Microsoft kept its promise made back in June about the upcoming release of its new Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 and the new browser is now available. It is developed for a day-to-day use and offers improved security, stability and privacy features which promise a new and much more enjoyable browsing experience.

"We focused our work around three themes: everyday browsing (the things that real people do all the time), safety (the term most people use for what we've called 'trustworthy' in previous posts), and the platform (the focus of Beta 1, how developers around the world will build the next billion web pages and the next waves of great services)," wrote Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of the Internet Explorer team on the IEBlog.

One of the most debated features of the new IE8 is its InPrivate Blocking function, also known as the ‘porn mode’ – a setting that allows users to automatically erase all the content viewed (files, cookies and HTML code). The company explained that the feature was introduced “for those times when you're shopping for your wife's birthday present but don't want her to know.” It will also help users to see in advance the content sent by third party Web sites and will be able to block the materials and also, perhaps more importantly, their movements across the Web will be kept private.

"There are sites that you've visited that you didn't know had a line of sight on you," said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer. "This is the only way to make sure sites don't get information about you."

Another new thing is the searchable address bar, which will help users narrow their searches by typing an URL or certain words from their wanted Web destination. The upgraded search box will offer suggestions for more effective searches and will even list several search providers, including Amazon.com and eBay.

There are several new security protections, such as the SmartScreen filter. First of all, these protections have been included to target the cross-site scripting attacks, which are known as some of the most common forms of Web-based intrusions.

The updates, expected at significantly shorter periods than before, are meant to keep the users satisfied as Windows’ competitors are breathing down its neck. About four years ago, Internet Explorer was the preferred tool of more than 91 percent of Web surfers. During this time, Mozilla Firefox and Apple’s Safari browser managed to release some extremely appealing alternatives, providing users with the possibility of choosing their favorite application. At this point, according to the research company Net Applications, Microsoft holds about 73 percent of the browser market, Mozilla’s Firefox has 19 percent and Apple the rest of 8 percent.

Firefox recorded a huge boost in June with the release of its new version. In the first 24 hours after its release, more than 8 million people downloaded the application.

Still, Microsoft is at this point the preferred choice of Web surfers everywhere but in order to keep the number one spot in the upcoming years will have to continue to constantly improve its services.