Microsoft has released the final version of its Internet Explorer 8 for major versions of windows after extensive beta testing. The new Internet Explorer is feature rich, fast and is compatible with the latest web technologies and even though it may not be a tough competition for the industry leader in security speed and compatibility i.e. Firefox but it has definitely raised the bar.
Internet Explorer 8 features accelerators which provides instant access to information and techniques like maps, web searches, translations, email, blogging, and more with the right click context menu when a word or a phrase is highlighted. Another feature is web slices through which you can subscribe to only a portion of a website about which you like to be updated about.
Internet explorer 8 is much more fast and secure, even Microsoft Claims it to be faster than any other internet browser out there. IE 8 also offers advanced privacy controls like Google’s Chrome where you can open a website in a private window and your activity will not be stored and will be erased without any trace once the windows in closed. With smart address bar and option to view websites in compatibility view, Internet explorer 8 provides the richer web browsing experience on the very first start without installing any additional add-on or plugins.
Internet Explorer 8 is available for Windows XP, XP x64, Windows Vista , Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 64-bit. So you might be wondering where is the version for Windows 7. Internet explorer 8 is built in by default in Windows 7 and since Windows 7 is still in its beta stage Microsoft is not offering a download for Windows 7 due to uncertain stability and compatibility problems, though Microsoft has promised to include the final version if Internet Explorer 8 in the upcoming Release Candidate RC1 of Windows 7.
Download Internet Explorer 8 final version for your Windows by visiting.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx
will it challenge to Firefox and chrome ?
I thinks not.
The thing is that Internet explorer is still industry leader when it comes to the number of user using an Internet browser. With the improvements offered in IE8 I am sure it would compete well with Firefox but as for Chrome, it has a long way to go before becoming mainstream like the other FF or IE