Print - Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Goes Public

Microsoft on Wednesday shipped the Beta 2 version of its upcoming Internet Explorer (IE) 8 Web browser. This version of the product, which will be made available free to Windows XP, Vista, 2003, and 2008 users, adds many functional advances and some new security features. Microsoft previously shipped a Beta 1 release in March.

"While Beta 1 was for developers, we think that anyone who browses or works on the web will enjoy IE8 Beta 2," a post on the IE Blog reads. "We focused our work around three themes: everyday browsing (the things that real people do all the time), safety, and the platform (the focus of Beta 1, how developers around the world will build the next billion web pages and the next waves of great services)."

IE 8 Beta 2 brings with it a surprising number of improvements. It includes such new features as a Smart Address Bar, enhanced Find On Page, Tab Groups, an enhanced search box, various privacy features like InPrivate Browsing, enterprise deployment and management improvements, and better Web standards support, among many others. For more information about the new features in IE 8 Beta 2, please refer to my review on the SuperSite for Windows.

In testing the Beta 2 release over the past few weeks, however, I've seen massive compatibility issues with this browser, which uses a new standards-compliant rendering mode by default. This rendering mode is supposed to work more like Mozilla Firefox and other browsers, and less like previous versions of IE. But it's clear that few Web sites know how to deal with the change. IE 8 Beta 2 does offer a Compatibility View that enables IE 7-like rendering on a site-by-site basis.

In a recent briefing with Microsoft, I was told that the company would evaluate the feedback from Beta 2 before determining whether to ship more beta releases or move the product more quickly towards completion.

You can download IE 8 Beta 2 now from the Microsoft Web site. 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available for various versions of Windows in English, German, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese. Other languages will become available soon, Microsoft says.

So far beta 2 is more refined and functional then beta 1 was. I like the per-site IE7 compatibility mode better than the initial all or nothing mode. Google maps renders correctly now which was one of the few gotchas in beta1. I am however finding that the rich text editor user control I use on my asp.net sites has reverted to a simple multiline text box. The vendor may have to release a fix for it but other than that smooth browsing so far.

Why should a user spend time and bandwidth for an (instable beta) third class browser? IE is irrelevant these days and should be ignored. This browser is way behind current versions of competitors when it comes to features, standard compliance and speed.

"IE is irrelevant these days" - The browser only has the majority share when it comes to browsers. It might not be as good as FireFox but for allot of people and especially business its the browser of choice.

"The browser only has the majority share" That does not make it relevant. A decreasing install base tells everything - IE is the solution of the past - and that's for good! "especially business its the browser of choice" I wouldn't dare calling something that comes bundled with the OS and can't be de-installed a 'browser of choice'. It's "good enough" for companies to use it as a simple web browser. Most users will replace it with something better if they have the appropriate permissions or the sys-admins pre-install an alternative. IE is in fact so bad, that it does not even matter which alternative they choose - all others are better. As a platform for web apps, IE is dead. Business like to develop for current standards (probably supported by IE in 2015) not for past IE incompatibilities or security nightmares like ActiveX. In the mobile space, IE can be totally neglected, too. Not so Opera and Safari / WebKit.