Internet Explorer 8 was officially released yesterday. You might be asking yourself should I rush out and get the latest most secure version of IE that has ever browsed the web? The simple answer is an emphatic “NO” but let me explain.
First things first…its still Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is notorious for being a non standards compliant browser. The Web Standards Project currently has 3 tests that show if your web browser is in compliance with current web standards. Microsoft touts that IE8 passes the Acid2 test… the only problem is that is horribly fails the newer Acid 3 test scoring only 20 out of 100. The newest versions of Firefox, Chrome and Safari all score over 70 out of 100 on the same Acid3 test. Firefox 3 Beta 3 scored a 93 out of 100 on the same Acid3 test. Its almost like Microsoft just doesn’t want to play nice with globally accepted web standards.
The in-house web application at one company that I support is still only working with IE7 and will not even load with IE8. Do not roll out IE8 in your office without first thoroughly testing it on a non-production system. A complete feature list of IE8 can be found at the following link http://tinyurl.com/ckglh4
All web browsers need improvement in some area and IE8 still could just be the most needy of the bunch. IE8 may eventually end up being a fine replacement for IE7 but I would wait a few months before making the switch.
For full disclosure let me say that my primary web browser is Firefox, the only time I still use IE7 is when the website that I’m visiting will only supports IE. The current beta and soon to be released Firefox 3.5 looks to be another winner for the free and Open-Source community. Happy browsing 
