Just one day after Google launched the Beta version of its Chrome Web browser, Microsoft unveiled the latest version of its browser, the Internet Explorer, focusing the presentation speech on enhanced security and innovative ads.  

The IE 8 will be available today at 12:00 noon Eastern Daylight Time, 9 a.m., Pacific Time. Users can download the Web browser from Microsoft's IE Web site and its online download center.

The issues that Microsoft has improved in the IE 8 have mainly focused on the feedback the company got from users. Beside enhanced security, the new Microsoft Web browser also has better navigation, said Amy Barzdukas, senior director for IE.

The new Internet Explorer 8 will be available for download in 25 languages and will be simpler to use, faster than its predecessors and as I mentioned before, more secure. The security focus in IE8 has shifted from phishign to malware. However, its major new feature is, Microsoft says, greater adherence to standards such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

As Amy Barzdukas said, Microsoft has learned its lesson and this will show in the new IE. 

According to research results from NSS Labs, the IE 8 release candidate 1 has 69 percent effectiveness in catching malware before infecting the computer. The No.2 in this segment, the Mozilla Firefox 3.07 is far behind with 30 percent effectiveness, while Apple’s Safari 3 was third with 24 percent. Google Chrome 1.0.154 was fourth with 16 percent. NSS Labs said the error margin of these results is of 3.76 percent. 

The tests were paid by Microsoft, but Amy Barzdukas said the report is as valid as it gets, although it may seem to be a conflict of interest. 

Now let’s talk about market share. According to data from Net Applications, a company specialized in monitoring browsers preferred by online users, the IE series fell to 67.4% of the market last month compared to 74.9% same month last year. Firefox from Mozilla gained some ground and grew to 21.8% from 17.27%, while Apple's Safari also climbed to 8% from 5.7%.

The market of Web browsers is surely beginning to look healthier. Microsoft will include the IE8 into its new upcoming operating system Windows 7, but for the first time ever, it will give users the option of turning IE off from within the system and use the Web browser of their choice. 

To download the IE8 visit:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/ or

http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/en/default.aspx