This is a bit of a follow-on to the feedback from the initial IE8-is-here post. First, on ACID2, see this post from the IE team. If you aren’t in the clicking mood, the short answer is that you need to use the official one due to security constraints baked into IE8.
As for the “what is the IE team focusing on” angle, see my post on the keynote for a more extant description of what the IE team is saying about IE8.
Third, if you wish to take part in the IE8 technical beta, see this post from the IE team.
And finally, insofar as installing it, the best plan is to download one of the IE compatibility virtual machines and upgrade it to IE8. It definitely touches alot of deep, system type things so I wouldn’t consider running it on a production box. Now, if I can catch anyone on the IE team here, I’ll put a bug in their ear about distributing a VM for IE8.
Now to find breakfast . . .
Wyatt,
Here is the link to the VPC downloads… note there is now an IE8 VPC available.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=21EABB90-958F-4B64-B5F1-73D0A413C8EF&displaylang=en
Stephanie Vaughn Hapke
St. Charles, MO USA
March 7th, 2008 at 2:37 am
Slightly disappointed so far. Doesn’t seem to render CSS generated content correctly (well, at all actually)
http://mattwilcox.net/archive/entry/id/969/
March 7th, 2008 at 4:15 am
I wish I had gone the VPC route, but at least there’s no side effects yet, (and IE7 mode appears to be working correctly)
I’m giving IE8 mode the benefit of the doubt that it’s still VERY beta. Otherwise it’s a little on the borked side to be step forward in standards compliance. Not that I’m complaining though, I’m happy with the progress IE has been making lately. (Commence IE flaming from the masses)
March 8th, 2008 at 5:39 am
holy crap, a browser that complies with standards … whatever next?
good news for designers everywhere :D
March 8th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Just having to install a VPC to test a browser is bull. It’s only like that so Microsoft can claim they can’t separate IE from Windows when they get monopoly lawsuits. Yeah, tell us another one…
Anyway, I have one PC set up with IE6 to test how that breaks my new sites, and another machine to test Firefox, IE7, Opera and Safari. Am I that nice to help out Microsoft by wasting my time setting up VPCs or another machine? I don’t think so. When I can test IE7 and IE8 on the same pc without a virtual PC requirement, then maybe I’ll save Microsoft some money by helping test IE8, which is after all their jobs anyway.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
@Asimov: I don’t see anything about having to install a VPC to test this browser. I would also point out that all necessary items [VPC 2007, VHDs] are available free of charge. The reason I highly recommend using them is that the pain factor using VPC is alot lower than using hacked versions or switching computers or burning your main box with beta software. Or at least it is to me. And I could very well have machines dedicated to every different version of IE and whatever other cases I wished. And actually did have such a setup at one point. But it is far easier to mount, nevermind share, VPCs than it is to physically visit a computer. Also, I wonder if you think the same thing about Safari since it too does not support multiple simultaneous versions running in the same OS without it’s own set of hacks.
As for your question about “saving Microsoft some money by testing IE8″, well, it really is not about money but about coverage. That got me thinking so much, I got a bit of verbal diarrhea and wrote a little post about it.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:45 am