Microsoft brings Internet Explorer 10 to Windows 7

Microsoft has launched a preview version of Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7, but insists the browser will not be a major upgrade over IE9.

The software maker promised to release a preview of IE10 last month, saying a mid-November launch was on the cards.

"As we approach general availability of Windows 8, we want to provide an update on IE10 for Windows 7," said the Internet Explorer Blog in October.

"We will release a preview of IE10 on Windows 7 in mid-November, with final availability to follow as we collect developer and customer feedback.

"IE10 on Windows 7 has the same standards based platform for developers to target as IE10 on Windows 8.

"We built an entirely new browser with Windows 8, with more performance and developer capabilities.

"IE10 brings improved real-world site performance and additional standards support to Windows 7 that Web developers have been asking for."

Key features include "Flip Ahead", allowing IE10 to detect when an article on the internet has multiple pages, offering a "Flip Ahead" function to turn the following page.

IE10 follows on from the security features of its previous browser according to Microsoft, offering improved full support for HTML5 Sandbox technology.

Despite the preview Microsoft continues to push sales of Windows 8, which sold four million upgrades within the first three days.