5 things ie8 got right
The final version of Internet explorer 8 has finally been released.
The following are 5 new features that Microsoft finally got right:
1) Page debugging
One of my biggest Internet explorer complaints is the fact that they have no good javascript and page debugging tools (such as firebug). This time around, Microsoft finally got a clue and added an extensive debugging tool that actually competes with firefox. To access it, go to: tools->developer tools (or use F12). A separate window will popup, which will give you many different options for debugging.
2) Accelerators
If you highlight text on the screen and right-click it, you are now presented with some extra options called accelerators.
The built-in ones include:
- Search with live search
- Map with live search
- Email with windows live
- Blog with windows live
There is also a link to some other accelerators that you can install.
3) Grouped tabs
When one tab is opened from another, the new tab is placed next to the originating tab and color coded, so that you can quickly see which tabs have related content. If you close a tab that’s part of a group, another tab from the same group is displayed, enabling you to remain within the context of the current task rather than suddenly looking at an unrelated site.
4) Private browsing
History and cookies are not stored. To enable this, go to: tools->in private browsing (or Ctrl-Shift-P).
5) Re-open closed tabs and re-open your last browsing session
You can now re-open all of the tabs that were open the last time you closed your browser and re-open an individual tab if you accidentally close it.
9 comments
I usually lag behind releases just to make sure our web pages work with everything (I’m still on firefox 2, safari 2, chrome, and have ie 4,5,6 and 7 running). Does ie8 replace all of the ie7 stuff or does it keep it installed?
I just installed it on my vista laptop with IE7 and it replaced it. You might want to install it in a VM.
I think Microsoft just figures you can use IE7 emulation mode to check out your websites in IE7. The problem I have is that they aren’t exactly the same.
All those features have been ruipped off from other browsers, so it’s nothing that MS got right.
@biggieG:
Even if they are borrowed from other browsers, it is still a step in the right direction.
As you mention, Firefox has a version of Accelerators too, it is called “KALLOUT – Accelerators for Firefox” It’s available as a free add-on through Firefox. See: http://bit.ly/vJKbW
Bundling Accelerators into IE8 makes a lot of sense. Selection-based search is really helpful. One GREAT feature of KallOut which you don’t mention is BestGuess. The challenge with selection-based search is that the user has to figure out which one to apply to his selection. It’s a little clunky once you get more than two or three. KallOut does a super job figuring out which accelerator you need to use for a given selection-based search request. Kallout — Accelerators for Firefox is actually kind of spooky when it works so well.
Check it out! I agree that it’s a big step forward for the user to have the selection-based search bundled into the browser by default, however.
See KALLOUT – Accelerators for Firefox — http://bit.ly/vJKbW
-EL
@EL:
Thanks for the links.
[...] 5 things ie8 got right [...]
It’s funny I don’t see
# Search with google
# Map with google map
How easy is it to customize it for other non microsoft tools and remove the default ones ?
I wish people would stop trying to make decision for me, or AT LEAST pick the most used/efficient tools, not just the one you wish I’d use.
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