Entered CNET Catalog: 08/27/2008
SKU: CNETIE8BETA2
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 08/27/2008
With the public release of its second beta, Microsoft said it intends for the Internet Explorer 8 browser to be more customer-oriented than previous versions of its browser. Our initial impression of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 is positive: we think Microsoft has not only caught up with Opera, Safari, and Firefox, but in some cases even surpasses these other browsers with its innovative new features. IE8 offers people several enhancements like color-coded tabs, increased privacy options, and greater security features baked right in. Most of the new features require systems to be running Windows Vista SP1 or Windows XP SP3. The final version of Internet Explorer 8 is expected in November 2008.
The user interface hasn't changed much since Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, except to add a Security pull-down menu between Page and Tools on the main toolbar. In addition to blocking phishing sites, IE8 now highlights the main domain of any Web site you visit. Thus, if something other than eBay.com is highlighted, chances are you are on the wrong Web site. Perhaps the most anticipated addition is Internet Explorer's new antimalware protection. Firefox 3 both recently added antimalware protection. Safari has so far not announced plans for similar protection. Using mostly its own antimalware technology, Microsoft will block emerging threats by masking the entire IE 8 browser screen with a warning to users. The addition of malware protection to the existing antiphishing protection will be rebranded as the Microsoft SmartScreen filter.
In another feature, known as InPrivate, Microsoft allows the browser to suspend caching functions while you surf. Some scenarios for using InPrivate might be when you're using someone else's computer, when you need to buy a gift for a loved one without ruining the surprise, or when you're at an Internet kiosk and don't want the next person to know which Web site you visited. While you can currently clear the browser cache with a mouse click, it's an all-or-nothing action. InPrivate temporarily suspends the automatic caching functions, allowing you to keep the rest of your browsing history intact.
IE8 also contains a cross-site scripting filter, one of the first in a mainstream browser. Cross-site scripting allows an attacker to execute script on a user's browser without them knowing. When the IE8 filter finds a Web page with a cross-site scripting request, it changes the content on the page with a notice. Users are not presented with an option; IE simply blocks the malicious script from executing and displays the rest of the page.
IE 8 Beta 1 has already introduced several changes when handling ActiveX components. Components will be installed per user, which eliminates the need for everyone to have administrator privileges. In addition, you must acknowledge or opt-in for the component to run, eliminating drive-by downloads. Components will be per site and will only be available from the site of origin. Finally, site developers can request killbits, code that identifies a particular ActiveX control, from Microsoft which can be sent via Windows Update to terminate risky or outdated components. Killbits look for a specific identifier; if the identifier is missing or marked bad, an application will not run within Internet Explorer until the developer issues an updated version of the application.
Getting back to the customer experience, there's an underlying assumption by Microsoft that everyone wants new tabs. For instance, opening a bookmark means automatically opening a new tab. To re-open a closed tab, you need first to open a blank tab; same if you want to restore a previous session within IE8.
Fortunately, IE8 has included a new color-coded tab system that interrelates tabs. If you are on one page and click a link to open another tab, the two will appear side by side and share a color. This may work for casual users, but for a power user who needs 10 to 15 tabs open with tools and sites frequently visited, the proliferation of new tabs becomes unwieldy--whether or not they are grouped and associated by color.
IE8 provides what Microsoft calls an "accelerator." Here's how it works: highlight any word or phrase on a Web page and the browser will prompt you with a blue arrow icon. Now, use that icon to associate that word or phrase with a Web 2.0 service, such as Google maps to conveniently find an address. You can customize the options. Your accelerated item will appear in a new tab that is color-coded and adjacent to the original reference tab.
All this is good news for loyal Internet Explorer fans, but loyal Firefox fans still retain the customization edge--for every new feature in IE8, there will undoubtedly be another Firefox extension produced soon enough. If anything, IE8 will serve notice to the other browsers that the sleepy giant has awakened. The browser wars have reignited.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64out of 64 user reviews
Easiest and Fastest Browser
Pros: Every setting is at your touch. Once you het the hang of it, it really does its' job seemlessly
Cons: Nothing at all
out of 64 user reviews
Worst of all the current browsers
Pros: None, only its initial look and feel, after that its down hill
Cons: memory hog and creates rogue processes that consume memory, IE will spawn new IE processes over and over again. Fails to render CSS standards like all the other current browsers and even IE6, overall IE8 is the worse MS browser ever, IMOP
OS: Windows 7
Browser IE8
I only use chrome, I only now use IE 8 when I have to test a web app I am testing,
MS needs to totally scrap IE and create a new broweser from scratch...follows Chromes lead: fast and light weight and not a MEMORY HOG and not BUGGY!
out of 64 user reviews
an ancient browser left behind,still used by many
Pros: A product from microsoft
Cons: worst product from microsoft
out of 64 user reviews
Disappointing
Pros: I like the tab feature
Cons: tabs open up odd. It's not the same as in Firefox--when you click on links, on tab opens to the right of the current tab and so forth. Crashes on me when I close the window. It says IE has stopped working. If I cancel send report, it says 'error'
out of 64 user reviews
DOH - It keeps breaking
Pros: None - but I need 10 characters for a Cnet review
Cons: Only one - it doesn't work for google and a few other minor websites.
out of 64 user reviews
Excellent, Well Done
Pros: 1)Lots of features and ad ons
2)Still familiar to people who use the version prior to this one.
Cons: 1)Slow when compared to firefox and chrome.
2)Screen can feel clustered
out of 64 user reviews
I like this product
Pros: it is faster
Cons: i dont now
out of 64 user reviews
Best Browser Ever!!
Pros: Tabs
Favorites Bar
Stability
Security - InPrivate Browsing
Accelerators - Live Search, Translator, ebay....
Tab & Browsing recovery in case of system crash/power outage
User Friendly
Best Browsing Experience
Reccomend for all PCs!!!!
Cons: The only problems I found was that after opening 20 or more tabs it starts to run slowly unless you have more than 512MB of RAM & Quick tabs isnt very helpful unless you have 1GB of RAM or more
out of 64 user reviews
Good software... but still beta
Pros: Nice colored tabs. I liked tabs, but the colors are much much better, especially when doing research. My Internet Explorer 7 was sometimes more buggy. Did not make a challenge by completely rearranging user interface/
Cons: Not always compatible. Not always so smooth.
out of 64 user reviews
hard to handle
Pros: i always used IE so i didn't have to learn a new layout.
Cons: it's SLOWER than ie 7. i can't turn off some security options.
out of 64 user reviews
Super Java/NWS Radar looping Problem fix!!
Pros: Tried and tried for months to get Java running properly in IE7- Tried every site for help- Microsoft/Java/ etc and NO tweaks worked- Not until I installed IE8 Beta2 did a message come up that something needed enabling-
Cons: NONE so far!
out of 64 user reviews
Could be better
Pros: Attractive, user friendly, fast
Cons: Not secure for financial transactions
out of 64 user reviews
Extremely Fast!!!! Kudos to Microsoft
Pros: colorer tab management, very secure, and lightning fast.
Cons: None I can think of.
out of 64 user reviews
This is a resource hog for XP users
Pros: Nice history feature.
Cons: It takes forever to load pages and sometimes it freezes up totally. I installed Firefox and for some reason, everything on my computer became lightning fast. IE 8 uses too much memory and resources. I am a Firefox convert thanks to IE 8 Beta 2.
out of 64 user reviews
Wait until final version! Not compatible with McAfee!!!
Pros: Very tight security, lots of interesting features such as web slicers and web accelerators.
Sub tabs are useful (green tabs)
Cons: MCAFEE does not work properly with internet explorer 8 beta 2!
This also had problems when typing into search (text not appearing within box)
out of 64 user reviews
very good!
Pros: Now has speed like Firefox and Safari. Better anti-malware now too.
Cons: It still has an unattractive interface compared to Safari.
out of 64 user reviews
It didn?t let me install it!!!!
Pros: who knows, who cares!!!
Cons: even it is hard try to install it !!!
out of 64 user reviews
Very good beta, just needs a little more polishing.
Pros: +Easy to use interface
+Fast
Cons: -Crashes a lot, but c'mon, it's still in beta.
out of 64 user reviews
It built easliy on IE7 Pro and retained all features.
Pros: It loads quicker - my Yahoo email is superfast and the My Yahoo pages too
Cons: It's got a links bar next to the favourites star and the extra toolbar down the side which is mostly a repeat of the Tools menu is still there but it can be hidden. You still have to click on a tab to find the little x to close it.
Updated on Nov 7, 2008I now found the annoying side toolbar is called a command bar and if you click on the horrible yellow star on the left you can customise the commands so you can add or remove them and move them up or down and show only what you want - it's a bit of a Christmas stocking, that one. Use the right mouse menu.
out of 64 user reviews
Just keeping up with Firefox...
Pros: It has an intuitive interface that is modeled after Firefox 3. Tabbed browsing and the speed of web-page loading make it a good browser.
Cons: Every time I open IE8 beta 2, there is a message that tells me that my plug-ins are disabled; but when I go to enable them, they show that they are already enabled. Also, the tabbed browsing features don't keep up with Firefox 3.
out of 64 user reviews
Ditched Firefox.
Pros: Fast, Amazing features and looks cool :)
Cons: Not many web slices yet.
out of 64 user reviews
Looks good but creates unrelated problems
Pros: Like how it handles favorites and the links bar
Cons: Possibly creates problems in other areas
out of 64 user reviews
Best Browser Beta EVER!!
Pros: I LOVE THE ACCELERATOR FEATURE. IT ALONE OUT DOES ALL OTHER BROWERS. IT IS THE FASTEST BROWER I'VE EVER USED AND BELEIVE THAT IT IS YEARS AHEAD OF OTHER BROWSERS.
Cons: It has a few bugs, but what else do you expect in a beta. Has some compatability issues, but the compability view function normally fixes it.
out of 64 user reviews
The worst release of internet explorer. HORRIBLE.
Pros: Visually appealing...thats about it.
Cons: Slow
Memory intensive
Lack of compatability
Prone to crashes
out of 64 user reviews
it's a start, let's see what happens after beta
Pros: Seems faster, nothing quite like Chrome, but may be approaching Firefox
Pretty stable for a beta, always a good sign
Nice features and much better incorporation of add-ons
Cons: Speed is everything and right now Firefox and Chrome have it beat, though that may change after beta ends
No skins, not a deal breaker, but it'd be nice even this early on
Needs integration with the Live services (Hotmail, Mesh, Office, etc)
out of 64 user reviews
Amazing and Useful
Pros: I have seen a bunch of test results that show that 8.2 uses very lilttle processing power when not loading a new page, and other browsers, even firefox uses for CPU when not loading a new page. it also looks nice, and the new features are very nice
Cons: I really find it confusing trying to set up webslices and other features, but when it is not in beta they will definately make it easier
out of 64 user reviews
GR8 browser , like the tabs and security
Pros: Filtering of cross scripting
Cons: still playing around , will update later
out of 64 user reviews
Better than anything else - great performance
Pros: Security (InPrivate browsing), Performance (faster), Stability.
Cons: Eats a bit more memory
out of 64 user reviews
Nearly Perfect
Pros: Fully Compliant, Extremely Fast, Responsive Features, Functional Compatibility, Reduces Memory Usage, Updated DOM, Handling of Plugins and others are easy and security is much improved over all browsers: hands down.
Cons: Still has some missing features, AddOns would be nice to have but at present not necessary, Skinnable UI would be fantastic or at least it should adopt the currently enabled Desktop Theme.
Updated on Sep 5, 2008yeppers its the button to the right of the address bar. Sloppy web dev code makes for poor performance / bad running on IE8. However, click the compatibilty mode (it remembers the page and stores the fact that it needs to load that site in compatiblity mode)
Updated on Sep 5, 2008Some sites needs to be run in compatibility mode. This will enable them to view and work correctly until at such time that the website can update its code to be compliant.
out of 64 user reviews
Waste of Time and Money
Pros: Nothing worth to mention
Cons: Old wine in new bottle, why did MS invested so much money to give what users already have.
out of 64 user reviews
Feels better than Firefox and Chrome !
Pros: Browser experience
Stability
Faster
Less RAM usage, hence not making other processes/programs slower
Cons: Not open source
Cant have my own add ons
Cant change the asthetics (themes, colors .. etc)
out of 64 user reviews
Beta = bugs, doesn't ruin experience.
Pros: Having the tabs in separate processes helps improve the speed and stability of the browser; no more slow pages hijacking your browser. Grouped tabs help with organisation in a many-tab session. Segregated activex makes the browser more secure.
Cons: Tab grouping still somewhat basic; You can't manually group the tabs or choose the color IE used (especially annoying if it chooses the same color twice). A lot of pages have to be run in compatibility mode. Moved the add-to-favorites button
Having tabs in separate processes also helps improve security since they don't have access to each other. Active X controls are also segregated so users won't step on each other on a multi-user computer which, combined with active X now only applying to singular domains, helps improve security.
IE8B2 has a compatibility mode which I seem to use a lot. Many of the pages I use it on have video or animated crap on them so it might be an issue with the flash plug-in rather than any actual web page compatibility issues, if that is the case it will probably be ironed out once the beta is over. Even under compatibility mode nothing is lost in the way of speed or convenience so the only thing lost is the time required to press the button, and you can set it to start in that mode if you want.
The accelerators item is also interesting though I haven't had much time testing hem as the ones they have right out of the box like Encarta aren't all that useful to me. Once the browser hits release though expect those to crop up like weeds; then the problem will be sifting out the bad clones.
One of the things I like the best about it is that it groups tabs automatically when you open a link from another web page. There is an issue with it, though, as you can manually group pages that are already open and you can't choose your own tab colors; the second issue can become confusing if you have been through a couple of groups and IE cycles to a color you are already using (having two sets of green tabs doesn't work).
The favorites bar is an interesting tool for seeing if feeds have updated. Previously I would have to open the RSS aggregator by hand and check for updates and now it shows when there's something new right on the favorites bar so I don't have to worry about checking. I personally don't use the bar sine I don't like toolbars taking up my screen space but it is still a neat feature to have. A gripe I do have with that is that the 'add to favorites' button is no longer next to the button to open the favorites list and is now IN the favorites list so adding pages to the list takes a little longer.
Overall the browser is faster, safer and more stable than its previous versions, but it still retains a few bugs which will hopefully be ironed out by release.
out of 64 user reviews
Finally!!!
Pros: The browser is fast, intelligent, safe, passes the Acid 2 test and easy to use.
Cons: - Sometimes crashes
- Live Hotmail doesn't work properly
- Not in my own language (but english is not a problem ;) )
out of 64 user reviews
It is a betz release
Pros: I like the fact that Microsoft has instituted the In private feature in its new version of internet explorer, but I'm able to do this now with Firefox.
Cons: The add-on toolbar don't always work as expected (but then it is a Beta).
out of 64 user reviews
Wouldn't Install
Pros: Couldn't tell you of any because it won't install because of spyware inside of it.
Cons: Don't like the Spyware.Baidu that is attached inside this program. My virus scanner stops it from installing on my computer because of it's medium threat level. It won't be on my pc at anytime for this reason.
out of 64 user reviews
Horrible""
Pros: None i could see
Cons: It kept crashing on me.I dont know why as my machine isnt that old.
out of 64 user reviews
worse than IE 7
Pros: protection from what other websites seeing you
deletes history
more addons
Cons: whenever I clicked on something, it would take me back to the top of the page
if i clicked it wouldn't always register
I couldn't download (successfully) any youtube videos
slow
couldn't download a lot
out of 64 user reviews
CRASH PRONE
Pros: Nothing is good about it.
Cons: Everything is wrong! I can't even finish installing it! It bricked my laptop!
out of 64 user reviews
Give it a miss...
Pros: Private browsing...
Cons: Ugly gui. Cannot be customized. No free add ons. Not as secure as FireFox.
out of 64 user reviews
Second Tab Problem
Pros: Has a new toolbar with suggested sites and most used etc
Cons: When I click on the other tab, it says about:tab in the address bar and the words on the tab alternate between 'tab' and 'connecting'.
out of 64 user reviews
One of the best
Pros: much improved usability with features that where sorely missing in IE7 such as the ability to reopen recently closed tabs, the security features are next to none "out of box" (other bowers needs adons to have these features and level of security)
Cons: It could be a bit faster to my liking. better looking tabs (it not extremely clear what tab you have selected) a lot of web pages need the IE7 emulator turned on to be viewed correctly . I'm sure this will become less necessary as sites are updated.
out of 64 user reviews
Very nice but needs more addons
Pros: Best IE fast secure everything is pretty nice this gonna be a match for firefox when the real comes out. But one thing firefox have so many good plugins/add ons that i love! if IE got all plugins firefox have should i use it for sure!
Cons: It needs more add-ons have don't find any bug yet.
Updated on Aug 30, 2008sry for my english.
out of 64 user reviews
Still Firefox a lot better
Pros: The speed seems to have increased; page to page it's better than before.
Cons: Long time to get started. The screen doesn't show it when loading; you get half of the browser. The tabs don't get saved and this is the worse one.
Finally to close it it takes long.
out of 64 user reviews
download it
Pros: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx
Cons: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx
out of 64 user reviews
potential it has.
Pros: looks neat and well tied together. i love that it's fairly user friendly. the addres bar is smart. it has some potential. i.e 7 which is already very efficient. the protection i.e 8 when it's ready offers is amazing. a little buggy as beta are.
Cons: I was awaiting replacement for wmp11 because unlike itunes you can't podcast without 3'rd party. that should have been a priorty. also adding to favories use to be neat. now it goes to a bar as a button. not needed. if i want fire fox.i'll get it.
out of 64 user reviews
The Best IE YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pros: IE8 is so much faster and is so much easier to use i definitely would recommend this to my friends.
Cons: none yet!!!
out of 64 user reviews
Good job Microsoft!
Pros: security and interface
Cons: can't uninstall
out of 64 user reviews
it died on me
Pros: It's a bit faster than old IE
Cons: After reboot the uninstaller died and ie failed to start as all the buttons didn't do nothing and the address bar was locked into some read only state.
out of 64 user reviews
Needs work
Pros: The new items are nice
Cons: I can no loger use Yahoo as my home page, I got a message from them, they don't support my browser, IE 8 freezes and locks up 2 out of 3 times I use it.. It would not let me get to My Msn page..
out of 64 user reviews
Impressed with this Beta
Pros: Much faster than I can remember IE ever being. Much more secure. Good blockers.
Cons: Not nearly as customizeable as Firefox. Autocomplete for URLs is still archaic. Please integrate search into the address box.
out of 64 user reviews
Some bugs...
Pros: Speed, declared features, design
Cons: Bugs related to foreing languages, problems loading pages with flash (actionscript 2) and ajax code, sometimes layout errors
out of 64 user reviews
Still crashing for me
Pros: Getting there
Cons: loads more work to do ...
Think i ve lost all intrest with IE
out of 64 user reviews
improvement
Pros: wow didn't think i'd say this but this is a huge improvement compared to ie7
Cons: still needs more features to compete with firefox
out of 64 user reviews
Goodbye Firefox, Opera & Safari
Pros: Great improvements. Faster, Safer. Great features like Accelerator, InPrivate browsing, Simple interface with all previous great features.
Cons: Actually Nothing. but i need more addon for IE.
out of 64 user reviews
Finally a big Thanx to Microsoft!! An awesome version!
Pros: Very stable, Inprivate browsing and blocking very useful, Tab color and group colors are pleasing to eyes, accelerators EXTREMELY useful... and its still beta! The final will overtake ff i'm sure! I've already switched to it happily!
Cons: Minor compatibility issues with some sites but gets fixed by compatibility view.
The final will clearly be the winner!
out of 64 user reviews
Recommend for upgrade, not use.
Pros: Faster, Safer, Smarter, more reliable, a less flashy interface that actually has some use.
Cons: Not on par with Firefox no matter what anybody says. Definitely not the best browser, one of the better browsers.
out of 64 user reviews
Works Great, Best Browser out their hands down
Pros: New features really speed up browsing, this is the first revolution of browsing activities since tabs. Accelerators are awsome, especialy if you use Live Services already (which you should).
Cons: No issues to date
out of 64 user reviews
AWSOME, Highly recomended
Pros: The gui is much sleeker
the new features are spectacular
Cons: none so far
out of 64 user reviews
Off to a good start
Pros: They are obviously working on some serious updated underpinnings here.
Cons: Not yet ready for use. Some sites are rendering only partially.
out of 64 user reviews
Doesn't work at all
Pros: Well since this broke, can't really elaborate on this.
Cons: Starts up -- after about a minute it exits.
out of 64 user reviews
Way More Improved
Pros: Color Tabs
Speed is better at start up from IE7
Improved Security
InPrivate Mode
Better Updated UI
Nice New Features
Cons: A Bit Buggy Still but it's a Beta. It's not perfect
Breaks on Hand Coded sites. By that i mean the sites that were coded a bit more to make IE6&7 look right.
out of 64 user reviews
Pleasantly surprised
Pros: The colour coding is great as are all the details provided when a new tab is opened.
No crashes to report very solid for a beta product.
Cons: None so far
out of 64 user reviews
Does not work at all...
Pros: Opens quickly.
Cons: Shuts down even faster.
Updated on Aug 29, 2008As an update to my review, I finally got the 64 bit version of IE 8 to work. It is faster and has a better 'feel' than IE7. I have had some web site compatability problems, but that is to be expected from a beta. I was surprised to find that My MSN homepage only displays the next version.
Some minor problems with the Protected Mode. I checked the box but the status bar states that it is off, but if I turn it off I get a warning. I am glad they improved the the cookie options. Now all it needs is a version of "NoScript", and some 64 bit plugins.
out of 64 user reviews
still too buggy for the masses
Pros: Looks a little sleaker
Cons: Hangs the system up on XP
