The Energon Pub

Well, I decided to download the beta once CNET posted the info, though I'm a bit late to the game.

The software itself? Opening, closing, full screen, etc. Fast. Very fast. Double-click the icon and BOOM, open.

Websites? Eh...a tad sluggish.
Seibertron? Compatibility View is required to make it work, or everything's stretched out and off track. (That's an IE thing, not a Seibertron thing.)

Scrolling? A pain in the neck. Whether you use a touchpad or a mouse's scrollwheel, once it gets moving, it will not stop. In fact, it can lock up the entire browser and a box pops up saying Windows is looking for a solution or something to that effect.

The search box and the address box are now one and the same, and if you don't know that (and it's not exactly clear), you'll have a hell of a time figuring it out.

On the other hand, one neat feature is that IE offers you the option to disable toolbars and built in features that could slow down the browser or surfing speeds. However, when you do that, it tends to fully uninstall the toolbar as well. (A nuisance.)

It's very open. Very streamlined, and has a lot of space for the page you're viewing. Nothing that gets in the way or distracts you. Works with the glass effects, almost like it was meant to be a part of Windows from the get go. If it was preinstalled by someone like Geek Squad for you before you ran your computer for the first time, you wouldn't know it was an addition.

It works with Vista, 7, and Server 2008. XP and older will not work. It won't even begin the installation process.

All in all, I think it has potential, but the bugs that are present are really obnoxious. I realize it's a beta and that's why I'm not coming unhinged about the bugs, even I'm not that unreasonable, but these are points that need to be made.

For me, personally, I still prefer Pale Moon (streamlined Firefox that's rock solid and works beautifully.) and use IE-tab when needed.

I don't think I'll be making a permanent switch to IE9. Firefox is still where it's at for me, but I'm impressed with 9. More than I thought I'd be.

If you're an IE user, you'll love it. If you're unsure, give it a try. If you're into 3rd parties such as Firefox, Opera, etc., it's not going to sway you.