Microsoft has released the beta 2 edition of its upcoming Internet Explorer 8 browser, with an emphasis on customer-oriented features. The final version of the IE 8 browser will be released in November.

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As added antiphishing protection, IE 8 highlights the main domain of any website you visit. Thus if something other than ebay.com is highlighted, chances are you are on the wrong website.

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To aid users in finding frequently used URLs, Firefox 3 has its Awesome Bar, which displays a drop down menu of recent Web pages culled from your browser history file. IE 8 has something similar. Type in any URL and IE 8 matches it to any URLs in your browser history file. One key difference with Firefox is that within IE 8 you can delete individual items from your history. That way co-workers can't see what you've typed before. Also it allows you to simply eliminate mistyped URLs.

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Highlight a word or phrase on any Web page and IE8's Accelerator Indicator (the blue arrow box with drop down menu) offers choices, such as opening a Google search or a blank e-mail using that word or phrase. You can customize the Accelerator Indicator to include Google Earth or any other Web 2.0 service you might frequently use.

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Whenever you do open a new tab from an existing tab, the relationship is maintained via color-coded tabs. In this image, there are three sets of two related tabs colored light blue, blue, and green.

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Should a Web page crash in IE 8, the crash is isolated to the tab affected and does not crash the entire browser. Other tabs remain open. To troubleshoot a crashed tab, Microsoft has enhanced the add-on manager in IE 8. (See next slide.)

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IE 8 includes a more detailed add-on manager than Firefox. You can use this to troubleshoot problems with individual Web pages by enabling or disabling troublesome add-ons.

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Like Apple Safari, Microsoft IE 8 now provides a way to temporarily suspend automatic browser caching functions and surf. The scenarios for using InPrivate include when you're using someone else's computer, when you need to buy a gift for a loved one without ruining the surprise, or when you're at an Internet kiosk and don't want the next person to know which Web site you visited. While you can currently clear the browser cache with a mouse click, it's an all-or-nothing action. InPrivate temporarily suspends the automatic caching functions, allowing you to keep the rest of your browsing history intact.

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