IE 8 : the next generation of Internet Explorer
While some IE users haven’t yet made the switch to Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft has launched the first beta form of IE 8.
Is Internet Explorer still the most-used browser?
Confidence full
From our own statistics, we can see around 75% of visitors to NZS.com are viewing the site through Internet Explorer. Of these, around 57% are using IE 7 and 41% have stuck with the earlier IE 6. (In October 2007, we noted the slow uptake of IE 7 which was released in October 2006). Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still has the largest market share in Internet browsers worldwide, competing with others including Apple’s Safari and Mozilla Firefox, Google’s preferred browser.
So, what’s new with the new IE?
Microsoft advances further with beta IE 8. Tech-eyes are scouring Internet Explorer’s newest iteration and comparing it with Mozilla’s soon-to-be-released Firefox 3. While it’s mainly suited to Web developers, this early version of IE 8 does have a couple of new user features:
- Activities – allows users to highlight text and right click to open an Activities window in the same tab, rather than opening a whole new Web page. This means you can quickly and easily view a map for an address or translate text to a different language without leaving the page.
- WebSlices – when enabled in a site, a WebSlice is detected by IE 8 and a button appears on the browser tool bar. Clicking on this button will subscribe you to the WebSlice, adding it to your favourites and enabling you to view content from the tool bar without launching the website.
There is also an enhanced security feature and a handy button to switch your browser back to an IE 7 rendering of the site you’re viewing (great for developers). And developers will be happy too with IE 8’s default standards-compliant mode.
Where can I get IE 8?
In its early form, Internet Explorer 8.0 is rated developers-only and not recommended for regular users. If you’re keen, you can download IE 8 and get exploring on the Web with the latest version.
