Internet Explorer 8: What do you think?

[Enisada]

I'll wait a bit until the code matures a bit....

[david13lt]

I tested it with every website I have coded and they works fine with IE 8 compatibility mode.

But... First of all it asked for me to free 80GB to install it, that's a bit was strange to me.

But, it looks that only 64-bit version can pass Acid 2 test, and it did not pass for me, but I think this could be fixed in coming Beta versions. Talking about Acid 3 test it only got 17/100, that is the worst result. FireFox 59/100, Opera 60/100, Safari 76/100 (I used the latest Beta versions of them)

And JavaScript performance... IE 8 is the 3-2 position. Again Safari was the fastest, even twice fast comparing to IE8, Opera while FireFox was the worst, having some really big problems with string and memory management I think.

Conclusions:

The browser still is the worst we have in the marker, despite the work IE Team did. Maybe it would be even better if they just rewrote the whole engine from scratch.

[primexx]

Before I installed it I thought it'd be a giant leap from IE7...

...I was wrong.

Pathetic as usual.

Oh and for those who want to see IE8's ACID3

I don't know why it's only 17, it looks better than Firefox 2. (oh, yea, I highlighted that, it's actually hidden behind one of the blocks)

[mike45]

@Graaant...

restarted system several times and reinstalled several times but it still fails to show any other than version 7.0

judging by what I'm reading in this thread though it seems I may be better off waiting until final and hopefully it will work.

[david13lt]

Here is how looks FireFox 3 Beta 3 Acid 3 test:

[primexx]

Here is how looks FireFox 3 Beta 3 Acid 3 test:

pretty nice but still some way to go

[paraman]

Can I install it on SP3 v.3264?

[1Frothy]

I can see that IE8 could be quite good, better than IE7. But Beta 1 has quite honestly got a long way to go.

One note Microsoft...

Please let users fully customize the Menu Bar, Favorites Bar. The whole Toolbar. Don't make the mistake of IE7 and it's stubborn UI.

[marc2003]

Can I install it on SP3 v.3264?

well it installs on 3311 ok.... give it a try.

[Maximum Error]

But, it looks that only 64-bit version can pass Acid 2 test, and it did not pass for me, but I think this could be fixed in coming Beta versions. Talking about Acid 3 test it only got 17/100, that is the worst result. FireFox 59/100, Opera 60/100, Safari 76/100 (I used the latest Beta versions of them)

Running on 3 machines with 32bit Vista and all is well with the acid 2 test..............

(i have a screen grab to show you but IE8 kinda breaks the attachment functionality..... lol it doesnt even display)

[jasondefaoite]

For reference ... Firefox 3 Beta 4

[SVG Veteran]

Finally I can switch back to IE.

I love how IE8 doesn't open new tabs all over the place. If you type in a URL why does IE7 feel the need to keep your current tab and open a new one?

IE7 emulation is kind of required but I'm liking it already.

are u using any add-on? viz. ie7pro.. cuz there is no such behaviour with ie7

[The Rev]

I am running into the erroneously rendered pages, but i assume thats because IE is adhering to the very same Acid2 standards that people aren't coding their websites around.

[George P Global Moderator]

The pages that have those major problems I think have them because they see IE8 as IE7 and try to show you them in IE7 mode. Now I could be wrong but if any devs could chime in on this that'd be great.

I really really really want the "Open these next time" option back in IE8 when closing it with tabs open like IE7 had. Please IE team!

[morphen]

Internet explorer and beta in the same sentence has disaster written all over it

most constructive flaming ever:p

Please test, and then (don't flame) over a beta....please read...BETA..

Love the new feature in the adress bar, and i think the sites that aren't broken by ie8b1, are more responsive:)

Edited March 6, 2008 by morphen

[XerXis]

i'm having some problems with the site i'm designing: http://klanten.video-palace.com

When you hover over a cover ie 8 will resize all the covers to their original dimensions and ignores the width attribute. Is it something i'm doing wrong or ie8? firefox and opera don't have that problem.

[Atreus]

Looks the same to me... And when you change tabs it takes my processor to 100% for a few seconds.

At first look there is nothing interesting in IE8. I know is beta 1, but I would expect it to work with most of the sites that are broken to make IE7 & 6 work.

[helmers]

This is not beta quality, it is an early alpha by the looks of it. Both the Firefox "nightlies" and Opera "weeklies" have less issues than this one. Let QA work on it for 14 days and give us beta 2...

[Phantom Limb]

I like the new phishing filter, and the "send to search engine" arrow, which is long overdue.

But as a whole, this is NOT ready for beta. The render speed and general image rendering is horrible, I've logged on to pages where images are just big pixalated blobs. A total of four times in the first hour it's just randomly crashed on me when I've minimized or maximized the window.

It still seems that IE is just playing catch up, adding/touching up features Firefox has had for years, hopefully with the later betas we'll see more progress, but I'm going back to Firefox as soon as I'm done typing this, as IE8B1 in its current stage is bearly useable, atleast on WinXP.

[George P Global Moderator]

I'm using it just fine though in IE7 mode on XP SP2. It just uses more memory than IE7 did for me, but it could be due to it being Beta code. I wonder how long till we see a newer build or a beta 2.

[djDaemon]

This beta is not intended for end users. Its clearly for developers.

[HighwayGlider]

I'll say its good since its beta 1 and there's lots to go till RC or final. And I really hope the UI's gonna change since I really dont understand why the hell they put their damn toolbar just next to the tab bar. Same crap for ie7. But its beta. Gotta wait and see.

[PGHammer]

I cant even edit my own posts on this. I have to create a new post.

I wish they went for the Windows Live look with the toolbars etc. That would look much better than the Vista Home basic theme.

I don't have that problem (Vista Ultimate x86+SP1 RTM); I can edit my own posts (even those I created in IE 7) just fine (from standards mode). What *does* change (as far as Neowin goes) is how pages display (in standards mode); pages display identically to Firefox/Opera/Safari. (I suspect that it's a CSS issue based more on how each browser handles CSS code; an example is the comment box at the foot of a Neowin reply page, which is left-justified in standards-compliant browsers and in IE 8 standards mode, but is centered in IE 7 mode, and in IE 7 itself and earlier.) Also, HTML-based applets (such as Yahoo Messenger for Vista or AIM, both of which are IE-based) aren't broken by IE 8b1, so the core browser *engine* apparently didn't change all that radically (that was an issue with earlier IE betas; they tended to break applets based on the same browser engine).

[rootwiler]

been using it for a bit. Not to bad, I think its an upgrade from IE7 but it still has a ways to go.

[0sit0]

all my sites work fine with Safari/Firefox and older IE, they are HTML tidy ready, complies with everything etc... with the new IE8 they all look like crap :) I don't even think I should spend time trying to fix them since its still a beta. oh well