Microsoft on Wednesday released the second platform preview of Internet Explorer 9 to gather further input from Web developers and testers. Version 2 of the browser preview, which works only on Windows Vista- and Windows 7-based machines, can be downloaded from Microsoft’s test site here. Like its predecessor, this prototype lacks the basic features of a browser, such as an information bar. It also lacks basic security protections for Web browsing built into Internet Explorer 8. Users can install IE 9 platform preview alongside Internet Explore 8 without conflict, according to Microsoft’s announcement on its IE Blog. The installation will overwrite the first version of the preview. Microsoft announced the first version of the preview back in March at its MIX 10 Web developer event. At that time, the company announced plans to release updates to the preview about every eight weeks. – From Richmond Channel Partner