Although Microsoft is no stranger to banner ads, they appear to have taken quite the bold step to start building publicity for the Internet Explorer 9 beta (emphasis on the beta) launch event next week dubbed “Beauty of the web” as I spotted this ad on TechCrunch today.

The ad begins with a couple of quotes about Internet Explorer 9 from the press and partners (I saw a few variations) and ends with “Beautiful is feeling the love”, “get ready for a more beautiful web” and “9.15.10″ – the date of the launch.

It’s also interesting to note some resemblance of the style and colors of all the IE9 marketing material up until now with the trademark purple and swoosh of Visual Studio 2010 and the aesthetics of Zune.

Even though a screenshot of what might be the IE9 UI has leaked (although I have my doubts it is the final look and feel), the fact that the beta launch event is so elaborate makes me wonder if Microsoft has a few tricks up its sleeve. 

Source istartedsomething