As promised last year, Microsoft has launched the first Internet Explorer 8 beta version, the browser meant to replace IE 7 and to continue the battle for supremacy with Firefox 3.0, currently also in a beta phase. Microsoft promised a load of improvements,

such as CSS 2.1 support, CSS Certification, performance, HTML 5 support, new developer tools, activities, Web slices and another unnamed feature. As the beta version is already out in the wild, I thought to myself it was time for a test.

Well, I was warned that it is just a beta 1, but having done a lot of beta testing in my days I had already assumed it was possible to encounter some glitches.

However, I downloaded the 14 MB install kitt, ran it and in a matter of minutes, I was prompted to restart my Windows XP SP2-powered computer.

As soon as I logged back in my Windows account, I was ready to fire up the new Internet Explorer, especially to play with the WebSlices.

Seconds after I clicked the IE icon, the browser displayed a welcome splash screen, in which it showed my express settings, imported from Internet Explorer 7.0. In addition, it offered me the possibility to change the settings.

My "express settings" showed Google as my search provider and activity providers were offered by Windows (Blog with Windows Live Spaces, Map with Live Maps, Define with Encarta, Translate with Windows Live, Send with Windows Live Hotmail), the safety filter, which protects against malware and keeps data "safer" from fraudulent Web sites and phishing scams, was set to on (recommended).

In the next step, I was invited to import my Bookmarks from another browser and because I work mainly with Firefox I decided to migrate my favorite pages from there, just as a test. The transfer worked smoothly and Internet Explorer 8 detected that I had several add-ons installed in Mozilla’s browser. I was prompted to browse after similar add-ons for Internet Explorer, but I decided to perform this task later.

So here I am, eager and ready to type in the first web address, when problems immediately set in.

Although it had not presented any kind of symptoms or any signs whatsoever that it was disrupted by Google Toolbar (I had the latest available version installed on IE 7), Internet Explorer simply went berserk.

Seeing how, unlike its ancestor, Internet Explorer benefits from Active Recovery, it all transformed into an endless cycle of restarts of the tab I was in, all accompanied by error messages notifying me that Google Toolbar is to be blamed for the problems.

However, after finally managing to close the browser (I actually killed off the process from Task Manager), the first move was to uninstall Google Toolbar from the Control Panel.

As a precaution, I decided to remove all remaining add-ons and toolbars that I had previously installed.With my new Internet Explorer clear shaven of all kinds of applications (more or less useful), I started over.

Although the new browser is compatible with Web standards, it did not display one single page correctly, with errors such as missing elements and boxes wrongly displayed. I was not any more successful even on the pages of Microsoft’s site. In addition, the loading speed was significantly inferior to that of IE 7 and far behind that of Firefox or Safari. Things came back to normal once I selected IE 7 Emulates and restarted the browser.

Apart from all these errors (inherent to a beta version, although Microsoft could have waited a bit more before launching), Internet Explorer 8.0 brings several new features, among which a better integration with Live services and the above-mentioned WebSlices.

The WebSlices, the same as RSS, must be created by web masters and will be detected by the browser; it will indicate their presence by displaying a special button which allows you to save them in the bar below the Address Bar.

They are basically a sort of combination between an RSS and a bookmark, that permit you to be informed at all times of what is going on on a certain page or even region of a site (obviously on the condition that a WebSlice has been created).

Overall, IE 8.0 promises to be one of Microsoft’s best browsers, but if this is all it has to show, then the competition over at Firefox has nothing to worry about.