Microsoft claims 2 million downloads of IE9 RC

SOFTWARE COBBLER Microsoft claims that its Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Release Candidate (RC) has been downloaded two million times.

Microsoft recently announced the public availability of the IE9 RC and claims to be "humbled by the enthusiasm and uptake of IE9". That enthusiasm has resulted in two million downloads of the Vole's latest web browser, the firm reports.

It is likely that Microsoft will see another surge in IE9 RC downloads when it starts notifying IE9 beta users to upgrade to the RC version.

The IE9 RC download figures are pretty impressive and unsurprisingly, Microsoft is pleased, saying that the two million downloads were user initiated, rather than forced.

Microsoft has been making a big song and dance about IE9, with Ballmer saying it will appear on Windows Phone 7 some time this year. The desktop variant has been attracting attention with support for hardware acceleration.

Earlier this week Mozilla claimed that IE9 is "not a modern browser" and that it is "two years too late".

While Mozilla's claim on the modernity of IE9 might be up for debate, there's no doubt that it is significantly late. However it's surprising to see Mozilla complain about that, because after all Microsoft's incompetence at writing web browsers has almost certainly helped Mozilla achieve success with its Firefox software.

For Microsoft, IE9 is the final chance to catch up with competing products from Apple, Google, Mozilla and Opera. The early signs look good for Microsoft, but the real battle won't begin until Mozilla releases Firefox 4. µ