Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 - Download

Developer : Microsoft
License : Freeware
Size / OS : 14.4 MB, Windows XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008
Last Updated : March 5th, 2008, 20:04 GMT

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 description
The first public beta of Internet Explorer 8 is alive and kicking. Well, you have been waiting for it for more than a year. Microsoft has successfully kept the lid closed on the work it was doing with Internet Explorer 8, more so than on the work poured into Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3 and Windows Server 2008. After being dogfooded throughout 2007 over at Microsoft, IE8 first peeped outside of Redmond with the recent private Beta 1 testing program. Now, Microsoft is ready to open Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 to all Windows users.

"Welcome to Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, the latest test release of the most popular browser! This release contains some great advances in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and layout, programming model, performance, reliability, usability and service integration. We are eager to ensure that the transition to Internet Explorer 8 is seamless for you and your audience, and to give you a head start on using many of the new features with your sites and services. We encourage you to test your sites and services, and our platform implementation, and give us feedback," stated Chris Wilson, IE Platform Architect.

The fact of the matter is that Microsoft's official Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 public release webpage has went live ahead of the company's web-centric MIX08 conference in Las Vegas. During the opening keynote address at MIX08, Dean Hachamovitch, IE General Manager, will give an in-depth presentation of Internet Explorer 8.

To Download Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, follow this link : Download

source: technozone

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Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer 8 Beta

Microsoft unveiled today the public beta version of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) for developers at the annual MIX08 conference in Las Vegas.

By David A. Utter - Wed, 03/05/2008 - Review

Next version of Microsoft's browser emerged at MIX08

The answer to the question "how long until IE8 will be ready for download" turned out to be 3pm ET today.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Internet this afternoon. A few websites noted Internet Explorer 8 emerged as a beta download.

Several clicks and a restart later, we have IE8 Beta 1 for Developers running on Windows XP SP2. First order of business? The Acid2 Test of course!

Where previous versions of Internet Explorer, including IE7, bombed out of Acid2 in knee-slapping fashion, IE8 renders it as well as Opera ever has. Microsoft's chest-thumping about better standards compliance has proven accurate, at least by one measure.

The company also described the two big new features in IE8, called Activities and WebSlices. Activities enable the use of web services provided by Microsoft and other activity providers directly from text highlighted on a page and right-clicked by the user.

WebSlices enable people to subscribe to content directly within a webpage, as though it were a feed. Developers define parts of a web page as a WebSlice. From the WebSlices whitepaper:

WebSlices are enabled by adding HTML annotations directly to the Web page. WebSlices use a combination of the hAtom Microformat and the WebSlice format to describe a subscribable portion of a Web page.

People who subscribe to a WebSlice will be able to keep track of it from the Favorites bar in IE8. "If anything, this launch shows that Microsoft is not taking Firefox's creep into browser market share lightly," ReadWriteWeb's Sarah Perez said of the surprise launch.

Source : technozone

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Microsoft Embraces Standards For IE8

Fear of possible "legal and regulatory" issues likely motivated Microsoft to enable three rendering modes for the next version of the Internet Explorer browser.

Microsoft's rendering gyrations in its widely-used web browser gave web designers fits over the years. Pages needing special tweaks to overcome IE oddities like its handling of CSS meant designers had to practically design the same pages twice.

A nice round-up of standards compliance on HTML, CSS, DOM, and ECMAScript for IE, Firefox, and Opera may be found at Web Devout. We imagine web designers will look at the browser support comparison there and nod their heads in grim agreement.

A silver lining appeared in the cloud of Internet Explorer rendering with Microsoft's announcement of better support for web standards.

"Microsoft is now configuring the settings in Internet Explorer 8, the upcoming version of its browser, to render content - by default - using methods that give top priority to Web standards interoperability," they said.

Web designers may be stunned to read this quote from chief software architect Ray Ozzie: "Even in its first beta, IE8 correctly renders the popular test known as ‘Acid2,’ which was created by the Web community to promote real-world interoperability," he said.

The Acid2 test demonstrates a browser's compliance with HTML and CSS standards. Viewing it under IE7 and other versions of Internet Explorer returns a result that isn't even close to the reference rendering.

But having been stung recently by another fine from the European Union over its business practices, Microsoft found the motivation to make IE8 behave. IE8 will have three rendering modes in place to accomplish this:

Internet Explorer 8 has been designed to include three rendering modes: one that reflects Microsoft’s implementation of current Web standards, a second reflecting Microsoft’s implementation of Web standards at the time of the release of Internet Explorer 7 in 2006, and a third based on rendering methods dating back to the early Web. The newest rendering mode is forward-looking and preferred by Web designers, while the others are present to enable compatibility with the myriad sites across the Web that are currently optimized for previous versions of Internet Explorer.

"While we do not believe there are currently any legal requirements that would dictate which rendering mode must be chosen as the default for a given browser, this step clearly removes this question as a potential legal and regulatory issue," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in a statement.

Source : technozone

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