IE 8 Release Candidate 1 has been released

(image found on Techtree.com)
Microsoft has just released the new version of Internet Explorer 8 in beta form, dubbed IE 8 RC1 (Release Candidate1) with new improved surfing features such as:

Tabbed Browsing, granted this isn't a totally new feature since its been around since Internet Explorer 7. The new feature they have added is that each tab has its own set of processes so if a site crashes it shouldn't affect the other tabs you have open to other links. This in itself is a big feature if it works like it should. Another feature they have added is an option to re-open tabs that were accidentally closed and some color coding features too.

Security, this is being labeled as the most secure browser ever by Microsoft offering a new feature called "Clickjacking".

"Clickjacking enables hackers and data snoopers weave a filter on sites so they can view the information being accessed from the browser. This can be extremely dangerous if you're an online banking user and frequently handle financial transactions online, the feature might turn out to be useful. The downside however is that, for it to work, webmasters will need to put a tag in the page header, which will help detect and eventually prevent clickjacking."

"Inprivate: Microsoft had debuted the InPrivate mode for anonymous browsing in the Beta version of IE8. In the latest update, the browser features two security features called the InPrivate Browsing and InPrivate Filtering. A new InPrivate window can be opened by Ctrl+shift+P while the Ctrl+Shift+F option will open the InPrivate filtering option. The filtering feature was integrated with the browsing feature in the beta. It has now been integrated as a separate feature."

Phishing Filter: dubbed Smart Screen. This feature compares websites to an existing database to see if they are known to be scam or fraudulent sites. The database is constantly being updated to keep up with newly reported sites.

Web Compatibility:"IE8 has been given the capability to handle W3 web standards so that the appearance of web pages does not change. For those in doubt and used to IE7, there is the compatibility mode that will help it retain the familiar IE7 look."

I am glad to see a new release of IE for us to use but I am still a dedicated Firefox users until a better browser comes along. I will be installing the IE 8 RC1 version this weekend on one of my virtual environments to give it a try then post my experiences with it.

Internet Explorer 8 RC1 first look (Techtree.com)

Initial Verdict: Internet Explorer 8 RC1 is really fast (i4unews)

IE8's JavaScript performance lags well behind Safari, Chrome (AppleInsider)