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64-Bit DownloadsAccelerators and Web SlicesAccessibilityActiveX ImprovementsAJAX EnhancementsCSS ComplianceDeveloper ToolsDocument Compatibility ModeDOM StorageHTML ImprovementsInPrivate BrowsingProtected Mode ImprovementsSearch SuggestionsSelectors APITab Isolation and ConcurrencyZoom EnhancementsRelated Topics64-Bit Downloads Internet Explorer now supports download of files whose size exceeds 4 gigabytes (GB). Application developers and third-party extensions can take advantage of this new functionality by returning BINDF2_READ_DATA_GREATER_THAN_4GB from their implementation of the IBindStatusCallbackEx::GetBindInfoEx callback method. Download progress is reported through OnProgress using the BINDSTATUS_64BIT_PROGRESS flag.
Accelerators and Web SlicesBecause the Internet has become increasingly interactive, Internet Explorer 8 makes it easier to interact with and subscribe to content on a Web page.
Accelerators are a type of browser extensions that act on Web page content by sending the information to a service of the user's choosing. Services then perform actions on the content (such as "email" or "bookmark") or provide more information ("translate" or "map"). Users can install and access Accelerators from the browser shortcut menu, making their browsing experience more efficient. For more information, see OpenService Accelerators Developer Guide.
Web Slices enable users to subscribe to specially marked content on a Web page. When the content changes, the user receives a notification on the Favorites Bar. A Web Slice can be previewed without an additional navigation. For more information, see Subscribing to Content with WebSlice.
COM Activities enable developers to extend the OpenService platform to recognize content and launch applications. Refer to IOpenServiceManager for example code. AccessibilityIn response to the increase in user interface (UI) complexity on the Web, the Web Accessibility Initiative group has defined a roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA), which introduces ways for Web site authors to define how custom UI elements are accessed. ARIA accomplishes this by defining a set of HTML attributes that map back to common UI controls. As a result, users with disabilities can access Web sites with a rich interaction model. By exposing ARIA through the Microsoft Active Accessibility API in Internet Explorer 8, assistive technologies that already use Microsoft Active Accessibility can also support ARIA easily.
The alt attribute is no longer displayed as the image tooltip when the browser is running in IE8 mode. Instead, the target of the longDesc attribute is used as the tooltip if present; otherwise, the title is displayed. The alt attribute is still used as the Microsoft Active Accessibility name, and the title attribute is used as the fallback name only if alt is not present.
Internet Explorer 8 also provides support for Microsoft UI Automation. See Mapping ARIA Roles, States, and Properties to UI Automation.
For more information, see What's New for Accessibility in Internet Explorer 8.
ActiveX ImprovementsInternet Explorer 8 offers greater control over who can install Microsoft ActiveX controls and on which sites they are allowed to run.
Per-site ActiveXNearly half of all ActiveX controls meant to run on only one site do not use any form of site locking technology. This means that many controls are not secure by default and could be misused by malicious Web sites. To prevent this in Internet Explorer 8, users can decide whether to allow ActiveX controls to run on a site-by-site basis.
Non-administrator installation Standard users (those without administrator privileges) can install ActiveX controls to their user profiles without a UAC prompt or administrator involvement of any kind. In the event that a user does install a malicious ActiveX control, only the user profile is affected; the system itself is not compromised.
AJAX EnhancementsAsynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) is changing the way Web applications are built. Internet Explorer 8 brings new functionality to the XMLHttpRequest object that enables AJAX applications.
AJAX Navigation — Client requests that do not trigger traditional Web page navigation can now update the hash property, which allows the Back button to function appropriately.Connection Events — Where reliability is of top concern, AJAX applications can exit gracefully if the call is canceled or times out.Cross-domain Request (XDR) — To address the limitations of existing mashup development, Internet Explorer 8 introduces the XDomainRequest object to allow restricted and secure communication between untrusted modules in the Web page. The browser shields the user from potential threats while allowing powerful cross-site interaction. Cross-document messaging — Documents in different domains can securely exchange data using postMessage. More Connections — Internet Explorer 8 raises the number of connections per host by default, for a potential drop in Web page load times and increased parallelism in AJAX scenarios. Sanitize HTML — Easily remove event properties and script from HTML fragments with window.toStaticHTML. For more information, see:
XMLHttpRequest Enhancements in Internet Explorer 8Connectivity Enhancements in Internet Explorer 8CSS ComplianceInternet Explorer 8 is the most CSS-compliant release yet. Here are some highlights.
Table Layout — For many years, tables were the preferred layout mechanism on the Internet. With Internet Explorer 8, it is now possible to apply table-style formatting to non-table elements using the display attribute. In practice, CSS tables are more permissive than HTML markup; tables created with CSS rules will nest elements to become valid, whereas tables created with HTML will close containers to avoid unexpected nesting. Data URI — This mechanism allows a Web page author to embed small entities directly within a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), rather than using the URI to identify a location from which to retrieve the entity. This is primarily of interest for small images (such as bullets) used within CSS or layout. See data Protocol for an example. Generated Content — Web page authors can render content that does not come from the document tree: :before and :after — In conjunction with the new content rule, authors can describe dynamic content to appear before and after most elements.counter-reset and counter-increment — Automatically insert numbers into your document. quotes — Easily insert language-dependent quote characters or smart quotes. outline — Enables elements to be highlighted without affecting their size. The outline is a shorthand property for outline-color, outline-style, and outline-width. Printing — The following properties have been added: page-break-inside — Avoid page breaks inside an element's box; if necessary, Internet Explorer will move the element to the following printed page. widows and orphans — Control how many lines appear at the bottom and top of each printed page. Additional pseudo classes — The following pseudo classes are supported by Internet Explorer 8: :lang(C) — Selectors can match an element based on the lang attribute of an element or one of its ancestors. The default language of the Web page is set on the html element. :focus — Applies while an element has the input focus. For the complete list, see CSS Improvements in Internet Explorer 8.
Developer ToolsThe built-in Developer Tools of Internet Explorer 8 expose the internal representation of Web pages to help research and resolve problems that involve HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and script. Some features might be familiar to users of the Developer Toolbar released as an add-on to previous versions of the browser,
CSS Tool — Display various rules defined by style sheets loaded by your Web page.Script Debugging — The built-in lightweight debugger enables you to set breakpoints and to step through client-side script without leaving Internet Explorer. Script Profiler — Visually determine where your script is taking most of its time. Version Mode Switching — Switch into different browser modes to test content for standards compliance.For more information, see:
Discovering the Internet Explorer 8 Developer ToolsDeveloper Tools: Script Debugging Overview Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools GUI Reference Developer Tools: Script Profiler OverviewDocument Compatibility ModeWith full CSS 2.1, strong HTML 5 support, and interoperability fixes for the Document Object Model (DOM), Internet Explorer 8 has made deliberate investments in a new layout engine. The highest level of standards support is on by default for sites that specify a strict !DOCTYPE. Web site authors can select the highest compatibility with Internet Explorer 7 by using the following meta tag:
Copy Code meta equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7"
In Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, the Emulate IE7 button was replaced by the Compatibility View button next to the Address bar. Click the button to quickly change between browser compatibility modes; you do not need to restart the browser.
For more information, see:
Defining Document Compatibility Standards by Default: What Does It Mean? How Do I Fix My Site Today?DOM StorageThe ability to store and retrieve large amounts of data directly to a user's hard drive is important to browser-based applications that want to extend their reach beyond client-server interactions. Local storage is also comes in handy when disconnected from the Internet, and synchronize local changes when an active Internet connection returns. Scriptable online and offline connectivity events fire when connection status changes.
For more information, see Introduction to DOM Storage.
HTML ImprovementsThe new HTML 4.01 implementation is now much more interoperable. The improvements include:
The object tag image fallback is interoperable with other browsers. For example, an object tag without dimensions is now the same size as the image, instead of 0 x 0 pixels. The button element submits its value attribute instead of its innerHTML, which means you can use the button element for cross-browser FORM scenarios.The getElementById method is now case-sensitive, and it no longer incorrectly performs searches using the NAME attribute. The setAttribute method is now case-insensitive; you do not need to use "camel case" (for example, "camelCaseWord") to specify attributes. It also correctly identifies HTML attributes such as CLASS and FOR. For a complete list, see HTML Enhancements in Internet Explorer 8.
InPrivate Browsing Internet Explorer 8 provides a simple yet flexible platform that enables customers to control how they share information with Web sites that they visit indirectly. In InPrivate Browsing mode, Internet Explorer automatically detects and blocks requests for third-party resources that can be used to track online behavior. Using regular expression patterns, Web enthusiasts can also publish their own lists of Web sites to block.
For more information, see AddInPrivateSubscription.
Protected Mode ImprovementsIn Windows Vista, Protected Mode restricts file writes to low-integrity locations, including cookies. In Internet Explorer 8, medium-integrity applications can access low-integrity cookies without user interaction, by using IEGetProtectedModeCookie and IESetProtectedModeCookie. As always, applications that use cookies downloaded from the Internet should assume that these cookies contain malicious data.
With Internet Explorer 8, you can control the browser after launching it from a medium-integrity process, even if it opens in Protected Mode. After invoking Navigate2, the NewProcess event will return a reference to the new WebBrowser object that has just opened.
Search Suggestions Internet Explorer 8 significantly improves the search experience of Internet Explorer 7with the following features:
Search Suggestions — Help users search for the right term as quickly as possible. Both JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and an extended OpenSearch XML format are supported. Visual Suggestions — Integrate image search and other descriptive content.Improved User Experience — Using the Quick Pick drop-down list box and the Accelerator shortcut menu, you can easily select and switch between installed search providers. Also, using History Search, automatically find recently viewed Web pages without leaving the search box.To learn how to integrate your search provider with Internet Explorer 8, see Search Provider Extensibility in Internet Explorer.
Selectors APIUse the power of CSS selectors to rapidly locate DOM elements. The API introduces two methods, querySelector and querySelectorAll, that take a selector (or group of selectors) and return the matching DOM elements. With these methods, it is easier to match a set of element nodes based on specific criteria. The Selectors API provides significantly faster performance over non-native implementations.
For more information, see Selecting Objects with JavaScript.
Tab Isolation and ConcurrencyIn Internet Explorer 8, the browser frame is "loosely coupled" with the tabs inside it. This means that Web pages that use Protected Mode and those that do not may be hosted within the same instance of the browser. Additionally, glitches and hangs do not bring down the entire browser, thereby ensuring that poorly written extensions do not significantly impact the performance or reliability of Internet Explorer 8.
Zoom EnhancementsInternet Explorer 8 provides a higher-quality, more predictable and persistent zooming experience than does Internet Explorer 7. In addition to introducing more persistent zoom states, Internet Explorer 8 eliminates horizontal scroll bars for the majority of mainstream scenarios. New windows, dialogs, and pop-up windows can inherit the zoom level by specifying zoominherit=yes in the sFeatures parameter of the window.open and showModalDialog methods. Additionally, the zoominherit property of the indicates whether the new window inherits the zoom level of its parent.
Accelerators and Web SlicesBecause the Internet has become increasingly interactive, Internet Explorer 8 makes it easier to interact with and subscribe to content on a Web page.
Accelerators are a type of browser extensions that act on Web page content by sending the information to a service of the user's choosing. Services then perform actions on the content (such as "email" or "bookmark") or provide more information ("translate" or "map"). Users can install and access Accelerators from the browser shortcut menu, making their browsing experience more efficient. For more information, see OpenService Accelerators Developer Guide.
Web Slices enable users to subscribe to specially marked content on a Web page. When the content changes, the user receives a notification on the Favorites Bar. A Web Slice can be previewed without an additional navigation. For more information, see Subscribing to Content with WebSlice.
COM Activities enable developers to extend the OpenService platform to recognize content and launch applications. Refer to IOpenServiceManager for example code. AccessibilityIn response to the increase in user interface (UI) complexity on the Web, the Web Accessibility Initiative group has defined a roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA), which introduces ways for Web site authors to define how custom UI elements are accessed. ARIA accomplishes this by defining a set of HTML attributes that map back to common UI controls. As a result, users with disabilities can access Web sites with a rich interaction model. By exposing ARIA through the Microsoft Active Accessibility API in Internet Explorer 8, assistive technologies that already use Microsoft Active Accessibility can also support ARIA easily.
The alt attribute is no longer displayed as the image tooltip when the browser is running in IE8 mode. Instead, the target of the longDesc attribute is used as the tooltip if present; otherwise, the title is displayed. The alt attribute is still used as the Microsoft Active Accessibility name, and the title attribute is used as the fallback name only if alt is not present.
Internet Explorer 8 also provides support for Microsoft UI Automation. See Mapping ARIA Roles, States, and Properties to UI Automation.
For more information, see What's New for Accessibility in Internet Explorer 8.
ActiveX ImprovementsInternet Explorer 8 offers greater control over who can install Microsoft ActiveX controls and on which sites they are allowed to run.
Per-site ActiveXNearly half of all ActiveX controls meant to run on only one site do not use any form of site locking technology. This means that many controls are not secure by default and could be misused by malicious Web sites. To prevent this in Internet Explorer 8, users can decide whether to allow ActiveX controls to run on a site-by-site basis.
Non-administrator installation Standard users (those without administrator privileges) can install ActiveX controls to their user profiles without a UAC prompt or administrator involvement of any kind. In the event that a user does install a malicious ActiveX control, only the user profile is affected; the system itself is not compromised.
AJAX EnhancementsAsynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) is changing the way Web applications are built. Internet Explorer 8 brings new functionality to the XMLHttpRequest object that enables AJAX applications.
AJAX Navigation — Client requests that do not trigger traditional Web page navigation can now update the hash property, which allows the Back button to function appropriately.Connection Events — Where reliability is of top concern, AJAX applications can exit gracefully if the call is canceled or times out.Cross-domain Request (XDR) — To address the limitations of existing mashup development, Internet Explorer 8 introduces the XDomainRequest object to allow restricted and secure communication between untrusted modules in the Web page. The browser shields the user from potential threats while allowing powerful cross-site interaction. Cross-document messaging — Documents in different domains can securely exchange data using postMessage. More Connections — Internet Explorer 8 raises the number of connections per host by default, for a potential drop in Web page load times and increased parallelism in AJAX scenarios. Sanitize HTML — Easily remove event properties and script from HTML fragments with window.toStaticHTML. For more information, see:
XMLHttpRequest Enhancements in Internet Explorer 8Connectivity Enhancements in Internet Explorer 8CSS ComplianceInternet Explorer 8 is the most CSS-compliant release yet. Here are some highlights.
Table Layout — For many years, tables were the preferred layout mechanism on the Internet. With Internet Explorer 8, it is now possible to apply table-style formatting to non-table elements using the display attribute. In practice, CSS tables are more permissive than HTML markup; tables created with CSS rules will nest elements to become valid, whereas tables created with HTML will close containers to avoid unexpected nesting. Data URI — This mechanism allows a Web page author to embed small entities directly within a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), rather than using the URI to identify a location from which to retrieve the entity. This is primarily of interest for small images (such as bullets) used within CSS or layout. See data Protocol for an example. Generated Content — Web page authors can render content that does not come from the document tree: :before and :after — In conjunction with the new content rule, authors can describe dynamic content to appear before and after most elements.counter-reset and counter-increment — Automatically insert numbers into your document. quotes — Easily insert language-dependent quote characters or smart quotes. outline — Enables elements to be highlighted without affecting their size. The outline is a shorthand property for outline-color, outline-style, and outline-width. Printing — The following properties have been added: page-break-inside — Avoid page breaks inside an element's box; if necessary, Internet Explorer will move the element to the following printed page. widows and orphans — Control how many lines appear at the bottom and top of each printed page. Additional pseudo classes — The following pseudo classes are supported by Internet Explorer 8: :lang(C) — Selectors can match an element based on the lang attribute of an element or one of its ancestors. The default language of the Web page is set on the html element. :focus — Applies while an element has the input focus. For the complete list, see CSS Improvements in Internet Explorer 8.
Developer ToolsThe built-in Developer Tools of Internet Explorer 8 expose the internal representation of Web pages to help research and resolve problems that involve HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and script. Some features might be familiar to users of the Developer Toolbar released as an add-on to previous versions of the browser,
CSS Tool — Display various rules defined by style sheets loaded by your Web page.Script Debugging — The built-in lightweight debugger enables you to set breakpoints and to step through client-side script without leaving Internet Explorer. Script Profiler — Visually determine where your script is taking most of its time. Version Mode Switching — Switch into different browser modes to test content for standards compliance.For more information, see:
Discovering the Internet Explorer 8 Developer ToolsDeveloper Tools: Script Debugging Overview Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools GUI Reference Developer Tools: Script Profiler OverviewDocument Compatibility ModeWith full CSS 2.1, strong HTML 5 support, and interoperability fixes for the Document Object Model (DOM), Internet Explorer 8 has made deliberate investments in a new layout engine. The highest level of standards support is on by default for sites that specify a strict !DOCTYPE. Web site authors can select the highest compatibility with Internet Explorer 7 by using the following meta tag:
Copy Code meta equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7"
In Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, the Emulate IE7 button was replaced by the Compatibility View button next to the Address bar. Click the button to quickly change between browser compatibility modes; you do not need to restart the browser.
For more information, see:
Defining Document Compatibility Standards by Default: What Does It Mean? How Do I Fix My Site Today?DOM StorageThe ability to store and retrieve large amounts of data directly to a user's hard drive is important to browser-based applications that want to extend their reach beyond client-server interactions. Local storage is also comes in handy when disconnected from the Internet, and synchronize local changes when an active Internet connection returns. Scriptable online and offline connectivity events fire when connection status changes.
For more information, see Introduction to DOM Storage.
HTML ImprovementsThe new HTML 4.01 implementation is now much more interoperable. The improvements include:
The object tag image fallback is interoperable with other browsers. For example, an object tag without dimensions is now the same size as the image, instead of 0 x 0 pixels. The button element submits its value attribute instead of its innerHTML, which means you can use the button element for cross-browser FORM scenarios.The getElementById method is now case-sensitive, and it no longer incorrectly performs searches using the NAME attribute. The setAttribute method is now case-insensitive; you do not need to use "camel case" (for example, "camelCaseWord") to specify attributes. It also correctly identifies HTML attributes such as CLASS and FOR. For a complete list, see HTML Enhancements in Internet Explorer 8.
InPrivate Browsing Internet Explorer 8 provides a simple yet flexible platform that enables customers to control how they share information with Web sites that they visit indirectly. In InPrivate Browsing mode, Internet Explorer automatically detects and blocks requests for third-party resources that can be used to track online behavior. Using regular expression patterns, Web enthusiasts can also publish their own lists of Web sites to block.
For more information, see AddInPrivateSubscription.
Protected Mode ImprovementsIn Windows Vista, Protected Mode restricts file writes to low-integrity locations, including cookies. In Internet Explorer 8, medium-integrity applications can access low-integrity cookies without user interaction, by using IEGetProtectedModeCookie and IESetProtectedModeCookie. As always, applications that use cookies downloaded from the Internet should assume that these cookies contain malicious data.
With Internet Explorer 8, you can control the browser after launching it from a medium-integrity process, even if it opens in Protected Mode. After invoking Navigate2, the NewProcess event will return a reference to the new WebBrowser object that has just opened.
Search Suggestions Internet Explorer 8 significantly improves the search experience of Internet Explorer 7with the following features:
Search Suggestions — Help users search for the right term as quickly as possible. Both JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and an extended OpenSearch XML format are supported. Visual Suggestions — Integrate image search and other descriptive content.Improved User Experience — Using the Quick Pick drop-down list box and the Accelerator shortcut menu, you can easily select and switch between installed search providers. Also, using History Search, automatically find recently viewed Web pages without leaving the search box.To learn how to integrate your search provider with Internet Explorer 8, see Search Provider Extensibility in Internet Explorer.
Selectors APIUse the power of CSS selectors to rapidly locate DOM elements. The API introduces two methods, querySelector and querySelectorAll, that take a selector (or group of selectors) and return the matching DOM elements. With these methods, it is easier to match a set of element nodes based on specific criteria. The Selectors API provides significantly faster performance over non-native implementations.
For more information, see Selecting Objects with JavaScript.
Tab Isolation and ConcurrencyIn Internet Explorer 8, the browser frame is "loosely coupled" with the tabs inside it. This means that Web pages that use Protected Mode and those that do not may be hosted within the same instance of the browser. Additionally, glitches and hangs do not bring down the entire browser, thereby ensuring that poorly written extensions do not significantly impact the performance or reliability of Internet Explorer 8.
Zoom EnhancementsInternet Explorer 8 provides a higher-quality, more predictable and persistent zooming experience than does Internet Explorer 7. In addition to introducing more persistent zoom states, Internet Explorer 8 eliminates horizontal scroll bars for the majority of mainstream scenarios. New windows, dialogs, and pop-up windows can inherit the zoom level by specifying zoominherit=yes in the sFeatures parameter of the window.open and showModalDialog methods. Additionally, the zoominherit property of the indicates whether the new window inherits the zoom level of its parent.
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