Tuesday, December 16, 2008

IE 8 RC1 projects dissapointment

Microsoft is trying hard to keep the pace to catch on the latest web browsers war against heavy contenders like Firefox, Safari and Chrome. Let's face it, Internet Explorer (IE) is famous not because of its features and performance, but more because of Microsoft's distributing strategy. And now Microsoft has to face the fact that IE is losing market share, big time.

Ever since that, the software giant has promised an all new IE in the next version 8. And last week, Microsoft has quietly released IE 8 RC1 to its closest partners to give it a try. TG Daily has managed to get a hold of a copy, and take it for a little spin ride. Here's the verdict:

"IE8 RC1 cannot compete with Firefox, Chrome and Opera in terms of CSS 3 compatibility. ... If the RC1 seen by us essentially represents what the IE8 final will be, then Microsoft may not be able to slow the pace of IE market share decline. ... As of now Firefox, Safari and Opera (and Chrome) play in a different league and expose IE8 as an old concept that is overrun by a new generation of browsers."

And as for us, end users, the look of IE 8 RC1 doesn't seem much different from IE7. So we basically can't get too much excited even when IE 8 is finally out, Microsoft need to learn a lot from its competitors.

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