MS releases IE 8 public beta

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 6th March 2008
Comments (12) Stumble
The beta programme is open for all to download, but be warned there are still some pretty major bugs.

The beta programme is open for all to download, but be warned there are still some pretty major bugs.

So, you read that the latest version of Internet Explorer will default to rendering pages in a 'strict compliance' mode, but you can't quite bring yourself to believe that Microsoft would do such a thing? Now's your chance to find out, with the official public beta of IE 8.

Before you get all excited, be aware that the install procedure will require a reboot – no surprises there. The new build does have one or two tricks up its sleeve during the process, however.

Perhaps the most interesting feature you'll come across during the installation procedure is toward the end: should you have a copy of Firefox installed, IE will offer to import all your bookmarks, RSS feeds, and so forth. Where the new build differs from the old is with the final tick box in the import wizard – IE 8 will actually check your Firefox extension too. Now, it'd be too much to hope that it would just pull them across and work invisibly, not to mention the fact that the Mozilla Foundation would probably need to have strong words if that were the case. Instead, the installer links you to a web page containing a selection of add-ons that Microsoft think are a good match for what you already have installed. Sadly, the most popular Firefox add-ons – Adblock Plus and NoScript – aren't available. In fact, when I tried it out the only option it gave me was a version of the Greasemonkey add-on. Still, it shows where Microsoft is hoping to go with this new version.

Being a beta, the new browser isn't exactly the most stable thing in the universe: I've already encountered issues rendering pages containing large tables, and had a couple of crashes. Ignoring the bugs – which I would hope Microsoft will have worked out by the time the final release rolls around – I'm pleasantly surprised by how nice the browser is to use.

Not nice enough to make me ditch Firefox, of course. But nice.

Tempted to give the new build a whirl, or are you going to wait for the final release? Let us know via the forums.
Quote proxess 6th March 2008, 08:26
wow... they are getting closer to perfection a.i. complete imitation of firefox, especially firefox 3. there must be some buts somewhere.
Quote samkiller42 6th March 2008, 08:49
Righty, im now using IE8 beta 1, one pretty large problem already, ouch. When you have tabs open, with two different sites, and your on tab 1, and you press Home, it sends both tabs to the home page, that can't be good.
Nothing more to report as of yet.

Sam

Edit, ok, my small problem took an interesting turn, i pressed home, and it opened a new Tab opening the new IE8 Web Page, grr, but it did manage to keep bit-tech and the other page open, so good news there.
Quote HourBeforeDawn 6th March 2008, 08:56
okay so ya if you have Vista and are running SP1 then it wont work nor will it even let you install it, say that its not compatible with your version of Vista lol, ya thats a great sign.
Quote samkiller42 6th March 2008, 09:00
Quote:
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
okay so ya if you have Vista and are running SP1 then it wont work nor will it even let you install it, say that its not compatible with your version of Vista lol, ya thats a great sign.

Hum, thats an interesting one, I know full damn well im running Vista x64 and SP1, and it works fine.
Edit from my previous post: By defult, the IE8 Webpage is saved as a homepage as defult, get rid of that and your running:D

Sam
Quote will. 6th March 2008, 09:28
Will this bugger up my IE7 install? I need that POS for testing.
Quote Kierax 6th March 2008, 09:30
I've heard that some pages are rendering corrupt with IE8, personally for use on a main machine I would avoid it.
Quote <A88> 6th March 2008, 11:47
Quote:
Originally Posted by will.
Will this bugger up my IE7 install? I need that POS for testing.

It'll install over IE7, but surely you can use the IE7 mode to test pages anyway?
Quote rhuitron 6th March 2008, 12:44
This is cool and all.
But I am still regretting the last time I used IE7 as a main Web browser.

So I think I will wait for the Full version. Hoping of course they fixed that damn Script error i was having that kept killing my pages.
And That they have made a couple other things a bit better to use.

Thanks for keeping us informed!
5/5
Quote lamboman 6th March 2008, 17:16
I have been using Firefox 3 Beta for a while now, since the day it was out. I am really happy with it, but there are a few things that I think that I might like in this version of IE (like the integration of several popular web services) which would make it more useful. But, I have been trying Flock recently, which seems nice. Will try IE, but don't think I will stick with it.
Quote HourBeforeDawn 7th March 2008, 06:52
Quote:
Originally Posted by samkiller42
Quote:
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
okay so ya if you have Vista and are running SP1 then it wont work nor will it even let you install it, say that its not compatible with your version of Vista lol, ya thats a great sign.

Hum, thats an interesting one, I know full damn well im running Vista x64 and SP1, and it works fine.
Edit from my previous post: By defult, the IE8 Webpage is saved as a homepage as defult, get rid of that and your running:D

Sam

well maybe then it works for 64bit, Im running 32bit and it does not. Im also running Vista Business 32bit with SP1 so that there may also make a difference.
Quote cpu121 7th March 2008, 21:12
Quote:
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
okay so ya if you have Vista and are running SP1 then it wont work nor will it even let you install it, say that its not compatible with your version of Vista lol, ya thats a great sign.
Quote:
Originally Posted by samkiller42
Hum, thats an interesting one, I know full damn well im running Vista x64 and SP1, and it works fine.
Edit from my previous post: By defult, the IE8 Webpage is saved as a homepage as defult, get rid of that and your running:D

Sam
Quote:
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
well maybe then it works for 64bit, Im running 32bit and it does not. Im also running Vista Business 32bit with SP1 so that there may also make a difference.
I believe it won't install on beta versions of SP1 but SP1 RTM works fine.
Quote phatj116 7th March 2008, 23:03
Ive tried it, you can download it from www.filehippo.com if anyones inteseted, so far nothing partiularly noticably different to IE7, i think its supposed to be slightly more secure with a few more features though. To say that its beta software from microsoft aswell it isnt too buggy which is suprising, however im gonna stick with IE7 for the time being.
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