Microsoft: IE 8 won't be done until 2009
Microsoft plans to offer one more public test version of Internet Explorer 8 before releasing the final version of the updated browser, the company said late Wednesday.
The next test, essentially a "release candidate" version will come in the first quarter of 2009. That means the final release won't hit Microsoft's initial goal of finishing the browser this year.
"Our next public release of IE (typically called a "release candidate") indicates the end of the beta period," general manager Dean Hachamovitch said in a blog posting. "We want the technical community of people and organizations interested in Web browsers to take this update as a strong signal that IE8 is effectively complete and done."
Microsoft first demonstrated the browser at the Mix conference in March. Among its improvements are malware protection, better standards support, and the ability to carve off a piece of a Web page, known as a Web slice. It also supports having private sessions that don't get logged in a browser's history.
The first beta version was released in March, with a second beta arriving over the summer.
Hachamovitch said that Web site developers should test their sites and report "any critical issues" to Microsoft.
"We will be very selective about what changes we make between the next update and final release," he wrote. "We will act on the most critical issues. We will be super clear about product changes we make between the update and the final release."
Hachamovitch also called on technical users to download the current beta 2 version and let Microsoft know how that goes.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.
I think we'd all be better off if IE - and its poor standards support - just went the way of the dodo.... ....
aww i dont really care anyways when it comes out i just use ie8 to get my windows updates.
I like MS, but just super irritated ate how slow they work and how they could be on version 8 while not even a formally released new browser is kicking its a--! And firefox some random non-profit limited funds company can make such a superior product.
Even Sites like CNN, I would often get the unhappy computer. The site is not repsonding. Yet on the FF3 or IE8 browser on the same box no issues.
I'll keep my Mac and my Firefox, thank you very much.
**** IE!.
Fast, stable. Love FF3 as well.
IE. If I wasn't forced to use it for Windows Update, I would uninstall it in a heartbeat.
It is costing the world billions of dollars annually to have people using browsers that don't adhere to standards. Such a drain on world economics is something we don't need. Fortunately, there is Firefox, so there is something that each of us can do to improve the situation: Use Firefox.
http://www.webstandards.org/action/acid3
Are you crazy?
Also, calling FF less than IE just got 8 is mean.
http://acid3.acidtests.org/
;)
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by jscott418
November 20, 2008 4:22 PM PST
- You have to wonder if Microsoft is becoming like GM,Ford and Chrysler. These old big giants seem to react so slowly to change. Even the products they build stay behind the rest because R&D takes so long.
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by amdkilla
November 22, 2008 4:29 PM PST
- OK, I will admit that anything 'web' that MS made before IE7 was crap. IE7 was a massive improvement over IE6. Sure, the ordinary user got irate about not knowing how to use tabs (trust me, I know several), but at least there was the option of turning it off. So if there is any point in refining something, I cannot blame Microsoft for waiting for the release of Windows 7. Windows Vista was more about graphical 'wow', but Windows 7 is more geared towards functionality, but still holding the graphical elements.
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See all 52 Comments >>If I was running Microsoft I would probably ditch IE if I could not get a team together that could continue to update it on a frequent schedule. Maybe Microsoft should consider downsizing and put more resources into what it decides as its core products.
I personally havent tested chrome yet, but I use IE7, FF3 and Opera on a daily basis. I have used Safari before on both a Mac and a PC, and the Mac version is as fast as anything, and yet the PC version lags like my old machine under Crysis. The same with iTunes. Apple cannot write software for PC's to save their lives. It's not like Microsoft is slowing down the programs, so Apple had better get their a** in gear. No-one in their right mind is going to buy a mac for iTunes and Safari.
What most of you are forgetting is that there are thousands of people out there who barely know how to use a computer, and can only dream of becoming a 'power user' (like most of us). If Microsoft made a version of Windows for 'power users', everyone of them would complain that there is yet another version of Windows "Just another way of making more money", just like they did with Vista.
Now... back on track. I love IE7's sandbox mode on Vista. It has saved many of my clients from attacks.
I have come across several websites (mainly www.datingdirect.com, I dont use it :D) that say to achieve all of their features, you have to disable 'protected Mode'. No chance. They should get off their lazy, money filled pockets and write some compatible code. I bet they are using the same coding as they did for IE5.5!