Microsoft released Windows Internet Explorer 8 today at 12 noon EST. I downloaded, checked it out and here’s what I have to report.
First I’ll say that I’m not going to rehash what’s going to be on hundreds of other blogs out there. I’m only going to concentrate of the nitty-gritty of what matters to most people in question-and-answer style.
Q: Does it work with Microsoft Update?
A: Yes. In all honesty this is the one thing that kept me from running IE 8 betas and RCs. It was well known that the update was "broken" with the pre-release versions, hence why I absolutely would not use it.
The official release of IE 8 does and does so well. And faster.
Above: This is what I like to see. IE 8 working just fine with Microsoft Update, the way it should.
Q: Is it faster than IE 7?
A: Yes. You will immediately notice that the tabs launch and close much quicker, pages render faster and overall performance is better.
Q: Can you move the buttons on the right to the left?
A: Yes.
Right-click, if "Lock The Toolbars" is checked, click to uncheck. Then drag it wherever you want.
Check this out:
Above: Large icons selected, icons on the left. It’s a thing of beauty.
Q: Is there a "porn" mode?
A: Yes. This is called "going incognito" in Google Chrome and in IE 8 it’s called "InPrivate". Open up a new tab and select "Browse with InPrivate", like this:
You get a new window with this:
This is jokingly called "porn mode" for any browser that offers this, and now IE 8 has it. Yes, it’s a good feature. I particularly recommend it for any web site that has to do with your money, such as banking web sites.
Firefox officially has to play catch-up now. Google Chrome and IE 8 have the edge with this feature. I’m sure with FF 3.1 it will be there. Watch for it.
Q: Should you get it?
A: Yes. IE 8 beats the crap out of IE 7. It’s leaner, faster and just plain better. This is a no-brainer upgrade. Get it. Even if you don’t use IE, if you use a Windows operating system, get it for better/faster update capability.
slick..I like it, I like it! Faster, much faster!
Faster, yes. Still not FF3 in my opinion.
Faster? To a certain degree, yes. Is it compatible with Microsoft web sites such as MSN? No. Seems the web sites that use mainly IE haven’t bothered to “upgrade?” their sites to work properly with IE8; go figure. *shakes head*
Why release a so-called update when your own web sites aren’t compatible with it? What am I missing with this picture? No wait, it’s Microsoft that’s screwed up, not me.
If you are using Home banking then don’t download this IE8 yet, until the banks are support it.
[...] last time I wrote about IE 8 was on March 19. It’s March 30 today, I’ve been using the browser here and there, and here’s what [...]
I got IE 8 a few days ago and so far it’s a flaky piece of crap. Half the time it won’t even start up.
I hate this program, as there is a warning window that comes on, continuously, that says that g.ceipmsn.com, is trying to download into my browser’s trusted site. How do I resolve this problem. I can’t get on to any website, without a lot of trouble.
My Internet has never been worse. Please help!!!
I have been using IE 8 for quite some time. My only issue is that when I open a new IE session it keeps me signed in Windows Live. I have several live IDs I use and in the past I would open two or three seperte IE sessions so I could be logged into the different sites. Does anyone know if this can be resolved or fixed?
IE8 wont show important website information on many sites that were built with Microsofts own publishing software. I run a PC repair and sales company and will not install IE8 on a customers computer and I wont use it unless MS makes it acceptable.
Internet Explorer 8 is so much better than the previous version of internet explorer browser. it is more stable and loads faster.