Web Browsers have come a long way since the early days of the Internet, and each iteration of the platform has brought new features. IE7 brought new useful features including Tabbed Browsing, RSS management, and a raft of security improvements.

With the recent announcement of the availability of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 I keenly downloaded the 15.9 MB application to see what it has on offer. The installation screens for XP follow:

 

 

New enhancements include the SmartScreen Filter where certain URL locations may be sent to a Microsoft server to perform security checks. Other new features include Accelerators, InPrivate Browsing, Search Suggestions and Web Slices. More details of new features can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/features/overview.aspx?tabid=1&catid=1

Fortunately, the browser window hasn’t changed too much (at least on the surface) with some minor changes to imagery and the addition of a few new features.

My Blog looks the same

Google doesn’t seem too happy though – it flips up briefly then flicks to a blank screen – remember this is a Beta so things like this are likely to happen.

If you switch to compatibility view it then renders ok (Tools -> Compatibility View). I will be trying IE8 over the next few weeks and will report more once I have given it a good run.

You can learn more about Internet Explorer 8 at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx

If you are interested in an alternative to IE, you could check of Mozilla Firefox 3 at http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/ or Opera 9.5 at http://www.opera.com/