Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 - Playing Catch up

With all the hype that's been surrounding Google's shiny new browser (us included), it wasn't long before software giant and PC overlord Microsoft would summon us to their offices to take a look at their newest Beta 2 release of the upcoming Internet Explorer 8.

Explore your Internet

It's no secret that Microsoft's Internet Explorer has long been the reigning champion of the browser market since the defeat of its other rival, Netscape Navigator, way back in time. Even today, IE's market share stretches to around 70%, give or take 10%, compared to its current rivals like Mozilla's Firefox (the most dominant of its competitors), Apple's Safari or the Opera browser. We won't know the impact of Google's Chrome browser till much later, but it's probably safe to assume that there will be barely a dent in Microsoft's hold over the browser market for now.

While we can't actually speculate on why IE is so popular or on why people aren't switching to the others, we can probably heave a sigh of relief that the latest version of its ever popular browser will definitely catch up to what's already available on its competitors and also introduces a few new tricks to the book like Accelerators, which is like copy and paste on crack (more on that later).

The new version also features much beefed-up security, which has traditionally been a flaw of the browser due to the amount of users using it (and thus the ease of spreading / exploiting such security holes). (The new IE8 will allow users more direct control over the execution of JavaScripts compared to the big hammer that was used for the current IE7).

Speed too is another option that has been buffed, though a quick test using the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark using Firefox, Opera, Chrome, IE7 and IE8 Beta 2 showed that although IE8 lagged far behind compared to the others it still showed an improvement over the previous version. We also did another test on Acid 2 and 3, which showed that IE8 was definitely an improved version compared to its predecessor, being able to render the Acid 2 test page unlike IE7. It still pretty much crashed out on the Acid 3 test though.

*Note that this is not a proper test per se, just a quick test on a notebook to see how each browser performs in an almost real life environment and should not be interpreted as a standard benchmarking process that we normally do.

Well, it's a pretty dismal showing for the Acid 3 test for IE8, as its competitors score around 70 and above on our own tests.

Well, it's a pretty dismal showing for the Acid 3 test for IE8, as its competitors score around 70 and above on our own tests.

As you can see, Acid 3 compatibility isn't something that Microsoft is focused on at the moment, as their focus is more towards getting their older IE7 browser working with the newer web standards and delivering a smoother experience to their users . While this does mean that Acid 3 compatibility is probably a long time coming, they do have Acid 2 compatibility down pat. We'll have to wait out this beta period until we can get our hands on the final build to see if IE8 can get reasonable result for the Acid 3 test, so we'll see how the final build turns out in November 2008.

Lastly, there's also no word on the Java engine for the browser. Attempts to ask Microsoft about whether they may consider using the open source V8 engine that's used in Chrome didn't lead anywhere. Our own tests showed that their engine was the slowest of the four browsers tested, so again, we'll have to wait for the final build before we can reasonably conclude the browser's performance and responsiveness.

The Features

Sadly for Microsoft, many of the newer features that are included with the latest build of IE8 are already found in many of the other browsers today. Looking at it on a more positive side though, these features will finally make their way to users that have faithfully stuck by Internet Explorer (if they upgrade, of course). Before we begin though, we like to point out that upgrading and installation can be somewhat of a hassle, as you'll have to do multiple reboots to get the the new browser installed. The other browsers we installed (Opera, Firefox 3, Chrome) didn't require us to reboot and were ready for use straight after installation.

But we digress, let's proceed onwards with a list of "new" and truly new features that the Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 build brings to the table for its users...

  • Smart Address Bar and Visual Search

    The Smart Address Bar will auto-complete URL entries for users based on previous surfing history and their bookmarks. This feature is already seen in Opera, Firefox 3 and Google Chrome. Unlike Chrome (which sends your keystroke data to a Google service) IE 8's version works similarly to Opera and Firefox 3, though it also features the ability to search your feeds. The search box also now does Visual Search (depending on where and what you're searching, and will display pictures if available).
  • Enhanced Find on Page

    Instead of popping up and blocking your view of the browser, the new Find button is found as a browser button that pops up whenever you activate the hot key. Again, there's nothing really "new" here so to speak. This feature is already present on the other browsers. It also now does highlighting and displaying number of hits.
  • New Enhanced Tab Page

    This is somewhat of an improvement, and IE has made it so you can easily browse previously closed tabbed pages, InPrivate browsing, or the Accelerator feature. IE gets props for this, it's definitely one up the current competition, though Chrome's new tab page does have its own unique charm.

    Tab browsing too has gotten some love, as parent and child tabs now share a color for users to easily associate the pages. This idea is definitely a marked improvement over current implementations of the tabbed browsing system found on other browsers.
  • Reopen Last Browsing Session

    It did take them a while, but this feature finally makes its way to IE8, though it's already available on the other browsers in the market.
  • Web Slices

    Like pizza, IE 8 allows you to select content from web pages and put it in as a bookmark on the browser, though this requires the web page to support the function (we understand that Microsoft will be working with content providers to enable this function in time for their launch).
  • Accelerators

    One of the more interesting things to spawn from the developers at the IE8 team is this new function which is basically an enhanced version of copy and paste. Highlighting a line of text and right clicking allows you to search the phrase through Microsoft applications like Windows Live Spaces, Encarta, Live Maps, Translate, or Email it. It's also possible for developers to add their own Accelerators into the browser, allowing for a much more diverse selection of choices, so you don't have to use the Microsoft defaults if you prefer.

 

 

  • InPrivate

    Similar to Safari's Private Browsing mode and Google's Incognito mode, IE8's version functions the same way and leaves no trace of its presence when you're done surfing with it. Officially known as InPrivate, the function has also been called less respectable names (which we'll leave you to find out).

 

 

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