IE 12 UI overhaul is a blend of Chrome and Firefox

To be honest, unless you require some very special add-on, all browsers are basically the same nowadays, unless you care whether you tabs are above or below the URL line (or whatever they call it), whether they are square or rounded or any other unimportant stuff. Personally I use Pale Moon and Nightly - I want to have a 64-bit browser (yes, I know that it might not necessarily be faster and I don't care) with AdBlock on it. It's a matter of habit, I could check whether AdBlock or similar add-on exists also for the IE but why would I waste time on that? What I got now works as it should.

I use IE Modern most of the time. It does everything I need to do except for running Hangouts. Running Hangouts forces me into IE Desktop. So if Windows 9 let's me run Hangouts in IE Modern or if Google publishes a Hangouts Modern app, then IE Modern is all I need.

I have used IE exclusively since IE9, usually having either Firefox or (since the overhaul) Opera as a secondary for those times when IE's TPLs cannot block the most annoying ads and popups.

And this overhaul is much more exciting for me than the announced extension support. Sure, if we get a proper Ad Block extension, Last Pass and some YouTube tweaking ones, that'll be awesome; but I've lived without them just fine for years so I won't expect much.

The UI really does need to be cleaned up. A lot of the stuff is hidden by default but once you place them back the browser looks pretty horrible. I certainly hope a lot will change, and the sooner the better!


Though I still have to wonder what will happen with ModernIE in Threshold. Having two versions of IE, both running in a window with different UIs and capabilities will be confusing for many.

First time I saw those "modern" apps, they were full screen. I don't want anything to be full screen as I am not on a tablet (nor any of those weird tiny laptops that they are selling these days). Since then I did not have any reason to look at them. Is there anything that they do better than the desktop programs?

unifex said:

First time I saw those "modern" apps, they were full screen. I don't want anything to be full screen as I am not on a tablet (nor any of those weird tiny laptops that they are selling these days). Since then I did not have any reason to look at them. Is there anything that they do better than the desktop programs?

That's not really the right way to look at it.

First, the issue is whether the app even exists in a desktop version. If you want to use an app, and it's only in a Modern app, then you don't have any choice (other than not use it). Obviously, you don't use those apps, so you probably haven't even looked to see what apps are available.

A lot of it really does have to do with how good the app is, regardless of whether it's a desktop or modern app.

For instance, I really like the modern version of Minesweeper over the desktop version of old. I also like the modern Mahjong as well (and there are some really interesting third party ones). As with Android, games have really come into their own in Modern land.

It is true that if an app exists in a desktop and Modern version, the Modern version is probably less functional.. however, this is likely more of a function of the fact that these apps are less mature than their desktop counterparts. Also, the WinRT API's are not as mature as the Win32 ones, and some apps just are not easy or even possible to write at a parity to their desktop versions. That will change over time as the WinRT api's mature.

The real advantage (and some may call it a disadvantage), is having a single place to go to get apps, be they Free or Paid... No searching through dozens of shareware sites, finding old versions that don't work, etc...

I still use desktop apps for the most part, but I have a collection of modern apps I also use. Sometimes because I like the limited functionality, or even the "immersive" nature... I have a particular writing app that I like because it blocks out everything and lets me focus on writing.

If I want FF or Chrome, I will use them instead of IE. I wish M$ would quit trying to copy other companies' stuff; they fail miserably at it.