Filed under: Internet, Microsoft, Browsers
Microsoft Drops IE8 Beta 2 - First Impression
As a longtime Firefox user, I didn't pay too much attention when Microsoft announced the impending release of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. Still, after using the first beta and not running into the kind of horrible issues some of our readers reported, it warranted a download.
After a brief test drive, I'm pleasantly surprised by it. Installation was almost totally painless, though I wish Microsoft would figure out how to pull off a reboot-free install. Pages rendered quickly and accurately, the Firefox import worked very well, and my LastPass toolbar worked without asking for an upgrade. The Google toolbar, however, failed to work.
I also appreciate that IE prompted me to disable an addon - the Acrobat toolbar - when I closed it's toolbar. It's a small but useful feature. Slices and accelerators are showing a lot of promise, and the two I tried - Stumbleupon Buzz and send to GMail - worked nicely. You can see the Stumble slice at work in my screenshot.
I'm not sold on SmartScreen yet. I expected Web of Trust-like funcionality, but it's just not there. I ran around several keygen sites that make WOT cringe and didn't get a single alert from IE. That needs adressing. I like the idea of InPrivate as well, but would like to be able to mix tabs instead of running two separate instances of the browser.
If you do install the new version, be sure to check out the IE 8 Gallery, a new website that provides one-stop access to accelerators, slices, search addons, and toolbars. It's much, much less annoying than the IE7 addon site.
Let us know your thoughts if you've demoed the new beta!
After a brief test drive, I'm pleasantly surprised by it. Installation was almost totally painless, though I wish Microsoft would figure out how to pull off a reboot-free install. Pages rendered quickly and accurately, the Firefox import worked very well, and my LastPass toolbar worked without asking for an upgrade. The Google toolbar, however, failed to work.
I also appreciate that IE prompted me to disable an addon - the Acrobat toolbar - when I closed it's toolbar. It's a small but useful feature. Slices and accelerators are showing a lot of promise, and the two I tried - Stumbleupon Buzz and send to GMail - worked nicely. You can see the Stumble slice at work in my screenshot.
I'm not sold on SmartScreen yet. I expected Web of Trust-like funcionality, but it's just not there. I ran around several keygen sites that make WOT cringe and didn't get a single alert from IE. That needs adressing. I like the idea of InPrivate as well, but would like to be able to mix tabs instead of running two separate instances of the browser.
If you do install the new version, be sure to check out the IE 8 Gallery, a new website that provides one-stop access to accelerators, slices, search addons, and toolbars. It's much, much less annoying than the IE7 addon site.
Let us know your thoughts if you've demoed the new beta!
After spending the better part of an hour on 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lochlan said 7:24PM on 8-27-2008
The best bit was having to restart twice!
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Mark said 7:24PM on 8-27-2008
I have it and I'm pleasantly surprised as well. It renders pages a lot better than Beta 1 without having to resort to IE7 Compatibility Mode, is generally far more polished and snappier than the previous iterations. Also, the annoying Beta 1 bug where it would highlight text in fields incorrectly has been fixed.
Overall I like it, although I can't say that I've made use of the Webslices feature I do enjoy the Accelerators functionality - particularly the fact that I can search up anything using any of my defined search engines (Wiki is the one that comes in handiest). The browser definitely feels faster and although their blog said that Javascript isn't a big issue, it still seems like they've done their optimization work well esp. on AJAX-heavy sites.
I'm sold.
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Lochlan said 7:24PM on 8-27-2008
Oh wow, I've just tried out the Developer Tools! (F12)
It actually works!! Sort of like Firebug, awesome! This is going to make debugging in IE a breeze!
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Todd said 9:08PM on 8-27-2008
Kinda missed the REAL news story on this one didn't we Mr. Mathews? IE8 blocks AdSense Ads:
"...The Internet Explorer 8 browser’s InPrivate setting lets users access websites without disclosing their browsing habits, which websites need to be able to do to deliver targeted advertising. This is a business Google has just moved into through its acquisition of DoubleClick."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1dc6fac0-7462-11dd-bc91-0000779fd18c.html
Based on the combined financial resources of Google and Misery Inc. to hire lawyers, expect the Mother of all law suits in 3...2...1
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Lee Mathews said 9:09PM on 8-27-2008
Nah...I'm a user, first and foremost. Lawsuits don't really impact how an app performs when I demo it, and blocking AdSense ads..well, is that newsworthy other than it's typical MS vs. Google stuff? That's not my gig.
Lee Mathews said 9:51PM on 8-27-2008
Also, based on what the article states it should interfere with ANY browsing habit-based advertising systems, not just AdSense. I haven't tried it, but since it's something you're keen on, activate InPrivate and surf MSN...use their search...does it affect their sites as well?
hazard said 12:33AM on 8-28-2008
cool .. that is very big news .. I'm with MS on this one as I'd love to see all advertising disabled by default .. not that I even use IE but it's fantastic to think that Adwords, Adsense etc could be blocked on the bulk of internet users out there.
HYlic said 11:57AM on 8-28-2008
You do know that microsoft has their own version of AdSense (Microsoft AdCenter), while not as popular as google's, its has to be affected by this as well.
Rick said 9:51PM on 8-27-2008
Screw it!! I rebooted 2x and got nothing. I shall stick to my morals and not reboot 3x for No Man!!
Looks like I'm sticking to Firefox
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Doranwen said 10:16PM on 8-27-2008
Have they returned IE to the level of customizability (with dragging things around, buttons, toolbars, etc.) that IE6 had? I can't stand the style of IE7, and the screenshot of the IE8 beta doesn't look to be much better. I would've thought they'd realized that was one improvement over Macs--greater customizability. Taking that away from me is one good way to get me very annoyed at a company.
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Juan Pinzon said 10:54PM on 8-27-2008
acid3 test score=21... FAILED.
JS benchmarks x10 slower than ff3
still png images dont work as they should...
we still need to use filters for opacity.
the goal is to be css 2.1 compliant... while ff3 and safari are aiming at css 3.
The same js debugger, just embedded into the browser.
Colored tabs!!! WTF...
for me it fails....
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Eli said 12:20AM on 8-28-2008
It would be silly to support CSS 3 when it isn't anywhere close to being finalized.
Quikboy said 7:51AM on 8-28-2008
You're aware it's still a BETA, right? As much as there's still some things to complain about, this is a pretty huge step for MS. It's about time they've really put some good stuff in IE.
I also think Acid3 test was created after the first beta of IE8 or something. And CSS 3 isn't even finalized yet.
FYI, colored tabs are meant to help differentiate a group of tabs. Pretty helpful to me, though I might have done it different.
I think IE8 is a nice great step, and is finally a decent alternative to Firefox and the other browsers.
kastonie said 12:38PM on 8-28-2008
I thought firefox was the alternative......
lolo said 7:51AM on 8-28-2008
A great feature is that when you click the back button you are transferred to the exact point you were viewing on the previous page, so you dont have to scroll all the way down again, that works for me!!
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Quikboy said 7:51AM on 8-28-2008
Here's what I love so far:
- Grouped tabs
- Search box really pulls in your different search engines in a better way (suggested searches too, if you're Live searching)
- Real great security. Above the bar for once, and there's way too many individual security features that are in this version.
- Private browsing
- Address bar is visually more like the Awesome Bar in FF3.
- "Find" actually works better
- Standards compliance
- Accelerators and WebSlices
- Crash restore (and if one tab crashes, the other tabs are fine)
Some of the new features can still be more enhanced though, and I still think there needs to be a spell checker, more customizations (like skins and positioning stuff), and some other features.
I'm glad to see Microsoft is finally rolling the ball with IE. I can definitely say it's a good alternative from Firefox and the other browsers.
Now I wonder what's in store for IE Mobile...
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Jash Sayani said 8:01AM on 8-28-2008
I had tried an early build of IE8 Beta 1 a few months back. It was really annoying. Even microsoft.com said "Your browser is not supported" ! And Emulate IE7 did not work either.
I am happy with Firefox.
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Alex said 10:21AM on 8-28-2008
IE 8 I had to remove it because Norton Identify Safe
and Log In drop down list wasn't working maybe it being block or maybe the beta is still a little buggy.
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Lee Mathews said 10:44AM on 8-28-2008
That is fishy...And probably worth pointing out on Connect, if you're willing: http://connect.microsoft.com/
Aidan Black said 10:49AM on 8-28-2008
This is fishy. The article states that the Google toolbar didn't work, InPrivate blocks Google's AdSense ads, and my Google desktop gadgets suddenly start using 90% of my CPU...?
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