As promised Microsoft has made available Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1).
IE8 RC1 can be installed on both Windows XP and Windows Vista, but is not available for the newely released Windows 7 beta.
Microsoft has posted a full list of changes since beta 2.
You can download the new versions from the Internet Explorer 8 download site.
Microsoft has announced that it will deliver the first release candidate (RC1) of Internet Explorer 8 to the public on Monday.
IE8 has been at beta 2 since August 2008, and this new early release is highly anticipated by many in the industry.
According to Microsoft, “a release candidate means the software is feature complete and the code is basically stable, and a final release is imminent”.
IE8 is more compliant with web standards such as CSS, to web developers delight.
IE8 RC1 will be released for both Windows XP and Windows Vista. We will post links to the download when they are available.
European Union regulators have laid down fresh claims that Microsoft is again in breach of its anti-trust laws.
The complaint is related to Internet Explorer being bundled with all new Windows installations.
Microsoft lost a similar case in 2004 and was forced to sell Windows versions without Windows Media Player.
This has potential repercussions across the market. Apple currently bundles Safari with every copy of Mac OS X, while most Linux distributions are bundled with Firefox.
“Microsoft’s tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system harms competition between web browsers, undermines product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice” said a spokesman for the European Union.
Any final decision on the matter is likely to be years away.
Pixel Labs has posted a rather amusing yet statistical poster of the browser wars. The cartoon depicts web browser and their market share over time.
Strangely absent from this cartoon is Google’s Chrome, which has a greater share than Opera.
Click on the cartoon to see the full version.
Still with no release date, Microsoft has released details that the next version of its browser, IE8 will be pushed out via Automatic Update, Windows Update, and Microsoft Update as high priority to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users.
For Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 the update will only be pushed out with an important priority.
For network administrators or users who do not want to update, there is a toolkit available to stop Internet Explorer 8 being pushed out.
The toolkit has no expiry date, unlike previous versions, and can be configured via a registry file run on uses machine or pushed out via a group policy.
You can download the IE8 Blocker Toolkit here.
With 2009 fast approaching, details for IE Mobile 6 have started to appear. The latest mobile Internet browser from Microsoft should bring a positive change to the web browser market.
Currently, there are still no screenshots available, as Microsoft has made all beta testers and OEM’s sign NDA’s, but details on the new browser are starting to emerge. Here are some of the key features for IE Mobile 6.
With these unique, and some innovative features, IE Mobile 6 may make up some ground in the mobile browser market, but is it enough to entice Opera Mobile or even iPhone Safari users?
Your next PC could very well come loaded with Google Chrome. Google is in talks with PC vendors about the possibility of including Chrome with both desktops and laptops.
Manufactures such as Dell, HP, Acer, and Toshiba are all showing interest in shipping Chrome as the default browser. Currently, the majority of PC’s ship with Internet Explorer as the default browser, as it is included with both Windows XP and Vista.
Google Chrome currently has about 1% of the browser market, while Internet Explorer has around 70%.
Users of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer could be at serious risk, with criminals hoping to be able to steal users banking passwords and other personal data.
The risk presents itself when users visit particular websites with infected code.
Security firm Trend Micro said that it has found the exploit on several websites, which until now has mostly been used to steal computer game passwords.
Microsoft has only confirmed that Internet Explorer 7 is at risk, and is yet to determine if other version of its popular web browser are affected.
A patch is in the works and we will update you when it is released.
Update: A patch has been released and should be pushed out to users with automatic updates turned on, or alternatively users can go to Windows Update and get the patch.
Password management is a part of all major web browsers, and it just may be helping thieves steal your personal data, from banking logins to Facebook accounts.
Chapin Information Services conducted 21 security tests on Opera 9.62, Firefox 3.0.4, Internet Explorer 7, Safari 3.2, and Google Chrome 1.0. The results were not good.
Opera and Firefox fared the best, both passing 7 tests, with Internet Explorer 7 passing 5 tests. Both Safari and Google Chrome only passed 2 tests each.
It looks like browsers makers have a lot of work to do. Full results and details on each test can be found on the Chapin Information Services website.
Google has finally taken Chrome off its training wheels and removed its beta tag. The move comes after Google says the browser has met strict performance and reliability requirements.
Released just over 100 days ago, the beta version has been downloaded roughly 10 million times and taken around 1% of the browser market. Far shy of Microsoft’s 70% for Internet Explorer.
The latest release doesn’t include any new features, and is still only available for Windows, but does fix a few of the remaining bugs.
Users already using Chrome will have their browser automatically updated in the next few days, or alternatively you can download the new version from the Google Chrome website. Happy browsing!