What happened when I installed Internet Explorer 8?

Microsoft has taken Internet Explorer 8 out of public beta, and released it this week for everyone (at least, for all licensed users of Windows).

You can download IE 8 by going to www.microsoft.com. However, for a brand-new release, Microsoft makes it hard to find IE8 — you can still find IE7 In the Download Center under Popular Downloads. Just use the search bar at the top of the Download Center to search for Internet Explorer 8.

Well, I found IE 8 and downloaded it.

On first sight, IE 8 looked pretty good. On the left below, we see the first screen of the installation program. Note that you need to declare whether you want to participate in the Windows Experience reporting process or not. Once you select either button, the Next button becomes available.

The next screen gives you the option NOT to install updates for Windows, Internet Explorer and Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. I don't know any reason not to do these, unless perhaps you use dialup and don't want to sit there for a long time.

(click on the image for a larger version)

(click on the image for a larger version)

The left screen below is a shot of the progress as IE 8 is being installed. I like being kept informed. I was less pleased with the screen on the right.

(click on the image for a larger version)

(click on the image for a larger version)

After restarting my computer, I double-clicked on the Internet Explorer 8 Troubleshooting icon on my Windows Desktop. The screen on the left is a clean, clear, simplistic waste of time. Microsoft could just as easily delivered me to the next screen in the series. This one really was useless.

As I wrote in my email newsletter this week, at this point, I did a whole bunch of things (without ever contacting Microsoft via this web page), including installing Windows XP Service Pack 3, having it fail (about 45-60 minutes per attempt, too), trying something to fix that, trying again, eventually solving that problem, and then installing Internet Explorer 8.

On the right screen below, we see the happy ending.

(click on the image for a larger version)

(click on the image for a larger version)

The first time I started IE8, I was underimpressed by its new speed. Strangely enough, when I clicked on a link in my home page, instead of opening the new link, IE8 opened another tab and a Welcome to IE8 page at Microsoft.com.

Well, we'll see. There are a lot of new features in IE8, but, on its surface, it does not look a lot different than IE7 did. I'm pleased to see that, unlike with Internet Explorer 7, my web site still displays properly in IE8.

In the next article, I've written about some of the new features of Internet Explorer 8.

I encourage you to tell me what you like, or don't like, about IE8.

Copyright © 2009 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.