Internet Explorer 8 addresses just about all of the major concerns that users and critics have had with the world's most used browser. Whether they get answered in a way you like is another matter.
There are several new and interesting features. Web Slices lets you save predefined sections of a Web page for at-a-glance viewing. Instead of going to a traffic Web site for updates, the latest commuting news comes to you. Similarly, Accelerators make repetitive tasks one-click behaviors, for instance finding directions or blogging. InPrivate browsing introduces a cache and history on-off switch, while related tabs are color-coded and automatically reorganized as you open them. There's also tab sandboxing, which means that when a tab crashes, IE itself won't, and it even tries to resurrect the page that crashed.
There's a greater emphasis on Web standards and security than before. The SmartScreen and cross-site scripting filters throw up a red warning page when you're about to visit an unsafe site. There's also domain highlighting, which grays out the name of the URL you're looking at except for the domain itself. This sounds simple, but effectively draws attention to spoofed site URLs. There's also a compatibility button so that sites designed specifically for IE 7 and earlier can still be viewed.
IE 8 lacks a default "smart" location bar that many other browsers have, but you can search your history and most visited pages from there. Also, the installation process still requires a reboot--unimpressive, to say the least. Drawbacks aside, there's no reason to not upgrade if you're an old fan of IE, and there's even a few things in IE 8 for new users.
Favorites manager
Download manager
Remember passwords
Spellcheck
Searchbar
Privacy mode
Auto update
Tabbed browsering
Portable edition
Skinnable
Plugins
Active X
Adobe Flash
Sun Java
RSS/Atom
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The mainscreen of Internet Explorer 8
Webslices in Internet Explorer
Send website content easily to your blog
Suggested search in Internet Explorer 8
By and large, we found that Internet Explorer 8 performed well, and beat out Firefox 3.0.7 in the majority of our time trials. - PC World, 5/19/09
If you're wondering whether you should get it, then here's your short answer: Yes. - PCWorld
Internet Explorer 8 puts Microsoft back in the game...with Internet Explorer 8, which is bigger leap from Internet Explorer 7 than Internet Explorer 7 was from Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft is pulling out the big guns and offering features which other browsers have yet to adopt. - Ars Technica
Do you like Internet Explorer? Let us know!
Lately, there's been a lot of talk about Internet Explorer's speed, security, and adaptability. But many of the claims are comparing older versions of Internet Explorer to competitors' newest releases.
The Real Deal: In tests, Internet Explorer 8 performs as well or better than Firefox and Chrome.
Browser speed can be measured in a number of ways, but what matters most is how quickly you're able to get things done while navigating the Web. After all, 80% of online activities are based around navigation. Watch this video to see how Internet Explorer 8 stacks up against the competition when it comes to getting things done.
That's why our Accelerator, Web Slice, Smart Address Bar, and Visual Search features make it faster, safer, and easier than ever for you to do what you need to do on the Web, giving you an overall better experience. Check out this document to see for yourself.
A lot of Firefox and Chrome advocates like to cling to micro-benchmarking page load claims to measure browser speed. But in most cases, these differences can only be viewed by slow-motion video captures, and they just don't represent real world examples. If you're still hung up on millisecond page load times to gauge performance, watch this video for a head-to-head comparison.
The Real Deal: Research proves that Internet Explorer 8 catches almost twice as much malware than the competition. That's "less secure"?
Internet Explorer was the first browser to integrate features that protect you against phishing and malware, and the first to embed domain highlighting, Cross-Site scripting protection, InPrivate filtering - the list goes on and on. It involves a lot of technical jargon, but the point is, Internet Explorer 8 is the only browser to offer this level of security right out of the box.
Since the Beta 2 release last spring, SmartScreen filter has blocked over 8 million malware and phishing scams, and projections show that it's on target for over 1 million blocks per day. Research shows that Internet Explorer 8 catches almost twice as much malware as its closest competition. And with a Security Response Center and 24/7 phone support, Internet Explorer 8 has the ability to respond faster than any other browser when a new attack is released into the wild. What other browser can say that?
The Real Deal: Internet Explorer 8 has much more functionality than other browsers, built in from the minute you open it.
Internet Explorer 8 has much more functionality than other browsers, and its functionality is there from the moment you open the browser. Internet Explorer 8 offers almost all of the features the most popular add-ons in Firefox have, and you're able to personalize your browser in a way that saves you time and research.
Did you know that there are more than 1,700 Internet Explorer 8 add-ons available at the Add-ons Gallery, with more being added every day? Partners all over the world are building Accelerators, Web slices, and Visual Search plug-ins for your browser, including Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and much more.
The Real Deal: Internet Explorer 8 passes more of the World Wide Web Consortium's test cases than any other browser.
Microsoft made a big commitment to standards with Internet Explorer 8. In addition to passing more of the official CSS 2.1 test suites than any other browser, Microsoft got really hands-on in the overall testing process by developing and contributing thousands of new tests for the consortium.
But what does that really mean? It means that developers will be able to spend more time designing cool new features for their site, and less time tweaking code for specific browsers. Microsoft put significant effort into make sure sites still work, even if they're designed for older versions of Internet Explorer, by giving users a Compatibility View button.
At the end of the day, Internet Explorer 8 truly is more reliable than ever.
• is the safest browser ever made? (NSSLabs) • has a market share of 71.88%? (The Counter, Sept 09) • is the longest used web browser ever? • detects the most malware of all browsers? • has more than 1,700 add-ons available? • is more compatible with more sites on the Internet than any other browser?
