Microsoft unveils Internet Explorer 8

06-03-2008

by Charlie Taylor

Taking steps to ensure that it maintains its position as the most popular web browser available, Microsoft has launched a beta version of Internet Explorer 8.

With Firefox gaining ground, Microsoft has been attempting to bolster its browser, but the latest upgrade will do little to whet the appetite of internet users.

Although the Redmond-based behemoth dragged its heels when it came to upgrading Internet Explorer last time round, when IE 7 was finally unveiled in October 2006 -- some five years after the release of IE 6 -- it came with a host of new enhancements including anti-phishing features, improved Active X controls, tabbed browsing and an integrated RSS feed reader.

However, the latest version of the browser, which was unveiled on Wednesday at MIX '08, Microsoft's web designer and developer conference, offers little more than a few tweaks here and there rather than a wholesale upgrade.

In addition to two brand new features, 'Activities' and 'WebSlices', IE 8 comes with integrated developer tools and better compliance with web standards. The Activities feature allows users to highlight text on a website, and from there map addresses, define or translate words, send content to another application and more. Meanwhile, WebSlices enables users to subscribe to content directly within a webpage in a similar manner to which they can subscribe to RSS feeds.

Internet Explorer 8 beta 1 also promises increased interoperability, offers developers better predictability when designing sites, and comes with full support for cascading style sheet (CSS) 2.1 at release to manufacturing. The browser, which is scheduled for full release later on this year, also includes integrated developer tools to quickly debug HTML, CSS and scripts in a visual environment.

Although Microsoft remains some way in front of its rivals in the browser market, its slice of the pie has decreased substantially over the past few years.

Whereas IE was once the browser of choice for over 90 percent of internet users, a recent report from the French web-monitoring company XiTi Monitor indicates that in Europe, Mozilla Firefox is now used by 28 percent of people going online, up 5 percent in one year. Internet Explorer's European market share has now slipped to 66.1 percent.

Finland is the most Firefox-friendly country in Europe with the browser enjoying a 45 percent share there. Slovenia (44.6 percent) and Poland (42.4 percent) are not far behind and Firefox is also proving popular in Ireland with 29.6 percent of internet users using the browser.

More worryingly for Microsoft is the fact that while internet users have been quick to upgrade when Firefox has launched new versions of its browser, Microsoft has had a harder job convincing users to make the switch.

On average, whereas Firefox 2.0, which was launched around the same time as IE7, generated 93 percent of all Mozilla Firefox web visits in December, IE7 only generated 46 percent of all Internet Explorer visits, suggesting that most IE users aren't upgrading to the latest version of the browser.

Given that Internet Explorer 8 offers little in the way of excitement for internet users, Microsoft may well have a hard task trying to convince people that it's worth the effort downloading the browser. The beta version of IE 8 is available for download here for developers and designers.