Microsoft IE8: An Essential Upgrade

Web Slices

Also new in IE 8 are Web Slices. Web Slices are a simple way for Websites to integrate content directly into the IE 8 browser. For example, rather than going to separate Websites to check the weather or see top headlines, users can install a Web Slice from these sites and access this information with a single click on the browser toolbar.

IE 8 also includes a built-in suggested sites widget that shows links to sites similar to the one the user is viewing.

Many of the other new interface features in Internet Explorer 8 have been included in competing browsers for some time now, but they are welcome nonetheless. These features include a smart address bar that shows sites from the browser history as you begin typing, an improved inline find-in-page capability that highlights the term being searched on within a Web page, and the offering up of suggested search terms as you begin typing in the IE 8 search field.

Internet Explorer 8 also includes a whole set of new features designed to improve browser security and add new privacy capabilities for users.

Browsing In Private

On the privacy front, the biggest new feature is InPrivate Browsing (which has been euphemistically referred to as the “porn mode” but has plenty of legitimate uses). InPrivate browsing lets users open a special window and then make sure that none of the information from that session is saved in the browser cache or history. When in an InPrivate browsing session, the address bar of the browser shows a special InPrivate icon.

To start an InPrivate browsing session, users can launch a special window from the Safety menu in IE 8. You can also launch an InPrivate session from any blank new tab or by hitting the Ctrl-Shift-p combo on the keyboard. I would have liked the option – found in similar privacy modes in browsers such as Google Chrome – to right-click on any link and launch it in a separate private browsing window.

One nice option within InPrivate browsing is InPrivate filtering. This feature can help prevent third-party sites from carrying user information over from site to site, and users can choose which sites they want to allow for this kind of data sharing.

Also on the privacy front, IE 8 increases the options within the Delete Browsing History function. Users now have more fine-grain control over what data they want to delete, including keeping data from some Websites while deleting it from others.

Good new security features

On the security side, Internet Explorer 8 continues to build on the capabilities added in IE 7 and in competing browsers to prevent users from travelling to malicious Websites and to keep malware from running through the browser.