IE9 + XP [ Never Going to Happen ]

It may be time to upgrade your OS, that is if you’re running XP and want to use the latest version of Internet Explorer (9). Now that the Internet Explorer 9 Beta is out, Microsoft are sharing a few more pieces of information about the final product.

One juicy tidbit they’ve dropped is that users of Windows XP are boned if they expected to be able to update to the latest and greatest Microsoft browser. According to Microsoft’s Ryan Gavin, the company won’t be adding IE9’s GPU acceleration to IE8, and IE9 won’t be available on XP.

During this Windows XP hate-fest, Microsoft reps also took the opportunity to talk up Windows 7. So the picture is clear, If you’re still on Windows XP, Microsoft is looking to leave you in the dust bit by bit. About 53% of global PCs are still on Windows XP, many of them in corporate settings. Much of the IE9 hardware acceleration is tied into DirectX 10, which is only officially available on Windows Vista and 7.

image via Reuters

By making this move, Microsoft is basically ceding a portion of the market to Firefox and Chrome. If users want advanced web features, that’s where they have to go. It’s not clear if development of any sort will continue on IE8. Still, using language like this just invites clever users to make IE9 run on whatever they want.