Following its release of Internet Explorer 9 just weeks ago, Microsoft officials are already gearing up for the company’s next major upgrade of the popular browser.

As its MIX 11 conference Tuesday, the Redmond, Calif.-based company announced that the first platform preview of Internet Explorer 10 is already available for download. 

In his keynote in Las Vegas Tuesday, Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice president of Internet Explorer, outlined how the next version of Microsoft’s industry-leading Web browser builds on the performance breakthroughs and the HTML5 support delivered in Internet Explorer 9.

With the growing trend of consumers using multiple devices, the experience of so-called native applications demand the time and investment of re-writing applications from device to device, Microsoft officials explained in a statement Tuesday. As a result, technology standards such as HTML5, which deliver superior performance through Web-connected devices, play an increasingly important role, Microsoft officials added.

Digital Trends reported that Microsoft officials went after Google Chrome, “attacking its ability to render HTML5 sites as well as either IE9 or 10.”

“The company criticized the search giant’s decision to issue small updates every week or two and defended the idea of releasing substantial platform updates every eight to 12 weeks, claiming it was much better for developers and gives them time and a much clearer idea of what its browser is capable of,” the report said.

Developers can download the Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview at http://www.IETestDrive.com and provide direct feedback through new code refreshes approximately every 12 weeks, according to Microsoft officials.

Microsoft claimed that the new IE9 is “the most energy efficient browser on the market,” TechZone360 reported on April 5.

IE9 was compared on energy use with other well-known browsers, such as: Firefox 4, Safari 5, Chrome 10 and Opera 11. TechZone360’s Lance Whitney – who is also an industry analyst – said the IE9 browser features a more “streamlined look and feel than previous incarnations.”