IE 8 Joins the Browser MIX
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News Analysis. Today, at MIX09, Dean Hachamovitch, Internet Explorer general manager, announced IE 8's release. |
Reviewers and even Microsoft's press site upstaged the official announcement. The software is available for download now, in 25 languages for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008. Dumbos like me running Windows 7 Beta 1 have to wait for the release candidate.
Dean said that Microsoft released IE 8 at MIX09 because the browser is important to developers. How right. But what he didn't say is that all browsers are important to developers, or that IE 8 comes into a more competitive market than its predecessors. IE 6 had no real competitors, with Netscape effectively doomed by 2001. Firefox was just a wisp of an upstart when IE 7 released. Much has changed since late 2006. Apple is beta testing Safari 4, the second major release for Windows. Google launched its Chrome browser last year and updated it just this week. Mozilla is testing Firefox 3.1.
Search is the driving force among Internet Explorer's major competitors. All three browsers use Google search as default provider. Paid search pays off for Apple, Google and Mozilla. In my testing, IE 8 is the best browser Microsoft has released in a decade. But I assert this with some anger. Microsoft fought the browser wars with Netscape only to abandon the territory—and that really meant abandoning developers, too.
IE 6 and much less so IE 7 had huge problems with Cascading Style Sheets and other adopted or emerging Web standards. Microsoft typically does its best work when competition is fiercest. But it shouldn't have taken increased competition for Microsoft to, in 2009, finally release a modern Web browser.
Too Much Marketing Spiel
Surprisingly, Dean gave a marketing speech. Microsoft told the real IE 8 developer story yesterday. I'll recap that story in a few paragraphs. Microsoft designed IE for three constituencies, Dead claimed: "The people who build the Web, the people who use the Web and the people who attack the people who build and use the Web."
Based on my testing and review of yesterday's developer announcements, IE 8 serves all three groups pretty well, although the latter one probably wants less attention from Microsoft. For them, Dean has some bad news: IE 8 protects against 1 million phishing attempts a month. He demoed the most typical of malware infection scenarios. He searched for security software and found a new product, which really was just malware. This bait-and-switch tactic, of offering security protection only to infect the Windows PC, is one of the more common malware attacks. Firefox 3 took the user to the site, while IE 8 blocked access.
Would betas of Firefox 3.1 or Safari 4.0 go there? I wonder. Dean did several other comparisons that made me uncomfortable. There was something Apple-like about the comparisons—of overemphasizing benefits while ignoring shortcomings. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is a master of this sleight-of-hand demo, where something is made out better than it really is. In testing, I've found Chrome and Firefox security and phishing protection to be excellent. I'd say the same about Safari 4.0 on the Mac, but not on Windows simply because I haven't tested the browser there yet.
eWEEK Labs' Tests of Microsoft IE 8 Show Web Browser Is a Must-Upgrade
Still, Microsoft has made important security improvements, which should matter to Web developers. For developers of legitimate Web applications or sites, IE 8 security improvements help protect them, too. If, say, the browser protects against rogue scripts, hackers would have less incentive to try to inject those scripts into Websites.
I agree with Dean, who said, "On the Web, bad things happen to real people in many, many ways." His point, as I took it: Malware attacks don't just come from bad Internet neighborhoods like porn sites anymore. Trouble can come from a benign search for security software, download of a screensaver or visit to a friend's MySpace page.
Tab-and-Switch
Dean got me to chuckling when showing off another feature, and, again, where his comparison was selective. Firefox got a huge usability jump over IE 7, even before it released, by offering recovery protection. If IE 7 crashes, the session data is lost. If Firefox crashes, the session recovers. This one feature is the main reason I long preferred Firefox over Internet Explorer. If I were writing a blog post and Firefox crashed, I could relaunch the browser and recover my work. It would be lost in IE 7.
Microsoft plays catch-up with IE 8, which now features recovery protection, and a little more. In Firefox 3, Dean showed a video running in one tab and the browser crashing from a Website opened in another tab. Relaunching Firefox recovers the session, but the video playback location is lost. He then repeated the exercise in IE 8, where just the one tab crashed, leaving the video playing in another.
"That's because we've isolated the tabs from each other," Dean said. "Containing the impact of a crash is just huge for consumers with many tabs open at once." Had he done the comparison with Chrome, the results might have been different. Google's browser runs tabs as separate browser instances, like IE 8.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 Touts 9 Significant New Features
Dean also highlighted some of the user interface changes, such as the horizontal drop-down list of search providers. According to Microsoft research, 70 percent of users have more than one search provider installed. Based on my testing, Microsoft makes choosing search providers easier than any other browser, even Firefox. This ease of choosing puts Google's ongoing complaints about IE search in different context. What Google wants is to be the default provider, like with other major browsers—so I say.
Pushing the Accelerators
Dean spoke about the importance of Accelerators and Web Slices but more in context of end users than developers. D`oh, this is a developer event, right? Microsoft better highlighted the developer opportunity yesterday, when introducing new Expression 3 features, including Web SuperPreview, which provides a single console for testing Website compatibility across browsers. The new Expression tools also offer integrated Web Slices creation. Drop. Dead. Simple.
But Dean spoke about none of these developer opportunities, perhaps not to repeat yesterday's news. But if so, why do the same tired old Accelerators and Web Slices spiel? There was almost an insecurity about the features and how developers might receive them, as he prattled off data to explain why there are Accelerators and Web Slices. Or perhaps there's something else going on. Microsoft is launching IE 8 during troubling times. The European Union is concluding an antitrust investigation that is almost certain to find that Microsoft's bundling IE with Windows is anti-competitive. Accelerators and Web Slices aren't exactly open standards. Perhaps Microsoft chose this venue to justify them.
As for the data, "80 percent of navigations is back to where the user has been already," Dean said, and 18 out of the top 20 commands in IE have to do with navigation and tabs. Accelerators and Web Slices seek to minimize all this mucky mucking about by either more easily bringing information to the user (Web Slices) or making the navigation to somewhere else faster and easier (Accelerators).
Dean explained that Microsoft developed Accelerators because so many browser users click, copy and paste in one tab to another. Personally, I find accelerators to be annoying, but maybe it's because of how I interact with content on the page. Web Slices I like, and there's a lot of power in them for developers. Dean showcased the ultra-cool WebSlice from OneRiot as an example.
Meeting Web Standards?
Compatibility is one of the most heated topics surrounding IE 8. Dean spent much less time on the topic than I expected and again from a marketing rather than developer perspective. He ran tests in different browsers showing their CSS standards compliance. Of course, IE was best.
Still, I agree with Dean's assertion that Web "standards are incredibility complex" and that "we are committed to standards." He was right in telling developers that "you need consistent behavior across browsers."
I predict that Internet Explorer 8 will be a watershed release for Microsoft. But I also agree with the problems observed by eWEEK colleague Jim Rapoza, who today wrote:
While IE 8 is a worthwhile upgrade for current IE users, it's doubtful that it will convince users of Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari or Opera to make the switch to IE. Since the first IE 8 betas were released, the Web browser landscape has changed dramatically, with all of IE's competitors releasing new versions and, in the case of Google Chrome, a brand-new major competitor entering the field. In fact, while IE 8 is in all ways a current-generation Web browser, it is already falling behind its competitors, which tend to be upgraded more aggressively and frequently.
It's the lack of currency in Dean's keynote that most disturbed me, and it resonates with Jim's assessment. In some ways, IE 8 already feels old, and it just released. IE 8 is a huge improvement over IE 7. I wouldn't recommend IE 7 to anybody. The older browser is like a half-baked pie, while IE 8 is crusty with delicious cream filling inside. But other bakers have been busy, too, and some used better recipes.
Perhaps Dean's closing statement foreshadows the browser's future: "What developers do with IE 8 makes all the difference."
[Please send your tips or rumors to watchtips at gmail.com.]
Comments (35)
"...If IE 7 crashes, the session data is lost. If Firefox crashes, the session recovers..."
Yes, that is correct, but comes at a price. Firefox uses a separate process for each session, that is why it uses huge amounts of memory, when compared to IE.
Posted by Evan | March 19, 2009 3:05 PM
The selectiveness of Microsoft's demos was also picked up by Mossberg at the WSJ.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123741534563477269.html
It seems the biggest problem with IE8 is the speed of it's javascript engine. Not surprising, the world wants Ajax and Microsoft says we'll give you Silverlight. Will they ever learn that no-one is willing to place their future development in their clenched hands.
Posted by Phil | March 19, 2009 3:14 PM
As a graphic example of how IE is keeping up with standards, look at the Acid 3 test result. IE 8 splutters to 20% whereas all other browsers are getting 90-100%.
http://acid3.acidtests.org/
They were so proud of themselves that they passed Acid 2, yet suddenly Acid 3 is not representative or something.
On the same day Google shows off how browsers really should perform.
www.chromeexperiments.com
Posted by billybob | March 19, 2009 3:29 PM
Let's get the record straight.AJAX is fully integrated into .NET (years ago and let's not forget that Microsoft created the first AJAX like application, namely OWA 97) and thus fully supported by Microsoft; Javascript speed has been improved and IE8 is at least as fast, if not faster,. in displaying pages,as any other browser out there. according to the most recent tests.
Posted by Evan | March 19, 2009 4:31 PM
Which tests? All the ones that I have seen show IE 8 faster but still way behind.
Oh... You mean the Microsoft designed tests run by Microsoft for Microsoft?
They might be more recent, but they are meaningless. We are not testing for the web of today, we are testing for the future.
Posted by billybob | March 19, 2009 5:07 PM
@Evan, dude you're on crack. I'll give you that Microsoft did partial web updates back in 1997 but the rest of what you said is ridiculous.
Posted by Phil | March 19, 2009 5:40 PM
This said it all just more new microshaft crap
thats not worth a crap.
http://www.crn.com/software/215901250
Posted by hiwaystar | March 19, 2009 7:37 PM
Phil dude, XmlHttp the basis for AJAX was first used by Microsoft in OWA 97. It was the forrunner for AJAX, not to mention a proprietary technology called RDS that was used by MS back in 97 doing Ajax like updates. The point is that Microsoft fully supports AJAX (with .Net being by far the easiest way to create AJAX apps) and silverlight is a competitor to Flash.
In addition, nobody disputed the tests by Microsoft, showing IE8 to be faster.
Posted by evan | March 20, 2009 1:40 AM
I've been using IE8 beta for a little while now. Aside from a glitch when it works with the unified comunication offering - a bug which has been fixed in the real release - I've found it enormously nicer to use than Firefox.
I can't argue from the web developer perspective. All I can do is put forward my view as someone who uses the internet for hours every day. I would rather be using IE8 than Firefox.
Before anyone accuses me, I'm not being paid to make this comment. It's my honest opinion.
Posted by Jess Meats | March 20, 2009 4:40 AM
I have to use IE to use a web site I need to access on a daily basis, but otherwise I've tended to use FireFox. I gave the initial IE8 beta a spin some months ago - it showed some promise, but wasn't ready for daily use. I put the RC on a laptop though, and enjoyed using it. Now its released, I've installed it on my desktop too.
Contrary to Joe's experience, Web Slices don't do it for me. However, as someone who does a lot of web based research, the following features really are excellent:
Accelerator - genuine time saver - but the ones IE installs by default aren't that great - have a dig around some of the others. There is more scope here - in particular I'd like one for Google Scolar.
Tab Management - One of the online academic libraries I use opens browser after browser. The real problem is the poor web site, but I can't do much about that (short of changing University), but IE8 does bring some sanity to it. (It would be nice to be able to drag a tab from one browser instance to another, though).
Search Box - changing search engine really is handy and easy, and the results preview is handy, but only available on some search engines.
Speedwise, I have such a poor internet connection there is not perceivable difference to me. The infrastructure is due to be upgraded here soon, so perhaps that will make a difference then.
I suspect I'll be using IE8 exclusively for the next couple of weeks, and providing no major issues show up, I'll be sticking with it. I see those JavaScript benchmarks too, but for my useage, IE8 provides a surprisingly better UX.
Posted by NickH. | March 20, 2009 6:09 AM
@Phil : offering Silverlight or Flash have nothing to do with offering improved JavaScript performance. They are different layers.
And ironically, as Evan is saying, MS did come up with AJAX but its strategy wasn't focused on the Web yet so it didn't have the vision of what to do with it (web services, web apps, could computing) and therefore didn't anticipate browser changes.
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IE8 is what IE7 should have been, like Win7 is what Vista should have been. It's 3 years too late, and just barely hold itself to other browsers level.
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JavaScript performance compared to IE7 has improved a lot, but the IE8 JavaScript engine is way slower than those in Firefox 3.1, Safari 4.0 and Chrome. You can find various benchmarks about this. But these benchmark are done on test environments. Now if you take the whole user experience of accessing real websites, therefore taking into consideration real network speed, page rendering, browser caching...etc... this is what MS did, you can see that IE8 is pretty good today. But these sites are going to evolve and will be more and more JavaScript intensive and when this happens IE8 will show that its JavaScript engine isn't the best.
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I used IE6 exclusively until Firefox 2 came along, it became my main browser having to revert to IE for work sites. I didn't upgrade any of my XP machines to IE7 until last summer. As a Firefox 3 user enjoying so many add-ons I can't wait for 3.1 and I don't foresee upgrading any machine to IE8 until the end of the year.
Posted by David | March 20, 2009 8:27 AM
@Evan, dude, like I said I give you that Microsoft did partial web updates back in 1997. It was in fact one of the last things they did before going to sleep for ten years after getting their browser monopoly.
Saying that .Net is the easiest way do AJAX is comical. The .Net update panel is the biggest kluge of the past 5 years. I haven't seen a single opinion from a non-Microsoft paid source that gives it any credit for design quality. Yeah you can do the patented Microsoft drag and drop demos but trying to do something useful for a production website with Microsoft Ajax is not possible.
Displaying pages is not a good measure of Javascript speed. All Microsoft is doing with their "tests" is cherry picking sites that don't have much Javascript. There isn't a single independent benchmark that shows Microsoft's engine to be anything but the slowest of the current generation browsers.
Posted by Phil | March 20, 2009 8:32 AM
@David: "offering Silverlight or Flash have nothing to do with offering improved JavaScript performance. They are different layers."
Sure they have something to do with each other. Silverlight, Flash and Javascript based Ajax are competitors for how future browser based applications will be delivered. Microsoft wants users locked in to Silverlight so the last thing they will do is provide a competitive Javascript implementation.
Posted by Phil | March 20, 2009 8:45 AM
"In addition, nobody disputed the tests by Microsoft, showing IE8 to be faster."
People were too busy laughing, everyone knows the sites were hand-picked and were devoid of javascript. Even the tests were unscientific, based on when the observer thinks the site is loaded.
They were not even really convincing. They were done against a stopwatch, yet they have differences of ~0.02 seconds. Even those broken stats show that IE was NOT faster on 52% of the sites. It is a joke.
All the proper benchmarks are reproducible and measure things that do differ between browsers.
The MS test is like graphics card manufacturers advertising that of all the cards, theirs 'feels' the smoothest. Instead we have industry standards like PC Mark. Microsoft chooses to ignore all of our browser benchmarks because they are so slow.
It is obvious they want to kill javascript on the browser and make everyone use Silverlight. It is never going to work because web developers have been there, done that. Flash is bad enough, we do not want another one of those.
Posted by billybob | March 20, 2009 10:41 AM
Jess: Browse a few of the sites linked from this page and let me know if you think it is nicer on IE.
http://chromeexperiments.com/
Approx 1/3rd of them will not work, 1/3rd will grind your whole PC to a halt and the rest will crash the browser.
These are demonstrations of the techniques we would like to use in future sites to make them responsive. Until IE gets anywhere near that level we will all be stuck in the web 1.0 world with sites that pause between page loads and has no interactivity beyond HTML forms.
Just look at this site, the only javascript is there to track you, every page takes 1-2 seconds to load. That is because they have to appeal to the lowest common denominator. If the webmasters of this site were only targeting proper browsers then we could get a much much nicer experience. Every time I load a page on this site, I have to re-download all of the header and footer HTML which is unnecessary.
I wonder if you wrote that post from work or home?
Posted by billybob | March 20, 2009 10:51 AM
Yesterday, I downloaded and installed IE8 (production) with much anticipation and, so far, I must say I'm less than impressed. On three different machines running XP and one running Vista Business, I have observed the same results:
- IE8 is slower than IE7
- IE8 is less stable then IE7 (within 30 minutes of browsing, it locked up on all 4 machines requiring shutdown via Task Manager)
- IE8 is significantly slower than either Chrome or Firefox 3.x even when run against pages one would assume are tailored for IE (MSNBC.com)
Judging from the far more favorable reviews I have read, I can only assume that something in my test environment is amiss however I cannot imagine what it might be...
Posted by Lloyd | March 20, 2009 12:49 PM
Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc, are much MORE standards compliant than IE8 yet work just fine without having to toggle goofy rendering modes. Leave it to MS to foist push buttons on users as a band-aid solution to THEIR core issues.
Now if everyone would stop complaining and just install Silverlight, then Microsoft could get back to owning the Internet and we wouldn't need to discuss all this silliness about "standards".
/sarcasm
Thank God we survived ActiveX. Don't let it happen again.
Posted by Copernicus | March 20, 2009 1:58 PM
Is it time to let Internet Exploder and ActiveX just die? After all, the rumor has it, IE8 is the last one, not doubt, helped by the efforts of the EU. Rumor is Gazelle is the replacement for the next M$ browser.
For something more for consumers"
Xbox 360 E74 errors on the rise since NXE
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/19/joystiq-survey-xbox-360-e74-errors-on-the-rise-since-nxe/
"As we interpret the data, there's been a sharp increase in the E74 error since the New Xbox Experience was released in November of last year. The obvious conclusion is that the system is being taxed by NXE in such a way that it's more prone to E74. Alternately, a more sinister theory is making the rounds on forums that Microsoft has changed the diagnostics of the system to report the Red Ring of Death error as E74. This, however, seems unlikely as many in our poll are still reporting RROD failures post-NXE."
Posted by chips b malroy | March 20, 2009 10:13 PM
LOL This is hilarious. Ballmer talks out his ass while Ozzie tries to push mash potatoes through the chicken wire walls of his cage.
Here we are on the verge of IBM+SUN. Adobe's showing they can build application anywhere with anything. Where is Microsoft? Talking about an internet browser.
HA
Mix09 is supposed to be Microsoft talking to the best of the best- those people who need the most help with the future. And here all they can talk about is IE8?
Chrome has made IE8 obsolete. Microsoft partners are pushing Sharepoint as hard as they can and they don't see what happens at the desktop when AIR kicks Silverlight into the basement.
IE8 has the techies frolicking in a kitty litter box while the big boys are talking true sandboxing across all frontiers leaving Microsoft to maintain their island-of-automation mindset.
There isn't one technology that will revolutionize software. The IP making up Sharepoint and Azure covers a large surface, but that surface can't be transported past Microsoft machines.
There are three elements interlocking to bring about a new age in software development and use.
1. Arbitrary Objects applicable to arbitrary content, arbitrary format and arbitrary functionality.
2. Granular process virtualization.
3. Granular process aggregation to higher languages.
Trying to skimp on one of those 3 is like taking a leg from a stool.
Meantime, we all get fed stool. How many of you can stomach the ignorance and arrogance and deceits?
Posted by portuno_diamo | March 21, 2009 12:19 AM
And did I mention the walls of Ozzie's cage are made out of chicken wire?
Posted by portuno_diamo | March 21, 2009 12:50 AM
Who fucking cares?
It's a browser. I don't give a shit about any of them. I use ie7 because that's what came with this computer. If they sold me a computer without a browser I'd install IE because that's what I'm used to. As long as it gets me to my porn I could care less.
Posted by CC.Torment | March 22, 2009 1:18 PM
So far only Jessie Meats, MS employee has came out to tell us how good IE8 is, surely an unbiased opinion, lol. Then theres Evan, the eternal Windows fanboy. But at least theres CCTorment, whoever is really is, who wants to get his windows computer infected with malware by surfing porn sites. It shouldn't take long to do. Even the M$ Shill Andre has not come to the rescue of the malware target Internet Exploder, unless one or more of you are Andre?
Microsoft IE 8 Launch 'Underwhelms'
http://gs.statcounter.com/press/microsoft-ie8-launch-underwhelms/
"I suppose the kindest description of user reaction to IE 8's first public outing would be 'underwhelming'," commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO and founder of StatCounter.
He contrasted the performance to the launch of Firefox 3 last June. "Firefox 3 managed to convert users from its previous browser. Usage of Firefox 3 more than doubled from 7.8% at beta testing to 18.9% over a three day period following the launch (June 16-18)."
Posted by chips b malroy | March 22, 2009 2:34 PM
I installed both IE 8 and updated my Chrome to 2.0 (beta). IE 8 seems pretty much like IE 7, no real noticeable difference. I'm keeping Chrome as my default browser, since it seems very peppy on the web sites I visit (compared to IE). Seems like websites are using more and more AJAX and JavaScript which is bad for IE. I use Firefox quite abit for the development tools, so I can't upgrade to the new beta, quite yet. Generally I only use IE to access sharepoint, webex and Windows update. Hopefully webex will fix their software to work properly with other browsers reliably. We've been slowly migrating all our sharepoint stuff to Wiki anyway, so should be able to avoid that soon.
Posted by smist08 | March 22, 2009 2:39 PM
An Infamous Cyber-Cynic Falls In Love With Linux
http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2009/03/one_of_the_grea.html
"How do you know when Linux has gone mainstream? When one of the tech industry's great cranky-pants pundits gives it a resounding thumbs-up.
Dvorak's rationale for praising Linux -- or in this case, Ubuntu Linux -- is all about nuts-and-bolts issues. He's sick of the malware that plagues Windows systems, and he's "tired of dealing with Windows malware, patch Tuesday, and the never-ending deterioration of the OS as it clogs up like a drain in a greasy-spoon restaurant."
Posted by chips b malroy | March 22, 2009 9:43 PM
My IE often stops working so i changed to the fox.
Posted by individuelles Geschenk | March 23, 2009 6:50 AM
Wake up Joe. Those who don't want the conversation alive are using your pretended blindness to discredit your site.
Posted by portuno_diamo | March 23, 2009 11:53 AM
Not surprising that Dvorak is praising Linux. Since he is a self-proclaimed cranky geek, I am sure Windows has made him very cranky. Windows is nothing but a malware breeding ground. I don't know why anyone uses it, let alone PAYS for it. I have no idea why anyone even pirates it. The funny thing is that the superior o.s. is free, so they can't pirate Linux. And the best office suite is free too.
Posted by Mills | March 23, 2009 3:46 PM
IE8 Users Downgrade To Explorer 7
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216200082
As of 8:00 am Monday, IE8 -- released Thursday -- held 1.86% of the browser market, down from a high of 2.59% on Sunday, according to market watcher Net Applications. The most likely reason for the decline is that early adopters of IE8 are switching back to the more familiar, and --at this point -- reliable Explorer 7 browser.
Additionally, Explorer 8 uses default support for some new Web publishing standards that aren't supported by a number of major Web publishers. As a result, some IE8 users have reported problems viewing some sites. "After downloading IE8 I cannot print any card from American Greetings. The message I get is, 'An error occurred during the operation,'" a user named Bob complained last week on Microsoft's IE8 forum.
Some IE8 adopters reported that even pages built with Microsoft's own Web publishing software, Microsoft Publisher, failed to render properly in the new browser. "I created my company's Web site using the MS Publisher 2007 template. After upgrading IE7 to IE8 my menu tabs and many important images no longer show," wrote a user
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No comments
Posted by Marco | March 23, 2009 8:13 PM
another complains
IE 8: Losing ground and attracting complaints
http://www.gaj-it.com/8238/ie-8-losing-ground-and-attracting-complaints/
Microsoft’s latest iteration of the World’s most popular web browser only went live out of Beta phase last Thursday but it’s already attracting masses of complaints from disgruntled users.
judging from the list of complaints on Microsoft’s feedback pages users seem to feel that IE8 wasn’t ready for mass distribution and some of the most frequently reported problems seem to sound very straight forward, for example, the inability to print from websites, web search (mal)function and extended boot-up times have all been reported, as has up to 4GB extra hard drive space being used up after the browser’s installation.
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Jess Meats: 'I would rather be using IE8 than Firefox.'
!!!!????.... Ah! MS'worker.
Posted by Marco | March 23, 2009 8:23 PM
@billybob
So, I checked out the link and had a quite go with a couple of the experiments - the video puzzle and gravity. Admittedly, this is a very small sample size, but I didn't see a problem. Gravity loaded pretty much instantly. The video puzzle took a little longer, but was still pretty quick and it worked perfectly.
When it comes to web browsers, my view is that of an end user - which is what most of the users of IE are. I'm not going to get into discussions about which browser is better to code for because I have no experience whatsoever in that area.
And it's exactly the same view I would have if my wages were paid for by someone else - unless there really is some brainwashing agent in the free drinks.
Posted by Jess Meats | March 24, 2009 5:05 AM
I tried Gravity on IE8 and all the elements just fell off the bottom of the page! No wonder you think it is fast! The elements are supposed to bounce around and move when you move the browser window.
The ones to look at are Kaleidscope, Colorscube, Monster and Homeostasis. They use Canvas which is going to be really useful for building web applications, if IE ever manages to support it.
Canvas means that you can build much better user interfaces and do some features that are not possible now. Unless you think we technology is done, I cannot see how not having the new features is a feature. The web has been stagnant for the last 8 years, that's probably why you are used to it.
If you are using IE then you should view the video first to see what it is supposed to do.
Posted by billybob | March 24, 2009 8:21 AM
I installed IE8 and now the Windows update or Microsoft update no longer works and all it did was update from IE7. I uninstalled IE8 and went back to IE7 and both work again so what gives with IE8.
When I click on updates it will not open IE8 at all no matter what I do. Also, since this is a upgrade from IE7 it should not have changed any of my settings or at least normal software works like that.
Since I Beta test lots of products both Linux and Windows this one is not ready for prime time yet. MS states the security but testing it leaves lots to the imagination as far as security goes. Yes, it validates any MS partner or related sites as safe even if there is what is considered malware on the site.
Posted by PeterPac | March 25, 2009 11:18 PM
After only about 1 week, I had to remove IE8 today and switch back to IE7. To date, I'd noticed a few minor quirks, but nothing I couldn't live with. The final straw though was just a little while ago when IE8 lost it's ability to do tabs. At this point I'm going to have to advise everyone that works for our company to avoid IE8.
Posted by DavidG | March 27, 2009 12:55 PM
I've returned to IE7 after 1 day using IE8.
Microsoft has supressed the feature "inline autocomplete in address bar".
It's ennoying.
There should be an option to make it working just like in IE7 and previous versions.
Also, we don't like the way IE8 shows in the dropdown menu all the matching
addresses that it find in the History and Favorites in the address bar when
typing... This compromises too the PRIVACY.
Imagine you are at home (or at work). It's indifferent. Somebody comes to
your PC just for a quick consult of a web page. When he types the address
there are a lot of things that he can see in the drop-dow menu... Or even if
you are typing the address when somebody is next to you, there are this
ennoying and compromising drop-down menu...
Yes, we can eliminate it, but then you are OUT of this feature...
There should be an option to make it working just like in IE7 and previous versions.
By the way, I will continue using the IE7.
Posted by Andrew | March 28, 2009 8:14 PM
It is silly how much of a mess M$ makes with some of its products most notably the XBOX 360 and the Zune. I myself has experience many errors and issues. It seems there solution is to always ship the product back to Microsoft. how to fix xbox 360 e74 error
Posted by fix xbox error 13 | January 19, 2010 3:06 AM