Microsoft has confirmed that IE8 will now be delayed to 2009. On the IEBlog, Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager of Internet Explorer has stated that Microsoft “will release one more public update of IE8 in the first quarter of 2009, and then follow that up with the final release”.
The reason for the delay according to Hachamovitch is so the IE team can “make any changes they feel are necessary for the best possible customer experience using IE8, and report any critical issues. Our plan is to deliver the final product after listening for feedback about critical issues”.
Despite the delay, this should be good news for users of IE, as the current beta 2 is still quite buggy. The extra time should let Microsoft fix all outstanding issues to deliver a stable and complete product.