Internet Explorer 8 Beta Released

More Security, Other Refinements In Microsoft's Latest Browser

(CNET)  Having finished its latest browser, Microsoft on Thursday kicked off its campaign to get consumers to actually start using it.

After years of losing market share to Firefox and other rivals, Microsoft is hoping to convince people, many of whom use old versions of Internet Explorer, to give the company a new look.

Part of that marketing push is a light-hearted video on the history of the Internet that also shows off some of the new features of Internet Explorer 8, including its private browsing mode and so-called "accelerators" that let users take action without leaving the Web page they are on.

The video was shown prior to the browser's formal introduction at the Mix 09 show. Microsoft also released the final version of the browser for download on its Web site.

"We are releasing it here at Mix because we are excited about what you, the developers, can build with it," IE general manager Dean Hachamovitch said. Hachamovitch then launched into a demo of the new browser, touting its anti-malware features, such as protection from click-jacking attacks.

Speaking to a crowd of Web developers, Hachamovitch also spent a good deal of time talking about the moves Microsoft made to make IE 8 far more standards-compliant than earlier versions. The biggest ding on IE 8 so far has been its performance. Microsoft has sought to blunt criticism in two ways. First, the company has released a video that it says shows that its browser is faster at loading a number of key sites. Second, the company has tried to downplay the difference in speed to the average user.

"In most cases the difference could literally be measured by a blink of an eye," Microsoft Senior Director Amy Barzdukas said in an interview on Wednesday. "That kind of speed becomes almost a push."

The release of IE 8 comes at a critical time for Microsoft, which faces its steepest competition in years, facing credible rivals not only in Firefox, but also from Apple and Google, among others. The global market share of Internet Explorer, which was more than 90 percent in 2004, ended last year at just above 70 percent, according to Net Applications.

[Samuel-HiLL]

You can polish a turd...

[Chris_Butler]

For those who gripe about Messy Dos / Internet Explorer.

Maybe its time you used a good operating system like Fedora Linux 64. Fedora has just as good software as Messy dos and its getting better.

I switched from Messy Dos because I spent way too much time on dealing with viruses. Now I spend no time on viruses and can't be happier.

I'm putting these comments using Firefox 3, which is clearly no problem.

[Searchin4Truth]

I should add that I went to Firefox3 about 2 weeks ago and probably will not go back to IE6.
Yeah, that's right, IE6. I tried IE7 and hated it...took it off within 30 minutes of trying it. It didn't help that Bank of America and Ameritrade didn't support IE7 at that time.

I've been very happy with Firefox :-)

[Searchin4Truth]

With the number of computer just "I" know about going bad due to the SP3 update and Microsoft's determined PUSH to put it on users machines, I won't install IE8. MS probably insists on Sp3 being on your machine for IE8. They might not tell you it will be installed with IE8, either.
I checked "don't offer this to me again" for SP3, but MS took it out of my hands and now acknowledges it is offering it to me again EVEN though I told them I don't want it.
If you have Automatic Updates set to automatically install, then SP3 will get on your machine without your knowledge. After that SP3 update and reboot three systems I know of needed a complete reinstall. You have been warned.

[johnb8888]

If it's a big a turdpile as IE7 has been, it must be pretty bad.

Somebody at MS should have been hanged for the disaster of IE7--folding at any time for no apparent reason, "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and must close", closing all the tabs (which does away with the advantage of tabs), freezing up, generally has been a disaster.

[hlt069]

IE 8 beta has been out since late last year. i had tried it then and had lots of problems with it so, I had to go back to 7. IE 8 final release just came out. CBS got it wrong. IE 8 still has some problems in speed, pasting documents from MS Word 2007, crashing, etc. A few days ago I have downloaded Apple's Safari browser and I have been very happy with the speed and security of it. My son uses Firefox for personal and business uses and he is really happy with it.
I have a lot of good things to say about most of Microsoft's programs except for their Internet Explorers.
They need to get off of their hind ends and fix it!

[ibzjem]

I haven't even upgraded to 7 yet!!!

And don't have plans to....

[govtguy]

You may want proceed very cautiously on the IE8 load, and you'd better back up everything before you start. BTW: IE8 does NOT play nice with Norton9 and may
cause your system to dramatically slow down, fail to load files, and create other
annoying and truly obnoxious scenarios! Other than that, it looks pretty !

[lloydbest1]

I've had the Beta2 version for about a week. So far, I've observed a minor increase in download speed and a wee bit more stability.
That said, I don't do web development, have no idea if their privacy mode is worth a hoot, have only started getting the hang of their "accelerators", haven't used their "web slice" at all and have stumbled on only a few web sites where compatibility mode was necessary (seems to work O.K.)....In short, I haven't pushed this new version very hard so I can't really say it is any better than IE-7.
If you're happy with IE-7, stay with it for a while. If not, I don't think you'll be any worse off with IE-8.