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According to a source that's intimately familiar with the situation, Microsoft will release the final version of Internet Explorer 9 at the SXSW conference on March 14.
This information tallies nicely with what we already know: Microsoft has said that there will only be one RC, and March 14 very nearly fits the six-week release cycle that Internet Explorer has so far stuck to. Most importantly, though, the IE team is holding a party at SXSW -- and parties generally celebrate something.
Microsoft has already said that the RC will automatically update to the final version, but we're not sure whether a switch will be flipped at the SXSW party, or if we'll have to wait for the next Patch Tuesday. Either way, a direct download should be made available around 9pm on March 14.
If you haven't played around with the Release Candidate yet, you really should. It won't satisfy you if you're an avid add-on user, or if you sync between computers, but if you're just looking for a slick, spartan and speedy browser, IE9 ticks all the boxes.
Tags: Apps, Browsers, Ie9, Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 9, InternetExplorer, InternetExplorer9, Microsoft, Sxsw, Sxsw 2011, Sxsw2011