Could You Ever Switch to Internet Explorer? [Reader Poll]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5639092/could-you-ever-switch-to-internet-explorer

If you can read this, you probably don't like Internet Explorer. Microsoft's browser has ignored web standards, fallen down on security, and lagged the competition for more than a decade. But IE9 seems truly different. Can you comprehend using Windows' default browser?

Internet Explorer gained its once-dominant position by arriving free with every new copy of Windows. After it held a commanding share for some time, power users and advocates for software choice took up the cause of Firefox, Opera, and other free, outsider-friendly, forward-thinking browsers. After the apex of evil that was Internet Explorer 6 (or that's how web developers usually describe it), the browser started to incrementally improve, if not quite catch up. Internet Explorer 9, in Microsoft's words and in beta previews, is a solid leap forward.

With robust HTML5 support, hardware graphics acceleration, a torn-down interface that leaves lots of vertical space, a competitive JavaScript engine, and an interesting take on webapps, Internet Explorer doesn't seem like such a sacrifice, at least for someone not particularly tied to another browser. Then again, it's still only available for Windows, and lacks major add-ons or extension capabilities.

But we thought we'd put it out there: Could you consider switching from your current browser to IE9?

Could You Ever Switch to Internet Explorer?online surveys

Feel free to explain your pick, or get more specific on your "other" answer, in the comments.