MICROSOFT IS preparing to hit back against rivals Mozilla, Google and Apple with its new Internet Explorer browser.

The company unveiled the public release of a test version of Internet Explorer 9 at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday.

It said the new Internet Explorer release would put the focus on applications, with a redesigned, cleaner interface and more pixels dedicated to the website instead of the browser.

The new browser includes support for HTML 5 technology and claims to work faster than its rivals. It also supports Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), CSS3 and other web standards. Microsoft is also including a number of privacy and security measures aimed to remove the perception that Internet Explorer is less safe than other browsers.

Internet Explorer 8’s Smartscreen Filter is being incorporated into the new browser, along with Application Reputation – a function that will rate software according to the number of times it has been downloaded – and built-in virus scans in an attempt to protect users.

“There are some things on the web that aren’t as trusted as we would like them to be,” said Mark Quirk, UK web product manager with Microsoft. “Today, Smart Screen blocks three times more malware [malicious software] than Firefox, five time more than Chrome. Either way, it’s very successful in helping protect consumers from malware. We want to continue this idea of making the browser and browsing the internet as trusted as it can be.”

HTML5 is considered the future of the web and could replace Adobe’s Flash technology on websites. Microsoft’s rival Apple has been vocal in its support of HTML5 and has refused to support Flash technology on its iPhone and iPad devices.

More than 70 websites and brands created content to showcase the new browser’s capabilities. Its partners at the Beauty of the Web event included social networking sites Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter; shopping sites Amazon and Ebay, and news websites such as CNN.

“The web is about sites; your browser should be too. Internet Explorer 9 is about making those sites shine, and we’re delighted that so many sites have come out with us today to create the kind of richness on the web that wasn’t possible before,” said Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice-president of Windows Internet Explorer at Microsoft.

“Based on developer buzz, it seems tech enthusiasts are more excited about IE 9 than any version of IE in recent times,” Matt Rosoff, a Washington-based analyst said. “We might start to see IE regain some market share from Firefox. Chrome still seems to be the one people are most interested in, in terms of the cutting edge.”

Internet Explorer has seen its market share fall to about 60 per cent as Mozilla’s Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari browsers have gained in popularity. According to Net Applications, which tracks internet usage statistics, Firefox’s market share rose to 23 per cent last month, while Chrome increased to 7.5 per cent and Safari climbed to 5.2 per cent. (Additional reporting – Bloomberg)