Internet Explorer 8 beta 1 released, supports web standards

The news comes a bit surprise to us, Microsoft has decided to accept ‘web standards’ in Internet Explorer 8 by default.

Microsoft's IEBlog details the Interoperability Principles and IE8. Microsoft's official statement - Microsoft Expands Support for Web Standards (press release) also announces the support of Web Standards.

Internet Explorer 8 has been designed to include three rendering modes: one that reflects Microsoft’s implementation of current Web standards, a second reflecting Microsoft’s implementation of Web standards at the time of the release of Internet Explorer 7 in 2006, and a third based on rendering methods dating back to the early Web. The newest rendering mode is forward-looking and preferred by Web designers, while the others are present to enable compatibility with the myriad sites across the Web that are currently optimized for previous versions of Internet Explorer.

Join our discussion - “IE 8 Beta 1 Available for Download” at SillyDog701 Message Centre

Also, one new feature - WebSlices appears to be a Microsoft implement of Safari's Web Clips without a separate runtime environment like Dashboard: "Internet Explorer 8 Users can discover WebSlices within a webpage and add them to the Favorites bar, a dedicated row below the Address bar for easy access to links. Internet Explorer 8 subscribes to the webpage, detects changes in the WebSlice, and notifies the user of updates."

Other features of Internet Explorer 8 include a links bar (similar to Safari's Bookmarks Bar) that has been renamed the "Favorites Bar," an "Automatic Crash Recovery" tool, and an improved anti-phishing filter. (source: AppleInsider)

Screen shot of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 on Windows Vista:

(image courtesy of Mandrake)

Internet Explorer 7 was released in October 2006.

Join our discussion - “IE 8 Beta 1 Available for Download” at SillyDog701 Message Centre