Internet Explorer 8 Boasts New Privacy Features
Microsoft Corp released the second beta version Internet Explorer 8 on Wednesday with new features that allow users to surf without having a list of sites they visit getting stored on their computers.
The so-called InPrivateBrowsing mode will protect users’ browsing history and also cover other footprints, such as temporary Internet files and cookies that Web sites use to track surfers’ activities.
The top two browsers ““ Internet Explorer 7 and Mozilla’s Firefox 3 ““ already allow users to block cookies. They also let users delete private information such as temporary files and browsing history after the fact.
But they can’t turn off that collection entirely.
The beta also introduces an additional InPrivateBlocking mode, which can block third-party content from appearing on Web sites.
InPrivateBlocking will cut back the amount of ads that users see while surfing the Web.
JJ Richards, a general manager in Microsoft’s advertising division, responded in a statement that consumers understand that they get free content and services in exchange for advertising, but want "transparency, trust and control with respect to the sites they visit."
"If IE8 helps heighten awareness of this value exchange, that’s a step in the right direction," he said.
While Microsoft’s beta 1 version of IE 8 was aimed at letting Web developers take a first look at the new browser, beta 2 is focusing on a much broader consumer audience.
"Today as a user, we have no visibility or control over how that information is shared and recorded," said James Pratt, a product manager for IE8. "I wouldn’t put Microsoft as being the arbiter of what should and shouldn’t be tracked."
Microsoft has pledged to deliver more regular updates of Internet Explorer, whose lead has been chipped away by Mozilla’s Firefox browser.
The latest version of Internet Explorer replicates features found in Firefox 3, the latest version of that Web browser, including a "smart" address bar that remembers and redirects user to website addresses they have visited before.
The latest test release of Internet Explorer 8 is available for download at www.microsoft.com/ie8.
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