Tech Update: Internet Explorer 8

One of the nice perks of running a blog based on Drupal is the rather good Search Engine Optimisation, which works well even if you don’t try very hard. I only occasionally discuss general technology, but search engines still seem to offer my blog as one of the top links on some general consumer IT topics.

Thus I get invites to the odd start-up event or webcast about new technology, including a recent one about Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8. And so here’s a quick post about it, because the guys at Microsoft were kind enough to invite me along:

Internet Explorer 8 is fine.

It works, it’s very fast on my current machine and it renders web sites (albeit there are minor issues with Bristol Council’s Public-I webcasting site). I’m told that independent web developers may find it easier to work with (see here for a chap talking about problems with IE rendering). From a user perspective: it’s fine. I can’t really think of much else to add, as I just don’t worry too much about web browsers any more.

Now I was several years into my IT career when the “browser wars” were being fought, so I still have a vague memory of commercial clients actually having to – I kid you not – pay for web browsers. Back in the late nineties, Microsoft’s decision to bundle a free version of an earlier version of Internet Explorer with its Windows Operating System started the ant-trust case of United States v. Microsoft that almost led to the breaking up of the corporation. Wikipedia has a pretty fair summary of the positions:

Microsoft stated that the merging of Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer was the result of innovation and competition, that the two were now the same product and were inextricably linked together and that consumers were now getting all the benefits of IE for free. Those who opposed Microsoft's position countered that the browser was still a distinct and separate product which did not need to be tied to the operating system, since a separate version of Internet Explorer was available for Mac OS. They also asserted that IE was not really free because its development and marketing costs may have kept the price of Windows higher than it might otherwise have been.

When I read this now in 2009, it’s almost like touching the yellowing pages of some crumbling religious text arguing an obscure point of theology. Did this sort of thing really matter to us only ten years ago?

These days, my main browser is Firefox, and I very occasionally use Google Chrome. There aren’t many sites that that choke with these two browsers (HM Revenue & Customs being an example). And so I don’t really have much impetus to change. One reason that I do have to continue using Firefox is the add-ons available. I routinely use FireFTP, XMarks, NoScript & DownThemAll, but only one of these is available as an IE add-on (with a lengthier install process).

One feature of IE8 not present in Firefox is “InPrivate Browsing”. As with Safari’s Private mode and Chrome’s Incognito mode, this provides users with a means to use browse sites while leaving a minimal trail of tracking cookies and no download history. Clearly there is a demand out there from users for a bit of privacy.

Again: Internet Explorer 8 seems fine. If you’re a regular home or corporate user, you’ll probably end up using it through automatic updates soon, and if you’re a power user then it’s good enough that if you haven’t already invested a lot of time in a different browser, then you might as well give it a go.

On a related point: Microsoft’s Windows Live Writer is absolutely fantastic, and it’s now the main tool I use for writing this blog. But you do need the WLW BlogApi module for Drupal to get all the features working.