What's this "IE8"? Another Browser?

Yeah, folks, another attempt from Microsoft to stop the decline of Internet Explorer's share of the browser market. IE7 didn't do it, so how about IE8?

Microsoft recently released the "Official" IE8. It will be available via Microsoft Update soon.
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/vistadefault.aspx?ln=en-us

You can download the code today.
https://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx

So how is it? Should I install it? My answers are: "Very Good" and "Yes". I've run he betas, Release Candidates and the final release. It's like nigh t & day compared to IE6 or even IE7 (which, in my opinion, got a bad rap). It's fast, implements browser tabs in a way that I prefer over FireFox. They've beefed up the security and added a bunch of features that make it a snap to use. I've found it to actually be faster than FireFox.

They've added a nice feature. Reality is that some web pages won't display properly. This happens every time a browser (any browser) gets upgraded like this. IE8 has a neat "Compatibility View" feature that will allow you to view a page in the older format. There's even an option to report a web page problem to MS.

One last "feature" that can help you make the decision. Unlike some previous version, you can un-install IE8 easily and revert back to the previous version! I've done it several times (on XP and Vista) with no problems at all.

I would highly recommend that anyone using IE6 or IE7 upgrade. It's not often that we can pat MS on the back, but this is one of them. If you don't like it, you can always un-install it.

BTW, I do have FireFox installed also. I use it in those very seldom situations where IE8 won't work. FYI, I haven't had to do it since the production version was installed.... :-)