent of IE 11, so you can use the two browsers separately; one for messing around and playing with new features that are still in beta, and the other for a more stable experience.

The Dev Channel release also comes with the gamepad api standard, which gives you the ability to use JavaScript to use gamepads with online web applications and games. So let’s say you want to use your PS3 or Xbox controller to play web games, you’ll be able to do so! You’ll also find improved WebGL performance and better support for instancing extension, 16-bit textures, GSL builtin variables, and triangle fans.

Below is a list of enhancements to F12 developer tools:

•An enhanced debugging experience with event breakpoints that help you get to your event-driven bugs faster.

•Richer analysis capabilities throughout the Memory and UI Responsiveness profilers, which support further reduction of noise through multi-dimensional timeline filter, while further increasing the semantic value of the data being reported by lighting up performance.measure()based instrumentation and dominator folding.

•An improved navigation experience that provides more keyboard shortcuts (ctrl+[ and ctrl + ]), as well as new header notifications, which allows you to quickly determine whether any of the profiling tools are running or how many errors your page has.

Are you excited to try out the developer channel release? Do you think it’ll get more people excited about the IE browser? Or are you loyal to Firefox or Chrome?

Source | Via