In exactly 14 hours, at 9 am PST, you will be able to download the Internet Explorer 8.0 browser, Microsoft’s (s msft) response to Firefox, Chrome and Safari, from the company’s web site. The release is a tactical acknowledgment by Redmond, Wash.-based software giant that it’s locked in a bitter battle for market share with Mozilla’s Firefox, Opera, Google’s (s goog) Chrome and Apple’s (s aapl) Safari browsers.
So far it’s been on the losing side of the equation, ceding market share to its upstart rivals, all of whom are touting ease of use, simplicity, security and speed. Microsoft’s browser chief, Mike Nash, thinks the new IE 8.0 has got all that and more. While many of the new features in this browser are available to users of Safari and Firefox (via plugins), Microsoft is offering a comprehensive package — sans download — for a majority of the people that continue to patronize IE.Nash was particularly excited about the new security feature of the browser that protects browser users via a reputation system. Of course, security is IE’s own Achilles’ heel, so this upgrade is just part of doing business, in my view. IE8 also has a new featured called Accelerator that allows you to select words on the web site and then get relevant information from eBay, Facebook and various mapping services. Among other features in the new release that are expected to appeal to the masses: “save and restore” and “web clippings” functions.
Will that be enough for Microsoft to stop the bleeding? Yes. I say that because the company has the distinct advantage of being able to push the changes to its audience, as many of them are unwilling to consider anything beyond the default “E” on their desktop. We all know someone like that ☺. To millions of Microsoft windows users, IE 8 upgrades will come as a breath of fresh air and prevent them from searching for an alternative. At least in the near term!
I think if Microsoft had to compete on an equal footing with, say, Firefox, its market share would be much lower. IE’s share of the browser market was down to 67.4 percent as of the end of February while Mozilla’s Firefox had risen to 21.8 percent and Apple’s Safari to 8 percent, according to web browser tracking firm Net Applications.
Anyone know what changes they’ve made since the RC ? Also will it be available to Windows 7 beta users ?
yes it will be available for the windows 7 as well.
I tried the Beta 1 and 2 of Internet Explorer 8 and it was really a facelift that brought new positive changes. However, competing browsers continue to upgrade as well. I like the speed of Chrome and Safari, hope IE 8 will be able to cope with this.
“VANCOUVER, BC — It took a while longer but Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 did not survive the hacker onslaught at this year’s CanSecWest Pwn2Own contest.
A security researcher named “Nils” (he declined to provide his full name) performed a clean drive-by download attack against the world’s most widely used browser to take full control of a Sony Vaio machine running Windows 7.
He won a cash prize and got to keep the hardware. Details of the vulnerability, which was described by contest sponsor TippingPoint ZDI as a “brilliant IE8 bug!” are being kept under wraps.
Several members of Microsoft’s security response team were on hand to witness the successful exploit.”
So much for IE8 “security”. Hacked on the eve of its release date at PWN2OWN contest, LOL.
All the browsers can be hacked if you know what you are doing, moron.
we’ve been lucky enough to work with the IE throughout this release. Congrats to them! it’s a great product.
I have installed IE8 for several months now. There is absolutely no compelling reason to use it. Opera, Chrome and Firefox are all better than IE8. Compared to the other browsers, IE8 still feels slower and clunky.
So will my (one) Windoz notebook automatically download this update? Still running XP Office.
Microsoft Products will be generally slow. IE will be much slower compared to Google Chrome any time.
I have installed IE8 for several months now. There is absolutely no compelling reason to use it. Opera, Chrome and Firefox are all better than IE8. Compared to the other browsers, IE8 still feels slower and clunky.
Microsoft should port IE 8 for Ubuntu too…
Eh…I tried the RC2, and it had several glaring bugs, and felt slower than Firefox. Pass.
My employer is still using IE6. I’m actually afraid of what will happen with IE8 on our intranet.
When I am required to use IE7 or IE8 later this year I can rest assured that at least there’s some more competition in the browser area and I can at least stop worrying about all the extra time coding for IE6 because management only uses that browser.
I been using IE8 for a couple of weeks. NOW it’s working ok but it screwed up settings for online games with a save pop-up. I do computer re-programs and find IE8 good [once tweeked] not great. However it IS very secure for the average user [the ones that keep filling up computer with spam n mal.]
The glorified graphics a left over of Vista [for sales lol]
Overall not to bad.
I have downloaded IE 8 twice now and am using it with little trouble. My question is: how come I keep getting asked to downlaod IE8 if I already have it on my system? This gets very annoying. Thanks for your help.
Sam
you probably downloaded the different beta vs.
Internet explorer is simply not efficient enough. The only reason people used it was because it was the first and standard thing that came out.
I have IE7 and it stopped working. I’m a Chrome or Opera guy but use IE on occasion when creating new web pages or a new site just to see how the pages render in IE. Microsoft could be trying to get me to upgrade to IE8 … or their product could have just died due to suckitude. Hard to tell.
I use Firefox and it suits me well .. IE 8 is much better than previous versions, for web designers has become much easier to create sites and align code between browsers