What’s new in Internet Explorer 8

Finally the day has arrived for IE8. Microsoft rolled out the new version of browser today after IE7. IE7 still holds between 67 to 72.2 of markets share. IE8 will be bundled with Windows 7 even though Mozilla and Google had objected to the bundling of IE with Windows, with Google calling the IE-dominated browser market "largely uncompetitive.

Even though many people think that this version is slower than Firefox and Safari, those who are used to IE 7 will surely like IE8. The latest version can be downloaded from Microsoft by clicking here.

Microsoft claims that the new browser is faster in almost every respect. It loads faster, switches pages faster, and renders complex graphics and videos faster than in previous versions.

Microsoft said page load times had been speeded up in IE8 and the new version of the browser blocks "two to four times as many malicious sites as other browsers on the market today."

IE8 has a new feature called Accelerators which allows users to get driving directions,  word translation, sharing your web discoveries with friends and more. Accelerators help you do the things you do all the time without having to open up a new window. So you can speed through everyday browsing tasks, like getting a map to a business address or forwarding a link to a friend.

It also allows you to quickly display websites that were designed for older browsers. If you’re looking at a page and the text or images aren’t lined up right, just use the new Compatibility View button next to the Refresh button on the Address Bar.

Privacy features includes a mode for Web browsing that doesn't remember what sites were visited nor stores small data files called cookies just like Incognito mode in Chrome.

It allows you to browse with more confidence knowing Internet Explorer 8 helps protect you from evolving online threats right out of the box. The new Smart Screen filter and other built-in security features help you stay safe by protecting against deceptive and malicious websites which can compromise your data, privacy, and identity.

Another time-saving feature of IE 8 is called Web Slices, which is designed to allow you to subscribe to frequently-updated portions, or "slices," of certain websites. Instead of spending your time visiting three or four websites to get updated information from a portion of each of those sites, you would simply use Web Slices to pull that information into a single location in IE 8.

There is also better handling of application crash, favorites.

And yes with add-ons you can quickly find and preview eBay items, get weather updates from Live Search, get visual search suggestions from Wikipedia.