March 19, 2009 by William Peebles
Microsoft will release the final version of Internet Explorer 8 later today, almost two months after the release of the RC1. The browser is said to be laden with new security features after the previous version, Internet Explorer 7 was criticised for various security failings and breaches.
Early indications are that these new features, which took more than a year to develop, have been remarkably successful. A report on the RC1 beta rated the browser at the number one spot for malware prevention, though it is worth noting that the report was commissioned by Microsoft itself.
It is hoped by the software giant that the new, more secure version of Explorer will help lure users back from the so called ‘more secure’ browsers like Firefox. However, security is not the only reason that users have been abandoning IE, Firefox has more features and more customizability, it’s also generally seen as being quicker than IE.
Explorer 8 is unlikely to be a silver bullet for Microsoft, though it will help, not least because it demonstrates that Microsoft is taking the browser war seriously and not taking it’s ever more precarious position at the top for granted.
Related posts:
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- Attacks list 2009 dominated by Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader
- Microsoft ordered to offer Web Browser choice
- Emergency patches for Internet Explorer holes issued by Microsoft
- Serious IE Security Flaw
- Security and ease of use: the twin Watchwords of IE8 (Part 3)
