SEATTLE (Reuters)
- Microsoft Corp released on Wednesday a second test version of
Internet Explorer 8, delivering a feature-complete upgrade to the
world's most widely used Web browser.
The world's largest software maker said the latest version -- beta 2
-- of Internet Explorer, which has a market share of about 75 percent,
comes with new features to enhance privacy, ease-of-use, and security.
Microsoft first released a test -- or beta 1 -- version of IE 8 in
March, but that was aimed at letting Web developers take a first look
at the new browser. This latest version is aimed at a broader consumer
audience.
The company would not disclose when it planned to officially launch
IE 8 nor how many people are expected to download the test version of
the new browser. It released Internet Explorer 7 in October 2006.
Microsoft has pledged to deliver more regular updates of Internet
Explorer, whose lead has been chipped away by Mozilla's Firefox browser.
The latest version of Internet Explorer replicates features found in
Firefox 3, the latest version of that Web browser, including a "smart"
address bar that remembers and redirects user to website addresses they
have visited before.
Internet Explorer 8 also offers a mode called "InPrivate Browsing,"
which ensures that history, temporary Internet files and cookies are
not recorded on a user's PC.
There is also a security feature that allows a user to block content
coming from third-parties trying to track and aggregate the user's
online behavior.
Microsoft also updated already announced features such as
"Activities," which allows a user to use information found on one page,
such as an address, in conjunction with an online service such as
mapping without leaving the original site.
The latest test release of Internet Explorer 8 is available for download at www.microsoft.com/ie8.
(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
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