Windows Internet Explorer 8

Windows Internet Explorer 8 (abbreviated IE8) is a web browser by Microsoft. It is the successor to the 2006 release of Internet Explorer 7, and will be the default browser for the upcoming Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. The browser was released on March 19, 2009 for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.[1]
According to Microsoft, security, ease of use, and improvements in RSS, Cascading Style Sheets, and Ajax support were its priorities for Internet Explorer 8.[2]

History

IE8 has been in development since at least March 2006.[4] In February 2008, Microsoft sent out private invitations for IE8 Beta 1,[5] and on March 5, 2008, released Beta 1 to the general public,[6] although with a focus on web developers.[7] The release launched with a Windows Internet Explorer 8 Readiness Toolkit website promoting IE8 white papers, related software tools, and new features in addition to download links to the Beta.[6][8] The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) added new sections detailing new IE8 technology.[6][8][9] Major press focused on a controversy about Version Targeting, and two new features then called WebSlice and Activities. The readiness toolkit was promoted as something "developers can exploit to make Internet Explorer 8 'light up'." [6]

On August 27, 2008, Microsoft made IE8 Beta 2 generally available.[10] PC World noted various Beta 2 features such as InPrivate mode, tab isolation and color coding, and improved standards and compatibility compared to Internet Explorer 7.[11] Two name changes included Activities to Accelerators, and the IE7 Phishing filter renamed Safety Filter in the first Beta to SmartScreen, both accompanied by incremental technical changes as well.[11] By August 2008 the new feature called InPrivate had taken the spotlight.[11]

Final version for Windows XP/Vista/Server 2003 has been released to public at noon EDT on March 19th 2009 , with edition embedded within Windows 7 still being in development along with operating system, due to extra functionality related to the new operating system (touch support, new taskbar features etc.).[citation needed]

[edit] Features

[edit] Overview

The first beta release of IE8, which was demonstrated at the MIX08 conference, contained many new features, including WebSlices and Activities.[12] In the second beta release, Activities were renamed to Accelerators.[13]

[edit] Added features

Some of the features and changes for the Beta 2 compared to Beta 1.[11]

* InPrivate[11]
* Delete Browsing History
* Search Suggestions
* User Preference Protection
* Caret Browsing
* Accelerators (previously known as Activities)
* Web Slices (previously known as WebSlices)[11]
* Suggested Sites
* Tab Color Grouping[11]
* Automatic Crash Recovery
* SmartScreen Filter (Known as Safety Filter in Beta 1)
* Tab isolation (tabs spread over separate operating system processes)

[edit] Removed features

* Inline AutoComplete[14]
* The option to delete files and settings stored by addons or ActiveX controls; rather, it is performed automatically.[15]
* CSS Expressions are no longer supported in Internet Explorer 8 Standards mode[16]
* Support for the proprietary tag is dropped

[edit] Suggested Sites

This feature is described by Microsoft as a tool to suggest websites, which is done by the browser sending information to Microsoft over a secure connection, which keeps the information and a per-session, uniqely-generated identifier for a short time.[17] Suggested Sites is off by default, and disabled when the user is browsing with InPrivate enabled, or is visiting SSL-secured, intranet, IP address, or IDN address sites. Potentially personally-identifiable information such as the user's IP address and browser information is sent to Microsoft as an artifact of the HTTPS protocol. Microsoft has stated that they do not store this information.

The functionality was defended by Microsoft after itworld.com's Gregg Keizer described it as a "phone home" feature.[18]

[edit] InPrivate
Internet Explorer 8 in InPrivate mode.

A new security mode called InPrivate debuted with Beta 2, which consists of three main features: InPrivate Browsing, InPrivate Blocking, and InPrivate Subscription.[11] Like similar privacy protection modes in Safari and Google Chrome, InPrivate Browsing has been described as a "porn mode" in various news outlets.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Informationweek mentioned it as a "'Stealth' Privacy Mode".[27]

Gregg Keizer of Computerworld says Private Blocking "notifies users of third-party content that can track browsing history", and that InPrivate Subscription allows "subscribing to lists of sites to block".[27] When enabled, IE8 will not save browsing and searching history, cookies, form data and passwords; it also will automatically clear the browser cache.[27]

[edit] Accelerators
Example of a map Accelerator using the IE8 Accelerators Smart tag.

Accelerators are a form of selection-based search which allow a user to invoke an online service from any other page using only the mouse.[28] Actions such as selecting the text or other objects will give users access to the usable Accelerator services (such as blogging with the selected text, or viewing a map of a selected geographical location), which can then be invoked with the selected object. According to Microsoft, Accelerators eliminate the need to copy and paste content between web pages.[12] IE8 specifies an XML-based encoding which allows a web application or web service to be invoked as an Accelerator service. How the service will be invoked and for what categories of content it will show up is specified in the XML file.[29] Similarities have been drawn between Accelerators and the controversial Smart tags, feature experimented with in the IE 6 Beta but withdrawn after criticism (though later included in MS Office)