IE8

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by LenC, Apr 25, 2009.

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  1. LenC

    LenC Registered Member

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    Thoughts as to whether or not I should upgrade from IE7? I have two computers: one with XP Pro and one with vista home - both updated and running normally.

    If I decide to update, should I download and install IE8 over 7? Or should I uninstall 7 first?

    Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Len
     
  2. Eice

    Eice Registered Member

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    In my experience: no reason why you shouldn't upgrade. Improved performance, security, stability, and more features (IE8 comes with adblocking!).

    No need to uninstall IE7 first. At least, I've never had any problems with installing right over.
     
  3. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    Hello,
    I have upgraded an xp machine and a vista machine and it worked fine.
    xp is 32bit and my vista is 64bit. both had IE7 and i just upgraded.

    if you have any imaging software its best to create an image of C: before just incase.
     
  4. LenC

    LenC Registered Member

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    Thanks everyone. Iodore - I certainly will image first - learned the hard way over the years:cautious:
     
  5. AKAJohnDoe

    AKAJohnDoe Registered Member

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    I installed IE8. Although I am running Vista, not XP. Anyway, I uninstalled IE8. Do be sure you have a before image as uninstall does not.
     
  6. LenC

    LenC Registered Member

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    I have an image. I installed IE8 and it went smoothly (so far). Just curious - why did you uninstall it?
     
  7. AKAJohnDoe

    AKAJohnDoe Registered Member

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    It was not what I had hoped
     
  8. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Have it installed here on Vista x64 and love it. No problems so far after a few weeks of usage. Glad I made the change.
     
  9. Page42

    Page42 Registered Member

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    Is it very different in appearance than IE7? Same tabbed browsing? Same Menu, Links and Status bars as in IE7? Anything that anyone dislikes about IE8? Currently running IE7 and considering the change... :)
     
  10. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    Look and feel not much different at all. Can't actually think of a difference at the moment. Once I got a search provider snafu worked out, I totally forget I'm in IE8 versus IE7.
     
  11. Page42

    Page42 Registered Member

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    I wonder then what is the biggest advantage to upgrading?

    Someone stated, "Improved performance, security, stability, and more features" ... my IE7 seems stable on most sites.

    Maybe speed could be enhanced, I don't know. IE7 seems pretty fast.

    Security I wouldn't know about... does anyone know how security is improved in IE8?

    And ad blocking was mentioned... meaning more so than IE7's pop-up blocker?
     
  12. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    That makes two of us. I just upgraded out of curiosity on this laptop, but not the other machines in my family.
     
  13. HAN

    HAN Registered Member

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    I like IE8 quite a bit. It's the first time in ages that IE has me considering running it over FF! If you search around the web, IE8 has several things going for it over IE7 (which I thought was a dud.) One thing, maybe little to others but not me, the Reload and Stop buttons can be placed back where they belong... on the left side of the address bar!

    As for the ad blocking, a user over at dslreports has adapted a list from Ad Block Plus to IE8. See this thread for more info http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22124619-IE8-InPrivate-filter-from-adblock-plus-list

    Keep in mind that by default, the InPrivate Filter is ALWAYS off when you initially start IE8. You must create a registry key like the one mentioned in the thread to have it on by default. Here is more info on creating the right key for you http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/221704-internet-explorer-8-inprivate-filtering-keep.html


    **EDIT**
    BTW, here is an article on some of the newer security features. http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208802167 Oh, another thing I really appreciate in IE over IE7, each tab is now a separate process. If one tab dies, the others live on!
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2009
  14. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Yes, it's a lot faster than IE7..... Try it.
     
  15. Eice

    Eice Registered Member

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    IE8 uses a multi-process architecture similar to Chrome, meaning tabs are isolated and one of the crashing or slowing down does not drag the entire browser along with it. If the whole browser DOES go down, IE8 can automatically restore your tabs from the last session.

    Javascript parsing speed alone is 300-400% better than IE7. IE8 also creates more connections per server than IE7 by default. Rendering engine speed is increased as well.

    Domain highlighting, SmartScreen Filter now blocks malware sites (not just phishing ones), anti-XSS and anti-clickjacking features, and the ability to control plugins and enable/disable them on a per-site basis (you can use this to get the Flashblock feature in IE:cool:, and InPrivate Browsing. If you use Vista, IE8 enjoys DEP + ASLR protection by default even if it's not globally enabled on your system.

    Yes, IE8 can block ads in pages. Check the following sites for more info:

    http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=755520
    http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22124619-IE8-InPrivate-filter-from-adblock-plus-list
    http://textpad.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B49C34BD7DE98E2D!407.entry

    Of course, if you're happy with IE7 or any other browser, IE8 is not a must-have. But it's a major improvement over IE7 IMO.
     
  16. Page42

    Page42 Registered Member

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    Thank you crofttk, HAN, Kerodo & Eice for the helpful responses! :)
     
  17. twl845

    twl845 Registered Member

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    I just upgraded to IE8. The first thing I noticed was the same drab grey GUI from IE7. I would have thought that if they looked around as saw that every other browser has a selection of skins to choose from, they would have included that just to be competetive. Failing a selection of skins, they could have at least upgraded the existing GUI.:blink:
     
  18. Fly

    Fly Registered Member

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    Are there any differences between IE 7 and IE 8 regarding index.dat files ?

    I'm a bit lazy, I took a quick peak with google and noticed that CCleaner does not remove index.dat files for IE 8.

    Erasing browser history is worth much if it's added to index.dat files anyway.
     
  19. AKAJohnDoe

    AKAJohnDoe Registered Member

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    There is actually quite a bit of difference under the covers between IE7 and IE8
     
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