PCTips Box

In the first half of June 2008, when they gave a taste of the new features cooking for Internet Explorer 8 which are planned for integration starting with Beta 2, Jane Maliouta - IE Program Manager and James Pratt - IE Product Manager pointed out that IE8 would come with slipstream support by default. This is valid as early as the Beta 1 Build of Internet Explorer 8, but only with Windows Vista RTM, Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. Microsoft has left Windows XP SP3 out of the IE8 slipstream equation, this is nothing new for XP, as slipstreaming was also not supported even with Internet Explorer 7.

“With IE8 and Windows Vista, you are able to integrate IE8 into the image file of the original operating system in about 15 minutes. No more booting the OS image, manually installing IE and re-capturing the image. The slipstreaming support also extends to IE8 cumulative updates and language packages. Slipstreaming IE8 into an OS image will only be supported on Vista and Windows Server 2008 platforms. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 do not currently offer a solution for slipstreaming Windows components, which are built using update.exe,” Maliouta revealed. (more…)

When a web browser (IE 8 or Firefox for example) connects to a website it establishes connections. Each connection downloads one thing whether it is the html of the page, an image, or ad. Connections are used as a throttle that’s being held back to keep web servers and the internet from getting overloaded.

By default IE 8 only establishes two simultaneous connections at a time to download a web page. The two simultaneous connections limit is specified in the HTTP standard. The two connections limit can be changed on your computer through a registry edit.

Increasing the maximum allowed simultaneous connects from 2 to 16 can increase the speed of some web sites because the sites are downloaded in larger chunks at a time. Keep in mind that this won’t work on all web sites because the number of connections limit can be controlled by the web server. (more…)

At the beginning of this month, specifically on March 5, Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager Internet Explorer, launched the first public beta of Internet Explorer 8 at the MIX08 conference in Las Vegas. Hachamovitch emphasized from the get-go that the build was addressed not so much at the general public as at web content developers by marking a consistent leap in terms of standards support. But undoubtedly there are a variety of questions revolving around the subject of Microsoft’s next iteration of the IE browser. For some of them the Redmond company already has answers in place. Moreover, Microsoft is also offering for download a document in which it has compiled the IE8 Beta 1 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

“In Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers, the browser architecture has been reengineered to address interoperability with other browsers and will offer additional support for popular standards. Most notably, it will include improved support for the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 2.1 specification and it renders the ACID2 test correctly. In addition, Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers will offer enhancements to DOM L2 & HTML support. Our goal for the final release is complete CSS 2.1 support,” Microsoft revealed. (more…)

After over a year since the release of Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 in October 2006, and then along with Windows Vista in November 2006 and January 2007, Microsoft has delivered the first beta of its next iteration of Internet Explorer. IE8 Beta 1 is a release aimed at web content developers, but the company has provided full access to the bits, with the promise that Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 will be more user-centric.

IE8 Beta 1 integrates seamlessly with Windows Vista Gold and SP1 RTM, but also with Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows XP SP2 and SP3. With the exception of Windows XP SP3, IE8 Beta 1 will support both the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions of the operating systems enumerated above. Of course, XP SP3 only comes in x86 and not in a x64 variant. At this time, Microsoft offers XP SP3 RC2, with IE8 Beta 1 installing on the beta of the third and final service pack for XP even though it fails to do the same with pre-release versions of Windows Vista SP1. (more…)

Welcome to Windows Internet Explorer 8. This is the message displayed initially by the installer for the next iteration of Microsoft’s proprietary browser, as you can very well see from the screenshot accompanying this article. Just an anodyne proof that Internet Explorer Beta 1 is now live. At the end of the past week, Microsoft began sending out invitations to the first beta build for IE8. Participation in the limited technical beta program for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is possible only through explicit invitations from the IE Team. The Redmond company has now confirmed the kick-off of the private IE8 Beta 1 testing.

Here is the link pre-selected IE8 Beta 1 testers have to follow, but if you have not been invited to participate in the Technical Beta, it won’t do you any good. The best that I can do for you, at this point in time, is to deliver the first taste of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1. Yes, I do agree it isn’t much, but at the same time, it’s better than nothing. (more…)

With the first Beta of Internet Explorer 8 scheduled to drop by mid 2008, and with additional details on the successor of Internet Explorer 7 to be offered at MIX08 this March, Microsoft has started opening up on the browser little by little. First, Dean Hachamovitch, IE General Manager revealed in mid December that IE8 comes with support for a wide range of standards, and now, Chris Wilson, IE Platform Architect, offered an insight into Internet Explorer 8 compatibility. In this context, the promise is that IE8 will not break the web. (more…)