As you probably know, Microsoft recently released Internet Explorer 8 Beta and it already promises its users “the best Web experience ever.” It is now available for download to everyone, but it primarily targets Web developers and designers so that they can test the new tools, layouts and programming enhancements.
Internet Explorer 8 Beta will run on both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows Vista with the Windows Vista SP1, as well as, Windows XP SP 2 and Windows Server 2003 and 2008. So, what do you say we go over a few of the new features found in IE 8? Let’s go!
Controlling active x Installations – Many controls are not secure and could be misused by malicious Web sites. Luckily, all of that can be eliminated by running Active X controls on a site by site basis.
Activities – This is a new right click menu feature in IE 8. You can right click a selected item to find a list of activities that can be done, such as blogging, defining, searching, translating and many more.
Web Slices – This new feature enables you to subscribe to marked content on a Web page. It is similar to subscribing to an RSS feed. When the content changes, you receive a notification on the new Favorites bar. A Web Slice can also be previewed without an additional navigation, because it is provided as a drop down item under the Favorites bar. When you click on a Web Slice, it drops down and you can preview the content. You can then click through to go to the slice’s original Web page or you can simply view it in the drop down list.
Developer Tools – These tools expose the way IE interprets a Web page. Therefore, you can view individual attributes of an element on a Web page, etc. To open the Developer Tools, press Shift + F12 or simply click on the Developer Tools button located on the Internet Explorer tool bar.
Favorites Bar – The Links bar has been replaced with a new Favorites bar. It can contain links to documents on your hard drive, Web Slices and RSS feeds.
Crash Recovery – This long awaited feature is finally making its debut in Internet Explorer. After a browser or individual tab crashes, you will now have the option of restoring it on the spot.
There you have it. Now you know what you can expect from IE 8.
