Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1


Whaaaaa? Microsuck just released IE7 and you mean to tell me there already is a public beta for 8? Yep, and I have the “privilege” (rolls eyes) of ruining my computer by testing it. I will give you a full review of it below. Warning: while I try to post in plain English, I may use some terms unfamiliar to you non-techies such as CSS, XHTML, Acid2 etc. Use Google and learn something.

What’s the deal with IE 8? Let’s start with the graphical interface. Microsoft did not really do anything with it. Everything looks just like IE7. the only thing I noticed is that it looks like they finally got favicon support right. Also, i. There is also a bug where there is no text select cursor and you only get an arrow. For a complete listing of features according to these morons, go here.

And here is the part where I simply slap my head in shame. IE8 was claimed to be released to pass the Acid2 test and be standards compliant. Yes, IE8 does pass Acid2, but that is not the point. What good is passing a stupid CSS test, if it renders many other pages WORSE than IE6 does. That’s right folks, they broke it big time. Let me put it nicely. The developers pissed, shit and puked on the page rendering engine before slapping it in a browser and hastily releasing it to the public. Portfolioso.com’s main page (not the blog) is XHTML strict and renders properly in Firefox (1,1.5,2,3), Safari, Opera, IE6 (kind of – no transparent PNG support), IE7 and probably other browsers – yet looks like ass in IE8. Once again, Microsoft added support for web standards, and we have a website using valid CSS and valid XHTML Strict, still displaying improperly. “Oh but cut them some slack, it’s just a beta.” NO! They don’t get any slack. This is a rich company that has been working on this for months. They should do a half decent job before releasing it to the public.

I have a couple of screenshots of how poorly webpages look in IE8.

  • Portfolioso.com Home – Look how badly the menu is spaced. This is CSS and XHTML Strict Compliant
  • EVAC Website (HTML 4 Transitional) – No idea what happened here. IE8 wrecks it. Take a look at EVAC’s site in your current browser and then look at that screenshot… Also note that this site is HTML 4.0 Transitional and follows W3 standards, displays the same in all browsers, but not IE8

The quick and dirty: This is a very poor release and Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves. Ever with the exception of Windows XP, every product released after that is pure garbage, and IE8 is living up to those standards. I’m assuming these rendering problems will be fixed in future IE8 beta releases, but we shall see. Firefox 3 (I test betas of that, too) is kicking serious ass. Firefox 3 is amazing – I cannot say enough about it. When it is finally released, everyone NEEDS to get it for many reasons (another post). The only thing Firefox 3 lacks that IE7 has is a thumbnail view of all tabs. But that’s just eye candy. When it comes down to solid performance, Firefox wins.