Internet Explorer 8 has launched

Posted on 19 Mar 2009 at 16:37

The beta has been around for months, and now Microsoft has finally launched the final version of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). The browser includes notable improvements from IE7, but those who have been testing the IE8 beta will struggle to see any differences in the finished article.

"What consumers told us is that they wanted the web experience to be faster, much easier to use and a much safer experience that it is today," Leila Martine, director of the Windows consumer business in the UK told Shopper . "That's what really formulated the principles on which we built IE8."

The browser borrows some of the popular features found in competing browsers, such as a smart address bar, which displays website addresses that you've previously visited as you start typing.

It also has some of its own new features, such as accelerators, which help you perform browsing tasks with fewer mouse clicks. When you highlight text in a web page, right-clicking gives you a list of options. For example, you can highlight the address of a house or an office, and with one click get mapping directions to the destination.

Another new feature is web slices. This feature lets you to paste sections of popular websites into your toolbar. Web slices keep you posted on content that is updated regularly, such as eBay auction items or Facebook statuses.

It also includes In Private Browsing, a feature that allows you to surf the net without your browsing history, cookies and temporary internet files being recorded by the browser. In Private Filtering also allows you to block content, ads and analytics from third parties that may be monitoring your browsing habits.

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota

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