| | By Nick Farrell in Rome @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 8:33 AM
| |
| | Microsoft will release its latest incarnation of Internet Explorer (IE) today and claims that IE8 offers enhanced security and usability.
 The final version was made public a year after the first beta version of the browser was released. It has a privacy mode, added safeguards against malware and phishing attacks, and grouped tabbing.
Most of IE8's new features are already available in rival browsers under different names.
There is the InPrivate browsing mode, which opens up a fresh window that does not store the user's browsing history. This exists in Chrome and Safari.
IE8's Smart Address Bar looks a lot like Firefox's 'Awesome Bar' and Chrome's Omnibox.
The entire browser does not collapse if one of the tabs does not work. It just shuts down that tab, a feature which has been seen in Chrome.
One thing that is new is the use of 'tab groups'. This colour codes tabs for the same site or where one has been opened from another.
IE8 comes with 'accelerators' which allows users to select text on a webpage and then click on the selected text to bring up a list of possible actions, such as translating the text, using the text as a search string for Live Search, or looking for a selected post code on Live Search Maps.
It will also mean that the cut and pasted text can be shared instantly via social networking tools.
There is also a “compatibility view' mode which can be activated for websites designed for older browsers.
Under the 'favourites' bar there is something Redmond dubs 'web slices', which are similar to RSS feeds in that they show real-time updates of certain information without the need to visit or refresh the relevant site.
Under the improved security getting into untrusted sites is a little harder. The option to visit the site despite the warning now buried in a list of options in the 'Smart Screen filter'.
The URL presentation makes it easier to spot a fake site. The sites name is put in bold with the rest of the address greyed out.
IE8 includes a cross-site scripting filter that runs in the background, detecting attacks and supposedly fixing the script in the vulnerable webpage to neutralise the attack.
Oddly the browser is not available for Windows 7 yet, something which is proving a bit embarrassing for Microsoft as it tries to sell the OS to beta testers. Currently some beta testers are using rival browsers, because the beta version of IE8 shipped with Windows 7 is several builds older than the beta download previously offered for Vista. X
Check out the World news at our sister site The News
| |
| |  Add Comment | |
| | | |