Internet Explorer 8 arrives

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 19 March 2009 12:44

IT Industry - Development

Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 8 at noon US EDT today. The company claims the new browser is easier to use, faster, and more secure.

It's been about a year since the first beta release of Internet Explorer 8, but the wait's finally over. The release version will be available for download from Microsoft's servers later today.

Speed is one of the key features of the new browser, but Microsoft is at pains to point out this isn't just a matter of executing JavaScript quickly (something Google and Apple have been working hard to achieve with beta versions of Chrome and Safari respectively) - though the company does claim IE8 has a faster page load time for almost half (presumably 12) of the 25 top web sites according to comScore.

Since that includes sites such as Google which deliver relatively 'light' pages that load quickly, some observers have questioned how meaningful that is. Still, we're an impatient bunch and faster is always better.

Microsoft's point is that it is also important to speed up common tasks. To this end, IE8 includes 'accelerators' that provide quick access to web-based services.

"Users can simply right-click a word or phrase and instantly map, e-mail, or share it," company officials said. This feature works with various Live services, Encarta, Facebook and more.

The Web Slices feature provides a way of quickly seeing whether new information is available on a page - it could be bidding in an online auction, or a revised weather forecast.

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