Not sure: IE 8

[Cat Dancer]

My computer really wants me to download Internet Explorer 8. I'm wary. LOL. Sometimes I'm not good with change. Is it really different from IE 7? Should I just throw caution to the wind and go for it? I'm not sure what to do. :hissyfit:

 

[Jazzey]

I would say go for the upgrade...But I'm not good at computers either. Maybe wait and see what other people can suggest? Someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

Good luck Cat Dancer.

 

[white page]

I'd wait for our computer experts here to advise you CD, if I ever have a doubt I don't download until asking some one who really knows.

 

[Retired]

I've now installed IE8 on four systems without incident. Three systems are XP and one is a Vista system.

I have had better success with the Windows Update download version than the earlier build available before the MS roll out.

Furthermore, I did not see any benefit to my operating style to the "enhancements" added to IE8 such as the accelerators, web slices and search engine enhancements, after trying them out in the first installation.

Therefore in my final installations I declined all the enhancements during the initial setup, following the download, installation and system restart.

IMO after reading reports on my favorite IE Support Forum, and comments posted here and my own experience, I see no reason to delay installation of IE8.

Others may have additional comments.

 

[Halo]

I have IE8 on my home laptop and to be honest there is not a lot of difference between IE7 and IE8. One feature that I do like about IE8 is that if for some reason IE needs to close, when you re-open the application it prompts you to ask if you want to open up all the tabs that were previously open....what a timesaver for sure

So my view is go for it....you can always revert back if needed.

 

[white page]

Halo I use Firefox and I really like that feature in firefox.

when you re-open the application it prompts you to ask if you want to open up all the tabs that were previously open....what a timesaver for sure

 

[Halo]

I have never tried FireFox although I must admit that I have been tempted to lately

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I agree with the comments about IE8. You won't see a huge difference but there are a few improvements over IE7.

One thing I did is tell IE8 to revert to compatibility mode for all websites. This saves aggravation for those sites you visit that haven't yet updated their sites.

 

[Retired]

One thing I did is tell IE8 to revert to compatibility mode for all websites

I did too, which slipped my mind. ..:red:

If you are about to configure your new installation for IE8, it's one of the last, if not the last configuration request in the setup, and should (IMO too) be enabled so websites that may not be ready for the new generation of browsers can be viewed easily.

 

[Daniel E.]

I didn't have any problems upgrading in Vista. I've been using IE8 exclusively for the last few days in Windows 7, and I still don't have any problems with IE8. The only reason I am going to install Firefox is for FireFox plugins like DownLoadThemAll.

 

[Cat Dancer]

You know, it's the weirdest thing. I finally clicked the little icon to download the update and I don't think it did anything at all. It just went away. It never said anything like "installing updates" or anything like that. I don't know what happened. I was all set to deal with the change and it didn't download.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

CD, go to Internet Explorer 8: Home page and download it manually.

 

[Daniel E.]

David beat me to it:

If you are talking about downloading it through Windows Update, another option is to download it from Microsoft's website.

 

[Retired]

I finally clicked the little icon to download the update and I don't think it did anything at all.

I noticed this behaviour on three systems I have updated so far. It seems the automatic download probably polls the server at a different rate than when you download through direct access.

The best solution is to use the Windows Update link for the download which works instantly.

 

[Cat Dancer]

Ok. I downloaded it and I'm using it. It doesn't seem that much different than 7. Not sure what I think yet.

I don't like or need the "free hotmail" or "realplayer" buttons and wonder if I can somehow delete those from the toolbar?

 

[Budoaiki]

I am not sure if it will work with ie v8 but in firefox and previous versions of ie you can right click on the tool bar and select customize where you can remove undesired applications or icons.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Right click on the various toolbars - you'll see various customization options depending on where you click.

Other options are available in the View and Tools top menu items.

It's not a whole lot different than IE7 actually. It has a few extra features and I think it's faster than IE7.

Added: Budoaiki beat me to the punch.

 

[Cat Dancer]

Thanks. That did work.

 

[Cat Dancer]

Ok, I'm kind of disturbed by something it's doing. Everytime I open a new tab it shows the last several websites I've visited and there's an option to open those tabs again. I don't like that at all. Is there some way to turn that off?

 

[Daniel E.]

It seems the registry settings would have to be changed.

The page below has a downloadable script to automate the process, but I haven't used it myself:

How to Disable the "Reopen Last Browsing Session" Feature in Internet Explorer 8 - The Winhelponline Blog

Another issue is that you may want to stop IE8 from showing your history in the address bar. Below is how to disable the History from being shown in the address bar:

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...0c-a0a1-0b64bc9d5407&cat=&lang=&cr=&sloc=&p=1

As you may know, another issue is disabling sites from appearing in the History Bar (CTRL+H) which has been a feature of older IE versions as well:

Go to Tools > Internet Options > and select "Settings" under "Browsing history." (At the bottom, change "days to keep pages in history" to 0.)

Another option:

IE's new InPrivate browsing mode (sometimes referred to as "porn mode") can be accessed by pressing CTRL+Shift+P and would be one way of dealing with all or most of the above:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/features/browse-privately.aspx