Differences in IE7 and IE8
- IE8 allows users to open new tabs and to keep those tabs in a related format known as grouped tags. IE8 keeps the tabs separate and unrelated. For instance, if an IE8 user is visiting a site and right-clicks on a link, the link will be opened in a new tab. This will be color-coded to match the tab from which the link initially originated.
- One of the advantages offered by IE8 is its increased focus on security. A study conducted by NSS Labs demonstrated that IE8 blocks 85 percent of the malicious links tested against the browser's security. This number was reportedly more than three times the success rate of other browsers.
- When Microsoft issued the IE8 upgrade, it packaged it with a new private-browsing feature. Private browsing keeps users from having to worry about a tracked history, cookies, form data and passwords being stored. This is optimal for public-access sites where users don't want others to access their data.
- IE8 contains an accelerator feature that is not available on IE7. When users click over and highlight text on a Web page, they are presented with the option to click on a blue accelerator icon. Clicking on the icon allows them to select from a series of options through which they can filter the highlighted text. These options include the ability to conduct a Web search with the text, to map the text if the text is in address or other mapable form, and to mail the text through a Web-based email client, such as gmail.
- Internet Explorer provides an enhanced ability to render Web pages. The browser is able to process Javascript faster than possible in IE7. This assists Internet users in quickly accessing Web 2.0 ajax-type technologies, which bring content to the browser without requiring the user to reload an entire Web page.
- As of the IE8 release, IE users can now download files that are in excess of 4 gigabytes in size.