Bill Gates promised frequent updates way back when they were doing the final testing of IE7. Yet somehow, it’s been almost two years before they finally released the beta mode of Internet Explorer 8 just today. Some will hurrah, some will cringe, some won’t care one way or the other. But...it’s out...and along with actually seeming to be an improvement over the previous version...it’s pretty clear that the folks at Microsoft are also using their latest browser as a clever little way to try to take over some Google ground.
I admit, I’m a diehard Firefox user. And when I checked out IE8 beta, I immediately recognized the same thing others seem to be seeing. The Smart Address Bar is very similar to the Awesome Bar in Firefox 3. When you start to type in the address bar, it tries to guess where you want to go, based on where you’ve been before. Although I have to give it to Microsoft, their Smart Bar seems to do the job even a little better. It shows history items, autocomplete suggestions, and your saved Favorites all in lists that you can collapse or expand with just a click. Also, you can delete an address from the Smart Bar with just a click as well, which is really handy for any addresses you may have in there that were typed incorrectly or if you have bookmarks you just don’t use anymore.
Of course, it features the much talked about ”InPrivate Browsing” (aka “porn mode"). It seems to do what it’s supposed to do. Your history and temporary internet files aren’t affected, cookies are only stored in your memory, and no usernames/passwords are saved. And then, when you exit the browser...POOF! Any and all traces of the session vanish. It never happened. Parents will however be happy to know this feature can be turned off, and actually if parental controls are turned on, it is automatically disabled completely.
As for the “trying to take over Google” bit. Guess who doesn’t show up anywhere on their browser main page? In the upper right hand corner is an option for search destinations...no...Google isn’t one of the options it automatically offers you. And when you highlight a street address, of course, you are taken to “Live Maps”, although you are able to over-ride this choice and change it to Google. But a big way it is seen as a stab is that, in a very un-Microsoft move, it is giving Web sites the option to offer up results and customize how they appear. It is also letting these sites take all the revenue from the ads alongside the results. Definite stab at Google’s business.
Since Internet Explorer is still the most commonly used browser, it looks like they plan to take advantage of whatever they can while they can. Heck, they did it with operating systems. They better come up with something if they want to hold onto the browser lead, because Mozilla may be behind, but they are no longer invisible. Their market shares jumped by a third in the last year; while Microsoft’s fell 6 points. I agree with John Lilly, CEO of Firefox publisher Mozilla who was quoted in Forbes as saying “They’re playing catch-up, but I’m glad they’re playing.”.
Download [Microsoft IE8 beta] Via [techmeme]
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