Computer Support Network

Yesterday Microsoft released the final build of Internet Explorer 8 for public download. Since part of my job is to ensure that our websites are compatible against all I decided to be the company guinea. Let’s see how IE8 stacks up against the other top browsers today.

After installing the new browser IE8 complied in true Microsoft fashion and crashed immediately. An auspicious start but I reopened the program and started the setup process. The first thing you will notice is that IE8 offers a number of new services.

Suggested Sites: This feature monitors your browsing history to recommend websites you might like. I would prefer to find websites on my own so I turned this off.

Accelerators: The Accelerators feature lets keywords in website connect to other services such as automated maps, translation tools, or even blog services.

SmartScreen Filter: SmartScreen Filter does just what you might expect. It blocks certain websites and online phishing scams to protect your system. This should be left on.

Compatibility Views: This one has had me interested for awhile. This feature is intended to make websites for older browsers look better in the new platform.

Once finished setting up I browsed to our website and was happy to see everything in its place. Moving onto the contact us page I decided to see if the Accelerators work as intended and selected our address. The result? Pretty impressive.

A new feature that many people will appreciate is Tab Groups. All modern web browsers use tabs but this feature makes searches more intuitive. If you open Google, or any Search Engine, you probably open more than one result. Internet Explorer places all these results into a single color coded tab. You can flip through them normally but when you finish you can close the entire tab at once.

The address bar sees an improvement directly from Firefox. The new address bar remembers previous results to assist you when you wish to return to a site. IE8 offers additional usability improvements and allows you to remove old addresses that you no longer want.

Finally let’s look at performance. Speed has always been an issue for Microsoft Browsers and IE8 doesn’t seem to break the mold. In test with popular individual websites and websites that contain multiple news articles IE8 came in dead last in load speed against all other browsers. In most cases this was a difference on only a few seconds but after the claims by Microsoft of a major improvement this is a definite letdown. During the early testing phases some high profile websites such as facebook.com, bbc.co.uk, and cnn.com were having difficulties with the new browser. In the final build these websites are displaying fine but some other high profile sites such as the NY Times and Dell Support have been less successful. Microsoft promises to improve performance as time goes on but until then you may experience some oddities with your favorite websites.

Overall and despite a few compatibility hitches IE8 is still a step in the right direction from ie7. For security reasons I would suggest waiting a couple weeks for any patches but if you still use Internet Explorer as your primary browser than I would say it’s a worthwhile upgrade. Just don’t expect it to surpass Firefox in performance.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Earlier this week Microsoft revealed that in preparation for the release of Internet Explorer 8 they have taken steps to make the transition as easy as possible. Internet Explorer 8 has a planned release as part of the auto update functionally of all Windows Operating Systems.

“We believe IE8 helps make browsing the web faster, easier, safer and more reliable. To help our users be more secure and up-to-date, we will distribute IE8 via Automatic Update (AU) and the Windows Update (WU) and Microsoft Update (MU) sites much like we did for IE7.”

Along with this preparation Microsoft has released an upgrade blocker with businesses in mind. For security and compatibility reasons it is wise for corporate IT departments to test new internet browsers before they commit fully to them. The IE8 Blocker Toolkit does just that; stalls the auto update process and allows for internal application tests with the new browser.

The official release date for IE8 has not yet been announced but it is known that Microsoft plans to release one final test release during the first quarter of 2009. It is expected that the IE8 release will be coincide with Windows 7, which is also scheduled for release later this year.

The upgrade to IE8 is targeted as a “high priority” for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003; both of which suffer from security vulnerabilities. For windows Vista the upgrade is not as crucial because of tighter security but is still listed as “important”.

If you are in charge of your businesses IT deployment and would like to learn more about the Internet Explorer 8 Blocker Toolkit you can read more about here.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Microsoft announced Tuesday that a critical vulnerability has been found in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7. The flaw in the browser can allow cybercriminals to gain access to your computer and steal your passwords. Security experts are advising users to switch to an alternate internet browser until an emergency patch can be issued.

It is highly recommended that all Internet Explorer 7 users cease using the browser until Wednesday night.

(Update)

Microsoft has now released a Critical Security Update for Internet Explorer. View the full Security Bulletin here.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

On Wednesday Microsoft announced that the previously expected end of year release of Internet Explorer 8 would be pushed back into 2009. IE8, which entered public beta in March has undergone scrutiny for compatibility issues but was still expected to be ready for a winter 2008 release. The news that this will no longer happen has unleashed further hostility in the community from those who have adopted Firefox.

Microsoft has touted a number of new features with the release of Internet Explorer 8 but the delay has stressed validity. The problem with many of the features, such as deleting browsing history and enhanced crash recovery is that these features have already been incorporated in competitors browser’s for years. Other features such as Web Slices feel gimmicky and not worthy of holding up a project. The most important upgrades are for security and an improved rendering engine, but again, these features have already been done. Why is it taking Microsoft so long to implement them?

The release of Windows 7 is planned for the second half of 2009 and is expected to ship with IE8. Considering the complications that would arise if the operating system shipped with a broken browser it can be expected that a standalone version will ship prior to the launch. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft can get its act together and release a product worthy of the version update by then.

For years Microsoft Internet Explorer has retained the largest market share of browsers despite falling into last place with performance. In recent years this has begun to fall but the majority of computer users still will not seek out a new browser and so Microsoft remains on top. With the eventual release of IE8 one can only hope Microsoft finally earns that place.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Among the younger generations of web viewers the Firefox browser developed by Mozilla has already overtaken the market. In an effort to continue this trend Mozilla has announced that it will be looking towards the community of the release of its next generation. Firefox already has a high degree of open source functionality but by putting a call out to the community directly they plan to extend their service even further.

Ultimately the importance of this comes back to web development in general. For years Microsoft Internet Explorer has remained unchallenged in the world internet browsing; to this day they make up 51% of the market. The problem with this is that despite its overall user base Internet Explorer has long been regarded as the worst browser and by far the least friendly system to design web content for. The logic behind how this is even possible comes from the fact that for these years Microsoft has been able to monopolize the market. Every Windows computer ships with Internet Explorer preinstalled and so it’s what the common public uses. When you already have the market cornered there is little need to improve your service. But all this looks to change in the near future.

In the last year Firefox usage on the web has increased from 31.0% to 42%. If this trend continues Microsoft may finally find themselves with no choice but evolve. If Internet Explorer is bought up to the standards of Firefox numerous new design possibilities will arise. Designers will no longer be bottlenecked by an inferior browser. What this means for consumers is a better stronger web environment for everyone.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department