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Contents

What’s New in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers

Beta Release Details

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 and your Business

What’s New in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers

Q: How is Microsoft making it easier for users to get exactly the information they want?

A:Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers offers web designers and developers an entirely new set of development opportunities to enable real-time, rich content interaction with their users. With new features like Activities and WebSlices, web designers and developers can offer users one click access to exactly the information they are looking to find.

Q: Will Internet Explorer 8 have better standards support than previous versions of Internet Explorer?

A: 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.

Q: What are the new end user features in Internet Explorer 8?

A:Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers delivers rich web experiences by exposing online services and information users care about most wherever they are browsing on the web.

Activities: Activities give users ready access to the online services they care about most from any page they visit, and developers gain an easy way to extend the reach of their online services.
WebSlices: Developers can mark parts of webpages as “WebSlices” and enable users to monitor information they rely on as they move about the web. With a click in the Favorites bar, users see rich “WebSlice” visuals and developers establish a valuable, persistent end-user connection.
Enhanced Protection from Deceptive Web sites: As part of our ongoing commitment to privacy and security, in Internet Explorer 8 we are making enhancements to the phishing filter to provide additional protection against evolving threats to the consumer. With the Safety Filter, Microsoft will now help protect against a broader set of online threats by analyzing the full URL string, providing more granular detection and prevention capabilities, and enabling better protection against more targeted and sophisticated attacks.
Domain Highlighting:Domain Highlighting is a technology that highlights the top level domain in the address bar, allowing users to quickly confirm that the site they are visiting is the site they intended to visit. The domain name is in bold and black, standing out from other characters in the URL which are gray.

Q: What developer features are in Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers?

A: WindowsInternet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers is primarily targeted at web designers and developers. Many of the important changes made for this release are in the “plumbing” of Windows Internet Explorer and, therefore, will not be as evident to end-users. This release is intended to enable web designers and developers to begin to test the new browser for compatibility with their applications and websites and to garner developer feedback. The release includes several new developer features:

Interoperability with other browsers and compatibility with existing sites:
An early implementation of our new standards-based layout engine
The ability to request the Internet Explorer 7 layout engine by adding a simple <meta> tag to your page
A brand new developer tool – Windows Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools – which will includea JavaScript debugger and the ability to inspect and edit HTML
Improvements to the script engine to enable faster AJAX performance
Activities–Create an OpenService XML description of your service, and just call it with simple JavaScript. Up and running in no time.
WebSlices - Can be implemented by simply adding a single line of code, as easy as adding the “hslice” class to a <div>. Extend your enterprise data in minutes.
Reliability improvements including tab isolation so a single crashing tab does not affect other tabs
Support for ARIA for accessibility

Q: Is the feature set in Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers the same in Windows XP and Windows Vista?

A: In Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers, the feature set is essentially the same; the exception being Protected Mode, which remains a feature exclusive to Windows Vista. For Windows Vista, we have also added the ability to install many existing and future ActiveX® controls for non-Administrator accounts without the need for the ActiveX Installation Service.

Beta Release Details

Q: When was Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers announced/released?

A:Microsoft announced Windows®Internet Explorer® 8 Beta 1 for Developersat the MIX conference in Las Vegas, March 5th 2008 and released the beta at the same time.

Q: Who are the target customers for Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers?

A: Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers is primarily targeted at web developers and designers. The beta allows designers and developers to test their sites against our new standards based layout engine, develop to new features like Activities and WebSlices and post feedback throughthe beta newsgroup (microsoft.public.internetexplorer.beta). If necessary, designers and developers should use the <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=7" / tag to tell Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers to use the Windows Internet Explorer 7 layout engine.

Q: Where can I learn more about Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers?

A: The Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers Technology Overview contains more technical detail on new features in Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers. You can also visit to learn more about all aspects of Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers.

Q:Where can I download the Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers?

A:Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers(for all platforms) is freely available now through the Microsoft Download Center at then select your OS from the drop down list to download. No MSDN® subscription is required for access.

Q: What platforms will Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers run on? Will Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers be supported on Windows 2000?

A:Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developerswill run on Windows XP® Service Pack 2, Windows Server® 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows Server® 2008, and Windows Vista®.

Q: When will you release the final version of Windows Internet Explorer 8?

A:We have not committed to a release date for Windows Internet Explorer 8. We have released Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developersto begin the process of getting widespread testing and feedback from the web designer and developer community. We plan to have an additional beta release for end users and IT Professionals later in 2008, when we anticipate receivingfeedback on different scenarios. Once we are confident of product quality among all audiences,we will announce a final release date.

Q: Will the Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers release include support for any other languages or just US English?

A: In addition to US English, which we are making available today, the Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers release will be available in German and Simplified Chinese in the coming weeks. We chose these languages to test support for long user interface string lengths and double-byte character sets.

Q: Will future Windows Internet Explorer 8 beta releases be available in more languages?

A: We’re focusing on Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers at the moment. We’ll talk more about subsequent betas when we have information to share.

Q: Will Windows Internet Explorer 8 and Silverlight ship together?

A: Microsoft Silverlight™ and Windows Internet Explorer 8 will ship independently.

Q: Will Windows Internet Explorer 8 be distributed via Automatic Updates (or WSUS) like you did with Windows Internet Explorer 7?

A: Right now we are focused on building the browser. It’s too early to discuss distribution methods.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 and your Business

Q: What benefits are there in Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers for our business?

A: The first beta release for Windows Internet Explorer 8 is focused on developer features rather than enterprise and end-user features, although the Activities and WebSlices features provide two new ways you can connect with the end users within your business as well as your customers.

The new standards-based default layout engine helps both your internal web developers/designers and external software suppliers because they can more easily deliver a single web-based application that works across multiple browsers.

Future beta releases will showcase investments Microsoft is making to continue to make Internet Explorer the most deployable and manageable browser in the market today. In addition, new features will help users get around the web faster and more easily as well as providing peace of mind that they’re using the most secure version of Internet Explorer to date.

Q: Should our end users download and use Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 today? Should we deploy Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers today?

A: Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers is a developer and designerfocused release and is not feature complete. We do not recommend deploying Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers broadly in a business context. A broader, more consumer and businessfocused beta will follow later this calendar year.

Q: Is there a new version of the Internet Explorer Administration Kit for Internet Explorer 8?

A:We are committed to the centralized enterprise configuration, deployment and manageability offered by the Internet Explorer Administration Kit and we will be making a new version of it available for Internet Explorer 8. At this point we have just released Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers and we are focused on web designer and developer feedback for this beta release. We will deliver a more feature rich version later in the beta cycle directly targeting enterprise customers and we will encourage them to begin testing and reviewing the product. We expect to have a beta release of the Windows Internet Explorer Administration Kit 8 approximately around that time frame.

Q: Is there alsoa beta available for the Windows Internet Explorer Administration Kit 8?

A: No, the focus of Windows Internet Explorer Beta 1 for Developersis for web designers and developers to begin evaluating and building websites. We will deliver a more feature rich version later in the beta cycle directly targeting enterprise customers and we will encourage them to begin testing and reviewing the product. We expect to have a beta release of Windows Internet Explorer Administration Kit 8 approximately around that time frame.

Q: Will our line-of-business apps continue to work in Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers?

A:The Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developersrelease is intended as an opportunity for developers to evaluate our new standards based layout engine and give us their feedback. Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 gives the developer control over which layout engine to use for them to best render their content. Later beta releases will include features that allow the IT Professional to control which layout engine the browser in their organization uses for ensure proper compatibility.

Q: Should we download and begin using Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers to test our internal systems and line-of-business applications right now?

A:Yes. Microsoft encourages customers to download the appropriate version of Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for the platforms in the environment and begin testing application compatibility. We encourage customers to provide feedback through the public newsgroup (microsoft.public.internetexplorer.beta). Providing feedback will help identify common issues affecting large numbers of customers and applications, so that we can analyze the issue and attempt to resolve the issue before releasing the final product.

Q: My line-of-business application reports that I should “upgrade to a new version of Internet Explorer” or this “Internet Explorer version is unsupported” even though I’m running Windows Internet Explorer 8. Why am I getting this error?

A: Someweb applications are designed tocheck which version of Windows Internet Explorer is browsing their site so they can warn users who are using an unknown or unsupported version of Windows Internet Explorer. Sometimes the browser version detection logic usedby the website can be improperly written so it fails to account for later versions of Windows Internet Explorer that will be created after the website application code was written - like Windows Internet Explorer 8. For testing purposes—and available only in the Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1Developers release—there is a Tools menu option, and toolbar button, that allows you to modifyboth the default User Agent string and the default layout rendering engine used by Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developersto the values used by Windows Internet Explorer 7. This “EmulateIE7” menu option will help you quickly validate if your application is simply blocking usage based on the user agent string. In addition, this option enables to you verify if using the website compatibility optional“meta tag” (<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=7" />) will assist your applications to render and function as expected. This option can be enabled in the Tools menu by selecting EmulateIE7, or by clicking the toolbar button labeled Emulate IE7.

If selecting the Emulate IE7 button helps makes your application work, the developer can use the information in Detecting Internet Explorer More Effectively to update their programming logic to mitigate against unknown/unforeseen conditions at the time of development, such as future versions of Windows Internet Explorer. Enabling applications with graceful error handling should be considered a best practice, and is generally accepted to be low-risk as it helps prevent unexpected behavior.

Q: Can I install Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers side-by-side with previous versions of Windows Internet Explorer for testing purposes?

A: No, it is not possible to have more than a single version of Windows Internet Explorer installed at the same time on any Windows platform. People who want to run Windows Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers side-by-side have several options:

Download the Internet Explorer Virtual PC images for MicrosoftInternet Explorer 6, Windows Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers
Use the “Emulate IE7” menu option to force Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers to both emulate the User Agent string and layout behavior of Windows Internet Explorer 7.
Use the new Windows InternetExplorer 8 Developer Toolsto switch Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers between different rendering modes on the fly. Windows Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools are installed by default with the browser, and can be accessed by pressing SHIFT+F12 or clicking the icon when running Windows Internet Explorer 8.

Q: Our current line-of-business applications only work in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6. How will Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers help?

A:Microsoft recommends businesses deploy Windows Internet Explorer 7 in their environments to take advantage of the new productivity and improved security benefits offered in Windows Internet Explorer 7. Pages coded using a ‘quirks’ mode DOCTYPE declarations will carry forward beyond the work performed for a Windows Internet Explorer 7 deployments because Microsoft has announced Internet Explorer 8, as well as future versions of Internet Explorer, will continue to use the same type of rendering behavior for ‘quirks’ mode.The Internet Explorer 7 Readiness Toolkit and Internet Explorer 7 Deployment Guidecan provide guidance on how to implement ‘quirks’ mode settings where needed for compatibility. IT Professionals should also check the Internet Explorer TechCentersite for the latest guidance.