Internet Explorer 8 Final, Ready for Download
In recent times, Microsoft’s ubiquitous Internet Explorer has fallen behind.
Even with it being the default browser shipped on most of the world’s computers, Internet Explorer was losing ground to Mozilla’s Firefox, Apple’s Safari, and even Google’s Chrome.
The reason for IE’s slip was simple, and that’s because it was lagging behind the competition. Microsoft set out to bring back IE with a vengeance, and today’s the day of the official release of Internet Explorer 8.
"Customers have made clear what they want in a Web browser -- safety, speed and greater ease of use," said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "With Internet Explorer 8, we are delivering a browser that gets people to the information they need, fast, and provides protection that no other browser can match."
Early feedback from users of the IE8 beta and RC, as well as Windows 7 testers, is positive. Being that security is one of the top concerns amongst internet users, Microsoft boasts that a study released today by NSS Labs indicates that Internet Explorer 8 blocks two to four times as many malicious sites as other browsers on the market today.
Microsoft is pushing that its browser now among the fastest, saying that IE8 will beat top browsers in page load time on almost 50 percent of the 25 top comScore web sites. See a chart with speed comparisons here.
Internet Explorer 8 will be available for download here at noon EDT.
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No comparison with Safari?Reply
Anyway, the reason many people not liking IE is not the loading speed, it's much more because of the security holes causing trouble the in the past. -
theuerkorn Oddly enough IE8 loads Mozilla.com faster while Firefox loads microsoft.com faster. Overall load speed difference is insignificant in daily use. For me it's the usability that makes a difference.Reply
Either way, I will load IE8 for development puroses but still keep Firefox as the browser to use. I am sure Windows 7 will give IE8 a boost, but many Firefox converts will just as quickly load FF onto any new system. -
Tindytim bravuraNo comparison with Safari?Anyway, the reason many people not liking IE is not the loading speed, it's much more because of the security holes causing trouble the in the past.The reason it has more security problems isn't necessarily because of security holes, it's because of it's marketshare.Reply -
matt_b bravuraNo comparison with Safari?Anyway, the reason many people not liking IE is not the loading speed, it's much more because of the security holes causing trouble the in the past.Don't forget the tight integration it has inside Windows in the fist place.Reply -
average joe Ive had IE 8 Beta for quite a while now and it drives me a little nuts. For the most part I use IE for all my tasks. Adobe SGI seems to only work with IE and not at all with firefox. I have alot of Monowall WRAPS out and about that I need to monitor the traffic graphs on. IE is the only browser that displays them properly. Anyways... IE 8 drives me nuts. You must be familiar with the yellow pop up bar in IE imagine having to use that for every web page with flash, active x, or any kind of script. It also crashes a lot. I installed it on XP before SP3 was installed so i could not remove it with some effort which is why its still installed.Reply -
SneakySnake security isn't my top concern, its my anit-virus' top concern. Speed is what I care about and after messing around the IE8 beta I can confidently say that speed is what IE8 lacksReply -
No security holes?Reply
-> (PWN2OWN 2009) -> http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Pwn2Own-CanSecWest-2009,7322.html#xtor=RSS-181
Just like last year, Firefox was the last one hacked.