Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2

Microsoft calls for caution in the installation of this browser

by Michael Smith

Recently the developers in Redmond released the latest Beta version, Beta 2, of the Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) for public download. While the first Beta version of IE8 was intended only for developers the latest version of already aimed at general Internet users.

Aside from the many features that are intended to protect the user from a variety of threats and also and especially provide a special privacy mode. This full-fledged privacy mode is intended to prevent the browser from saving any browsing or search history, delete your IE8 browser cache at the end of every session and will also disable saving of cookies, data, passwords and other offline data. In other words, it copies functions already available in Firefox. The tools share the "InPrivate" name, which Microsoft registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office several weeks ago.

Those new features were intended to attract the users and I am almost certain is aimed to get back some ground from Firefox.

Despite all the positive intentions and developments Microsoft warned users of Windows XP Service Pack 3, however, that they will be unable to uninstall either SP3 or Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 under some circumstances. The actual problem appears only in users who downloaded and installed IE8 Beta 1 prior to updating Windows XP to SP3, Microsoft said, which triggers a special installation message which reads: “If you chose to continue, Windows XP SP3 and IE8 Beta 2 will become permanent”.

Oh great. Very much like the forced installation I encountered with IE7, which I never wanted to download. But it was forced upon me in a Windows Update (and no, there was no way of a choice). Since that incident and another one of those Redmond disasters – or purpose action – when an update disabled the use of Zonealarm Firewall on my systems and that of thousands of others, I have turned off all Windows Updates, as I have mentioned in a previous article in this publication.

© M Smith (Veshengro), September 2008
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