For the last two weeks, I’ve been using the beta of Internet Explorer 9 in preparation for a comprehensive post at ZDNet. That post was supposed to go live later this morning, when Microsoft officially unveils the browser, but someone jumped the gun, so I was able to publish early.

Internet Explorer 9 beta review: Microsoft reinvents the browser

Today in San Francisco, Microsoft will officially unveil Internet Explorer 9 and make it available to the general public. It is, without question, the most ambitious browser release Microsoft has ever undertaken, and despite the beta label it is an impressively polished product.

The underpinnings of IE9 are no secret. Microsoft has been talking since last fall about its determined effort to adhere to Web standards and embrace HTML5. It has also detailed its efforts to improve IE9’s performance compared to previous releases. Developers and IT pros have been able to shake out compatibility issues and benchmark performance with four public platform previews over the past six months. But this beta is the first time Microsoft has publicly shown off the new browser’s user interface and given its Windows customers a product they can use day in and day out.

I sat down with Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager of the Internet Explorer division, earlier this month for a first look at the IE9 interface and a discussion of Microsoft’s goals and its competition. Since that meeting, I’ve been using the IE9 beta extensively on multiple PCs, including my primary desktop and notebook computers. Based on that experience, I have some preliminary answers to the questions you’re asking: Is it fast enough? Is it compatible enough? Is it cool enough to win back former IE users who have switched to other browsers, first to Firefox and more recently to Google Chrome? And will this shiny new browser be able to rehabilitate the tarnished Internet Explorer brand?

Here’s my report.

I’ll have more details, including download instructions and some tips for early adopters, in a follow-up post.

Update: You can now download the IE9 beta code from Microsoft. It’s available in 29 languages.

It’s Patch Tuesday. Here’s what was waiting for me when I visited Windows Update today with my main PC, running 64-bit Windows 7. Some definition updates, a few bug fixes, and exactly one security update.

Here’s a closer look at the part I highlighted in yellow for that single update:

There were no security updates for Office 2010.

Now here’s today’s lineup of patches for Windows XP with Service Pack 3:

The yellow text in each one of those six updates says the same thing as the warning in that single Windows 7 update. And that’s not counting today’s two security updates for Office 2003, which is still running on lots of XP systems. That’s eight critical updates for a system running 2001-2003 software, and only one for a system running 2009-2010 releases.

No operating system is ever perfectly secure. But Windows XP was designed more than a decade ago, in a very different era. The difference between it and a modern operating system like Windows 7 is profound.

Note to commenters: My spam filters automatically place comments into a moderation queue if you’ve never had a comment approved at this site before. For some reason, this posts is drawing a lot of comments from newcomers, so I’ll repeat what longtime readers already know: If your comment contains a bunch of insults and you use a fake e-mail address, it will go straight to the trash. I welcome disagreement and debate, but I have no patience for incivility. if you want to be a jerk, you’re wasting your time.

Oh, and if you want to use the comments section here to tell me how awesome Linux is and how everyone you know is using it now, save the keystrokes. I’m not interested.

An interesting story in the Wall Street Journal today, citing comScore statistics on who’s hot and who’s not in webmail:

As mail traffic at Yahoo has dropped an average of 11% in 2010 versus last year, the fall in its overall U.S. traffic has averaged 8%. Yahoo Mail remains top in total email page views in the U.S., but Microsoft‘s Hotmail and Google’s Gmail are grabbing share. Internationally, Hotmail has the most page views, and is building its lead according to comScore.

In my experience, power users tend to scoff at any webmail service other than Gmail. And some people (myself included) have multiple e-mail accounts but access them through a desktop client. Hotmail’s age and its onetime reputation as a haven for spammers make it hard to get techies to look closely at it. That’s too bad, because the new Windows Live Hotmail service is downright impressive, with a slick, fast interface and some new features that do a very good job of sweeping away clutter. Gmail is making some impressive innovations as well, especially with its Priority Inbox feature, which tries to bubble important messages to the top of your inbox and push routine mail lower down on the stack. It’s an old idea, one that has been available for Outlook users with the ClearContext add-in, but it seems to be well implemented.

Given the impressive advances in both Windows Live Hotmail and Gmail, I’m skeptical that Yahoo can actually make much of a dent.

Any Yahoo Mail users out there have a contrary opinion? Why do you continue to use that service in preference to others?

Microsoft has already sent out invitations to the press for a San Francisco event celebrating the beta release of IE9. (Alas, I’ll be getting ready to leave on vacation, so I’ll have to miss the live event.)

If you’re interested in being among the first to try out the full IE9, you’ll need your own invite, which you can get here:

http://www.beautyoftheweb.com

That takes you to a teaser page that includes the new IE9 logo and spells out the launch date:

Click that link in the lower left corner to add a reminder to your calendar and you’ll see the time neatly translated to your local time zone from the event’s 11:00AM Pacific Daylight Time start.

So far, with the exception of a single leaked screenshot, Microsoft has managed to keep the new browser’s interface a tightly guarded secret. Think they can maintain that level of secrecy for another eight days?

My good friends at Microsoft Press note that their imprint now includes 370ish DRM-free titles.  That includes Windows 7 Inside Out, which is available (just as its shelfmates are) in four—no, wait, now it’s five digital formats. You can download any or all of the formats, and you get lifetime access to purchases as well. Here’s a breakdown of which formats work with which devices:

• ePub works on the iPhone’s Stanza app and in mobile versions of Bookworm on multiple platforms; you can also use this format in some Android-based readers and the Sony Reader
• Android Package files (.apk) work as apps on Android mobile devices
• .mobi is the Kindle-compatible format (I’ve used it with Kindle software on the PC and an Android device as well as on a Kindle reader)
• PDF is probably the best choice on a PC but will work on any platform that includes a PDF reader
• DAISY is a format I hadn’t heard of before; it’s apparently a means of creating "digital talking books."

All of the e-book files are fully searchable, and you can cut-and-paste and print from them without restriction.

Of course, the book is still available in the classic print format from Amazon and other booksellers, which includes a PDF copy on a bundled CD. If you want one of the other digital formats and print, you can get a bundle price.

Finding the best price on either or both editions can be a challenge. Surprisingly, the best option might be a bundle that you put together yourself. Here’s how it works:

• Start by signing up for a free membership at oreilly.com (which distributes Microsoft Press titles).
• Next, buy the print edition from a retailer like Amazon, which currently sells Windows 7 Inside Out for $31.49 and has Office 2010 Inside Out available for pre-order at $34.64. Or, if you own a previous edition of the current title, you’ll get a 40-50% upgrade discount buying it from oreilly.com.
• Register your new book using its title or ISBN number. Sorry, English-language editions only. And no, they don’t care where you bought it.
• Now order the digital edition of the book you just registered and pay $4.99 for the full e-book package. That makes the total price of Windows 7 Inside Out (print and e-book) $31.49 + $4.99, or $36.44. That’s a big savings over the full $54.99 retail price of the exact same bundle at oreilly.com.

That $4.99 upgrade applies to any Microsoft Press or O’Reilly title on your bookshelf, making it a great deal if you want a copy for your Kindle or phone.

I’m still waiting for Office 2010 Inside Out to appear in stores in either format. It should be available in print around September 20, but look for the e-book sooner.