This is a low blow, but it's been awhile since I fired up a fresh Internet Explorer instance within a fresh Windows Virtual Machine. And, lo...

Let's compare.

I'm not comparing rendering engines — I deliberately erased the content to cancel that variable. No, I'm comparing the browsers.

Hanlon's Razor can only barely slice into what could otherwise be interpreted as ill will toward users and near-total disregard for painstakingly-crafted Web content. Yes, this is personal.

No hierarchy

What's most important? The complementary orange-on-blue Bing logo? The favorites star? Maybe that other favorites star with the arrow on it? Or maybe that big red X in the corner? They certainly all seem more exciting than your web page.

No grid

Where are your readers' eyeballs, and why aren't they reading your site? Maybe they're still bouncing around the pinball machine of overlapping, randomly placed, randomly sized toolbars.

Microsoft's Brand > Your Brand

While you're using it, Safari does not care if you know its name or icon.

Your users are tired and scared

That's right, they've been subconsciously fighting off the ever-encroaching onslaught of ambiguous and repetitious icons and statuses.

"Protected Mode On? Well that sounds good."

"Internet? Well, duh"

"100%? A+, I guess."

And most personal of all...

So much Color

Ignoring the heinous gradients, consider the browser's bold and very specific coloring alone and how it thickly surrounds the entire page. Now try to remember the last time you visited a museum that did not have pure white walls.

Let's hope the Internet Explorer 9 team invests in the browser as much as they have already invested in its rendering engine.

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