Microsoft Internet Explorer 8: Mixed Reactions - IE 8: Worth Using?
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So after all this, one has to wonder: is IE 8 worth downloading? That may very much depend on your web surfing habits. If you're already a power user and enjoy the features and add-ons you get with Firefox 3 or other browsers you can easily customize, there might not be a compelling reason to get it. If you're a web site developer who wants to make sure the sites you build work with all of the major browsers, you probably should download it, even with its Compatibility View.
It's telling that Microsoft includes Internet Explorer 8 among the list of features that users will be able to “turn off” in Windows 7. This doesn't mean it can actually be removed from the soon-to-be-released operating system. According to Microsoft's Windows 7 engineering blog, features that can be turned off “will not be available for use, which means binaries and data are not loaded by the operating system (for security-conscious customers) and not available to users on the computer.” Instead, the features are “staged” so that they can “easily be added back to the running OS without additional media.” So if you install Windows 7, turn off IE 8 and later change your mind, you won't have to wonder where you put the DVD to make the change.
Does this mean that Microsoft thinks a lot of people won't want to use IE 8? Well, it's possible to envision a scenario where a business decides to move to Windows 7, but hasn't yet approved Internet Explorer 8 for use by its employees. In that case, they would want to install Windows 7 with IE 8 disabled. It wouldn't necessarily be a reflection on the browser; when it comes to making software changes, most companies are conservative. This is especially true when it concerns software that could do serious harm to the network – and let's face it, browsers that aren't properly secured, or are otherwise unknown quantities, carry that potential with them, especially when they're as new as IE 8.
But there's one last group of people who really should consider installing IE 8: those who run Windows-based computers. Don Reisinger, writing for CNet, explains the reasoning in an article in which he expounds on why he won't be turning off IE 8 in Windows 7. “I think it'll be a downright hassle to disable it, and doing so could mean that I'll be forced to go to the 'Windows Features' pane and turn it back on when I want to go to one of those annoying sites that works best with Internet Explorer, or to a Microsoft page that requires Internet Explorer to download what I need.”
As long as Microsoft has a dominant market share in the software that helps so many people get their essential tasks done, there will always be a market for the next version of Internet Explorer – if for no other reason than the one explained above. Despite its flaws, IE 8 is a welcome improvement over previous versions of the browser. Whether it will help Microsoft increase its browser market share remains to be seen; so far, however, the indications aren't promising.
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