Derrick
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Okay, Internet Explorer 8 is out! South Africa’s local Microsoft page is however lagging, still giving Internet Explorer 7 download links at one minute past midnight on the morning of 20 March 2009. The web is literally afire at the moment with people looking into an old mainstay of the web, the machine that gave the majority of us our first carpet ride on the web, unless you are a veteran and still remember the old Netscape days. Alastair has written an article on the release here.
I have just downloaded it from the UK website for Microsoft and this blog will give you an idea of what to expect and my initial first test experience of Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. The download from the UK using my 4mbps line was exceptionally quick. Microsoft downloads tend to be well managed and properly distributed. That is one thing we have to give Bill Gates credit for. The distribution of Windows 7 Beta was a good testament to Microsoft’s ability to distribute their software to massive amounts of users even if you discount the endless amounts of torrent downloads that sprung up naturally. The torrent phenomenon is something Microsoft should seriously look into researching. Does anybody have any statistics on how many keys were released versus downloads from Microsoft itself? I would venture a guess and say that it was far more than Microsoft served for download on their official servers.
The download of IE8 is just over 16.1 MB in size. When you open it you are welcomed with a screen asking you to save all files and close all programs because IE8 might be changing some files used by them at the time of the installation. Then you are asked if you want to participate in a program to improve Internet Explorer where you have the option to opt in or opt out. The license screen comes next. You are confronted with another screen asking whether you want to download updates for Internet Explorer and the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool will run during installation to make sure any malicious software is detected and removed while running setup. I opted to keep this on.
Now it runs a checklist downloading, checking the computer for malicious software, Installing IE8, Installing updates and then finally the big finish. After about two minutes of install time the program wants to restart the computer. You Windows Update functionality should be turned on during IE8 installation. I have forgotten to turn it on. It will do the updates after reboot. After the reboot you can open IE8 and a window pops up titled “Set up Windows Internet Explorer 8”. It tells you a story about new features “like search suggestions” and “Accelerators” that make previewing online services as easy as pointing your mouse. Next up is the option to discover sites based on websites you have visited. This is not exactly new but worth having, so I said yes and moved on to the next windows where you can choose express settings or custom settings. I assume it takes previous settings from your older Internet Explorer because it listed Google as my default search engine. So far nothing has been forced on me, which is very nice, thank you Microsoft. Now I just have to click the “Finish” button. Now pops up the import screen where it gives me the option to import favorites and feeds from Firefox. Cool! It feels strange not to be doing it the other way around.
Done!
The first site it loaded before the tweaking continued was www.msn.com and the second site was a page saying “Thank you for downloading Internet Explorer 8” offering you the chance to explore some of the new features.
The list includes:
Accelerators: A nifty feature where you can highlight text and find a little blue option box popping up that when clicked gives you the option to blog, email, map, search or translate.
Web Slices: An add-on that isn’t active by default that basically gives you pushed updates to site content.
Internet Explorer 8 is as slick as hell but the question remains, what can it do that Firefox and friends cannot do and even if it measures up, where does it surpass? Time will tell, but initial reviews are skeptical as to whether there is any reason to use it…
I have just downloaded it from the UK website for Microsoft and this blog will give you an idea of what to expect and my initial first test experience of Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. The download from the UK using my 4mbps line was exceptionally quick. Microsoft downloads tend to be well managed and properly distributed. That is one thing we have to give Bill Gates credit for. The distribution of Windows 7 Beta was a good testament to Microsoft’s ability to distribute their software to massive amounts of users even if you discount the endless amounts of torrent downloads that sprung up naturally. The torrent phenomenon is something Microsoft should seriously look into researching. Does anybody have any statistics on how many keys were released versus downloads from Microsoft itself? I would venture a guess and say that it was far more than Microsoft served for download on their official servers.
The download of IE8 is just over 16.1 MB in size. When you open it you are welcomed with a screen asking you to save all files and close all programs because IE8 might be changing some files used by them at the time of the installation. Then you are asked if you want to participate in a program to improve Internet Explorer where you have the option to opt in or opt out. The license screen comes next. You are confronted with another screen asking whether you want to download updates for Internet Explorer and the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool will run during installation to make sure any malicious software is detected and removed while running setup. I opted to keep this on.
Now it runs a checklist downloading, checking the computer for malicious software, Installing IE8, Installing updates and then finally the big finish. After about two minutes of install time the program wants to restart the computer. You Windows Update functionality should be turned on during IE8 installation. I have forgotten to turn it on. It will do the updates after reboot. After the reboot you can open IE8 and a window pops up titled “Set up Windows Internet Explorer 8”. It tells you a story about new features “like search suggestions” and “Accelerators” that make previewing online services as easy as pointing your mouse. Next up is the option to discover sites based on websites you have visited. This is not exactly new but worth having, so I said yes and moved on to the next windows where you can choose express settings or custom settings. I assume it takes previous settings from your older Internet Explorer because it listed Google as my default search engine. So far nothing has been forced on me, which is very nice, thank you Microsoft. Now I just have to click the “Finish” button. Now pops up the import screen where it gives me the option to import favorites and feeds from Firefox. Cool! It feels strange not to be doing it the other way around.
Done!
The first site it loaded before the tweaking continued was www.msn.com and the second site was a page saying “Thank you for downloading Internet Explorer 8” offering you the chance to explore some of the new features.
The list includes:
Accelerators: A nifty feature where you can highlight text and find a little blue option box popping up that when clicked gives you the option to blog, email, map, search or translate.
Web Slices: An add-on that isn’t active by default that basically gives you pushed updates to site content.
Internet Explorer 8 is as slick as hell but the question remains, what can it do that Firefox and friends cannot do and even if it measures up, where does it surpass? Time will tell, but initial reviews are skeptical as to whether there is any reason to use it…