Category — ie8

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.