Microsoft IE8

 Microsoft IE8 expected by March-April

December 24, 2008

Microsoft is expected to launch the latest version of its Internet Explorer browser, IE8, some time in March or April, with many improvements that will make it simpler, faster and safer to surf the Net.

The new browser, currently available in beta mode, is the result of 24 months’ of research and development, according to Michael Hartmann, Senior Director, BMO Central and East Europe, Microsoft.

He said at a press briefing in Nicosia that people spend about 80% of their time navigating back and forth on the Internet. The new IE8 will help faster navigation as the browser already looks up the history each time you type an address.

“When browsing, we grouped things logically, grouped and coloured together,” Hartmann explained.

“People spend a lot of time navigating between sites, which lowers productivity. Now, we have an accelerated context-sensitive menu that allows you to find maps, directions or other information with the right-click of the mouse.

“Also, a lot of people monitor several websites for news feeds, live tickers or other sources of news and information. We now have ‘web slices’ site-enabling that puts all these together onto one platform so that you don’t have to click back or forward.

“Finally, there are a lot of security and privacy concerns with misuse. So, we came up with ‘In Private Browsing’ so that you don’t have to leave a trace on a site, not in the history nor with cookies and blocks any ‘back windows’ to malware. IE8 also provides an effective clean up of temporary Internet files that excludes ‘favourites’.”