Hello Everyone,
Since there seems to be some interest from forum users to find out more about Internet Explorer 8 (without risking damaging their OS), bellow is my review of IE 8 Beta 1.
System Requirements:
· Computer/Processor:
Computer with a 233MHz processor or higher (Pentium processor recommended)
· Operating System :
Windows Vista x64 and x86
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) x64 and x86
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Windows Server 2008 x64 and x86
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) x64 and x86
· Memory:
Windows Vista - 512MB
Windows Vista Service Pack (SP1) - 512MB
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) - 64 MB
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) - 64 MB
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition - 128 MB
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) - 64 MB
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 ia64 - 128 MB
Windows Server 2008 – 512MB
The overall look and feel of it is very close to IE 7. Here is a picture of it:
ie8_beta1_001.jpg
New Features:
1.
Developer Tools (Alt+Y): There is a new button called "Developer Tools" in the toolbar:
ie8_beta1_002.jpg
This is a new summary type interface that gives you an overview of all HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Style and Layout of whatever page you are visiting (very similar to what you can get with FireFox Plugin).
ie8_beta1_003.jpg
In the top menu, it will give you the option to highlight different parts of the page (DIV, Table, etc) with a red highlighter to give you a better idea of how the page is put together:
ie8_beta1_004.jpg
Notice the red box in the image above. In this example, I chose to highlight any tables on the page.
2.
Internet Explorer 8 Activities: Gives users access to some online services they choose.
3.
Internet Explorer 8 WebSlices: Lets developers mark parts of web pages and monitor them as they navigate through a site.
That's about it with new features! If you want to read more about any of them, here is a link for it:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/...n/default.html
Here is a shot of all the menus:
ie8_beta1_005.jpg
Plenty of display bugs when viewing pages in IE 8 mode. Of course there is an "Emulate IE7" button in the toolbar that lets you view pages the way IE 7 used to (not sure if they will keep this button in the final release or not).
Overall, I have to say I am not too impressed with IE 8 development so far and give it a rating of 7 out of 10. There is really nothing earth shattering that we haven't seen before, which makes you wonder what the whole point of creating a new IE was!
My advise is for people to wait until the final release to try it out, to avoide messing up their system. That's all!
Pete
Linear Mode
