Microsoft IE8 released

Microsoft has released Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 for download from early this morning.

Microsoft is touting the newest version of its browser, available here, as being faster and offering "leading edge" security features.

"Customers have made clear what they want in a web browser — safety, speed and greater ease of use," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement. "With Internet Explorer 8, we are delivering a browser that gets people to the information they need, fast, and provides protection that no other browser can match."

Microsoft has claimed IE8 blocks two to four more malware attacks than other browsers, quoting a study by NSS Labs.

It also said that IE8 had beaten other top browsers in page load time on almost 50 per cent of the 25 top comScore Inc websites.

Tab colouring in Internet Explorer 8
(Credit: Microsoft)

Other features the browser include are "accelerators" which transfer information between applications such as email and mapping services to cut down the normal number of clicks, and "Web slices" which lets the user save predefined sections of a website for instant viewing. Colour coding of tabs and tab sandboxing are some additional tidbits some might enjoy.

Microsoft showcased the final browser at its Mix 09 conference in Las Vegas where the company also unveiled a Silverlight 3 beta the day before. The new Silverlight features out-of-browser support, which allows Silverlight applications to run on the desktop as well as graphics improvements, GPU acceleration, H.264 video support and tweaks to improve rich internet application development productivity.