Speakers at the Microsoft Professional Developer’s Conference in Los Angeles have offered up some details on Microsoft’s next big release in Internet Explorer 9, revealing improved performance and better use (and apparent improvement on) web standards.

With the launch of Windows 7 out of the way, Microsoft has had time and energy to spend on the next incarnation of my (and many others) least favorite web browser, reporting that they are about three weeks into the development process. With stiff competition from the open source and free Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome along with Apple’s popular Safari browser, Microsoft has their work cut out for them.

Some of the details offered include:

• Microsoft admitted that IE’s JavaScript handling abilities were less than stellar, promising improvements and offering data that shows current test almost at the speed seen in Chrome and Firefox. Next!
• Questions concerning whether HTML 5 would be fully supported by the coming IE 9 were danced around, indicating that the answer will eventually be a resounding negative. Next!
• CSS support will be improved, leaving web designers who favor rounded corners cheering gustily. Welcome to 2007, IE. Next!

My advice is to forget you read this article and forget any promises Microsoft makes. They appear destined to play catch-up to the better browsers out there so why waste your time? If you’ve yet to try a browser that didn’t come pre-installed on your PC, please do visit the official Firefox site and the official Google Chrome site – both free and both fantastic!