Microsoft released its latest web browser, Internet Explorer (IE) 8 beta 2 in August for public download. This article looks at some of the new features and addresses site owners' concerns about its compatibility with IE 7.

 

 

 

Here are some enhanced features you can expect to see in IE 8:

InPrivate Browsing/Blocking
This prevents the browser from saving session history, temporary Internet files, form data, cookies, usernames and passwords. It also offers the user a wider choice and control over secondary websites that can potentially track and aggregate the browsing activities of users.

Delete Browsing History
For frequently visited websites, the information stored in cookies can be useful. IE 8 allows users to preserve the cookies and temporary Internet files from the websites added to the Favorites list while deleting data records saved by other websites.

Search Suggestion
It allows a search provider to suggest different queries while the user is typing text into the search box. A search suggestion can be a query string, a link, or a visual suggestion which includes an image.

Caret Browsing
Many users prefer the keyboard over the mouse because they find it to be faster for certain tasks. Caret Browsing is a new Accessibility feature that allows users to navigate a web page using a moveable cursor on the screen and the keyboard. Users can select and copy text down to a single character using only the keyboard.

Accelerators
This is a contextual feature which allows users to quickly access a service from any web page. Users can manage Accelerators and install them from the Internet Explorer Gallery or through any website that offers Accelerators for download.

Web Slices
This is a new feature that allows users to connect to a website by subscribing directly to the content. The browser will detect changes in the Web Slice and get notified about updates.

Suggested Sites
A new feature which helps you find new websites that are interesting and relevant to you. It respects your privacy settings and will not show suggestions for sites you've deleted from your History, and will not record sites you've visited when InPrivate Browsing is enabled.

Favourites Bar
The revamped Favourites bar allows users to access not only their favourite web content, such as links, feeds and Web Slices, but also the documents created in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Tab Grouping
Users are able to put related tabs -- the tabs that originate from the same web page -- into groups.

Automatic Crash Recovery
In the event of browser failure or non-response, the new crash recovery capabilities, including tab recovery, will minimise interruptions to a browsing session.

 

 

Giving top priority to Web standards interoperability in the new browser will help web developers and designers to drive toward the ideal of "write once, run anywhere", freeing up more time to innovate rather than modify content for different browsers.  In this new release, Microsoft attempts to address several development and design pains from previous Internet Explorer releases.

However, browsing with the default setting may cause content written for previous versions of Internet Explorer to display differently than intended.  This creates a call to action for site owners to ensure their content will continue to display seamlessly in IE 8.  As such, IE 8 provides a meta-tag, usable on a per-page or per-site level to maintain backwards compatibility with IE 7.  Adding this tag instructs IE 8 to render content like it did in IE 7, without requiring any additional changes.

Site owners/administrators are encouraged to get their sites ready now for broad adoption of IE 8. To learn more and get started, follow the step-by-step instructions located at the following link:  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=120024.

 

The following links provide additional information you may find useful: