Windows Internet Explorer 8 Expert Zone Chat (September 11, 2008)

Chat Topic: Windows Internet Explorer 8 Expert Zone Chat
Date: Thursday, September 11, 2008

Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity.

Introductions:

Daniel (Moderator):
Hello everyone-- thanks for coming to our Windows Internet Explorer 8 Expert Zone Chat for September. Let's get started! At this time I'd like to have our Experts introduce themselves:

Allison [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, I’m Allison and I am the Program Manager working on the Technical Beta Program.

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi! I'm Frank Olivier, UX PM on the IE team - I work on the user experience, and application compatibility.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi my name is Helen and I'm on the User Experience team. I work mainly on tabs and favorites. Thanks for trying the beta!! :)

Jane [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, my name is Jane Maliouta and I am the deployment PM for IE.

Jatinder Mann [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Jatinder Mann and I am the Foundations Program Manager responsible for IEAK and Group Policy.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, my name is John Hrvatin and I'm the program manager for developer tools.

SameerCh [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi! I am Sameer Chabungbam and I am a Program Manager on the JScript team.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi Everyone! My name is Kristen and I work on the IE8 Feedback and Releasing Team working with IE8 Partner Engagement and the IE Blog.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi! I'm Matt Crowley, PM for ActiveX and Protected Mode. I'm super excited to be in the zone!

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Chris Wilson, professional catherder.

Start of chat:

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Btw, I would like to thank the IE team for the great compatibility button! I kinda hoped to see it dissapear at first, but this really looks awesome. It works so well, just a click. Thats something you did fantastic. Also grouped tabs are amazing!!!!
A: Oh wonderful! So glad to hear you like these two features :)!

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you explain to us, why we AGAIN don't see a download manager in IE8, while it's been requested ages, even during this beta, like you can see on connect, and online forums? For exampl. google chrome DM is what what we need
A: Thanks for the comment, and we are very aware of requests for a download manager. We're continually working to create quality features in the product, and we do take your opinions seriously!

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Some add-on in IE8 will not work very well such as McAfee SiteAdvisor and some other toolbar do you have any plan about them?
A: Hi Reza, we are aware of compatiblity issues with McAfee and are working with them to get issues resolved. When you say "some other toolbars" do you have specific toolbars that are not working? We test many toolbars, but want to be sure we catch as many as possible.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What's going to be done about the IE8 problem where pages cut off at random points, and don't work until the page is refreshed?
A: Hi Chris - can you point us to a site that exhibits this problem? we can take a look and investigate what the problem is.

Jatinder Mann [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I STRONGLY agree with Peter van Dam in asking why there is not a simple download manager in IE8, or at least a way to group related download boxes, it was a key request for IE7 and for IE8 and it's a shame it wasn't included.
A: Thank you for your recommendation. We will continue to take feedback and work on creating a quality product.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: www.logmein.com (needs accont and a computer set up with it to log into) doesn't work in IE8 even in compatible mode, it merely produces an error, since compatible mode is meant to emulate IE7 in every way am I right in thinking this is an IE bug?
A: What is the error generated?

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: When typing in an address like msn in the address bar. The address bar finds www.msnbc.com as the first option in the list, but when you press tab it goes to AutoComplete Suggestions instead of www.msnbc.com which is the first option in the list.
A: Interesting - I've never heard of anyone tabbing to the first result in the list. Just like in the classic menus (file, edit, view, etc.), the search box and the page/tools menus, down arrow usually moves to the first item.

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Any plans to improve in-page keyboard navigation (e.g. follow links with typeahead-find as with other popular browsers, quick keys for moving between headings, spatial navigation) to help people with mobility disabilities and keyboard-loving power users?
A: We have this feedback in our bug database, and we are looking into it - thanks for the feedback! Which in-page keyboard navigation improvements do you think are most important?

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can something be done abou the fact that Cleartype doesn't work when text is written on a Gradient filter?
A: This is a known issue, thanks. There's a compatibility problem when mixing ClearType and Filters, so cleartype is disabled when overlayed.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):Q: I would like to see the private button to have a slight difference in functionality. I think it should be better if it loads the current site (that is already opened) in private mode, and also removes that site from history.... Now I need to move first...
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Some users report about some errors in Yahoo mail and it cause Yahoo team that they are still working to make yahoo mail compatable for IE8, I want know when they will resolve it (Yahoo team)?
A: Hi again, Reza :) We do work with Yahoo to resolve compatiblity issues with their properties and IE8. We are still in Beta and therefore the resolution process is in progress.

SameerCh [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What version of JavaScript/ECMAScript will IE 8 final support?
A: ECMAScript 3rd Edition is the current published specification. The next revision is still under developement, and hence it is premature to commemt on it. However, it is resonable to assume that when such a revision to the standard is ratified, IE will look to provide timely support.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: I am uncertain how much the failures to render in standards-mode will eventually be more graceful. As an immediate resolution I am going to site-wide use of EmulateIE7 until the smoke clears and I can plan better. Is this the expected prudent behavior?
A: As a site owner, yes, it's probably prudent for you to use the HTTP header across your site (presuming it works well in IE7) until you can test against IE8.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I see references to HTML 5.0 in some of the team posts. How much is IE 8.0 working toward support for HTML 5.0 and is this part of the standards-mode development?
A: HTML5 is a standard currently under construction; Microsoft is participating with the working group. Certain HTML5 features are closer to closure than others, and some of them (e.g. postMessage, localStorage) have been implemented by other modern browsers as well.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I am not able to download any file like email attachment on IE8 Beta 2 - windows vista sp1, whenever i try to download it goes in Not responding mode and i need to kill that process from task manager
A: Does this problem occur when you start IE in no-addons mode, as described here? http://www.enhanceie.com/ie/troubleshoot.asp#crash

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: JohnHrv: www.google.com searches frequently exhibit the (intermittent) problem as does Wikipedia, and there is a bug with several confirmations on MS connect which I cna find if you wish
A: if the bug is filed then we should be set. does the problem also happen in compatibility view?

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Are you aware that iMDB doesn't load in IE8, like one of the biggest sites on earth?
A: For now, IMDB will load by clicking on the Compatibility View button. We are working with site owners to migrate their sites to the new X-UA-Compatible META tag and/or moving their sites to standards mode

Jatinder Mann [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Hello there!!! :)Well, when do you will release IE8 BETA 2 in brazilian portuguese?! any date?! :P
A: Please check the IE Blog site routinely for announcements on new language releases.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: -In some websites is commented that Internet Explorer 8 consumes the double that Firefox 3, is it true?
A: Properly measuring memory consumption is a tricky science that many people get wrong. We'd love to look at specific repro cases.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: -Which is the Internet availability date Explorer 8 finally?
A: We have not yet specified when RTM will be.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: will be implemented a download Manager in the RTM release version of IE8?
A: Hi Fox-Oak, We've received this feedback for IE and have it on our customer wishlist.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: -Was it improving the speed of load when the SmartScreen Filter is used?
A: I'm not sure I understand the question, but SmartScreen Filter has a negligible performance impact. It runs asynchronously, and the servers are very very fast.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Hi guys!I really like what you do with IE8, but it's slow. Even on my desktop which is AMD64x2 4400 I can feel how about:Tabs is slow. Sometimes when I press Ctrl-T while the other tab is downloading a website, I'm getting the URL of this tab in the ad
A: Hi! we're still doing a lot of work to improve performance for the final release. in the mean time, a good way to make sure you're getting the best possible perf is disabling extensions as these load in each new tab. in Manage Add-ons you can even see the load time of different extensions so you know which ones are the bottleneck.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: -Will Windows 7 have Internet Explorer 8?
A: We have not released details about Windows7 yet. You an check out the windows 7 blog at blogs.msdn.com/e7 for info from the Win7 team on features.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: -Inprivate Browsing of Internet Explorer can finish with the advertising online since this one blocks the cookies, and these are necessary for the advertising. Have some solution for the matter?
A: I'm not sure I understand the question, but IE has long offered a number of mechanisms for controlling cookies. InPrivate discards cookies when it exits and can help prevent trackers that don't rely on cookies.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there any news on the Wikipedia problem with the 'Content' box. When clicking on the link, nothing happens. Its supposed to take you to the relevant section.
A: no update now. it's an issue we're aware of and working on, though.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I have noticed some addons (such as Sun Java) cause IE8 to slow down - the SUn Java add on made new tabs take about half a second to appear, disabling that add on they appear instnatly. Just thought you'd like to know this experience.
A: Thanks for the info. We know that some add-ons are taking very long to load on pages and load as toolbars, and we are working with developers and vendors to make sure their applications work well with IE.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I don't know what kind of image scaling to call this but this article (or rather images) for instance looks plain horrible in IE8: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/mac-office-2008-review.ars Some other browsers can scale these images well.
A: These images look fine to me; how are you doing the scaling?

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Helen suggestion for you- I think "Add to favorite" button should be there as like IE 7, the new style is not so friendly first press/click starthen add to...
A: Hi! I appreciate your feedback. I don't know what you mean by click, "start", then add to favorites. The "Add to Favorites" action is still the same number of clicks away as it was in IE7 (two clicks). Instead of pressing the "star" and then clicking "Add to Favorites", you now click "Favorites", and then click "Add to Favorites". Our usability studies showed that users were looking into the Favorites Center (where you have your feeds, history and favorites) to add a new link.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is the current render sytem, like how it loads websites, uses css things like that, the final render system thats being used at RTM?
A: we'll continue to make improvements to be more reliable, performant, and standards-compliant before the final release.

Vishwac (Expert):
Q: When are we able to test IE 8 with other language than English under XP ?

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I read on some sites that you don't see the browser speed as an important factor, but when I hear my friends, and myself when using google Chrome, that the speed is a really important factor. How much improvements will IE8 be seeing in speed?
A: The sites you're citing are incorrect. Performance is absolutely a key concern for the IE team and we've made dramatic improvements in speed; see Christian Stockwell's post on the IEBlog for much more info. We continue to work on performance today and expect the final version to be even faster than beta-2.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Would like to see some panel where we will have Thumbnail kind of display where one can see the "Most Visited Sites" or "Last Visited Sites"
A: Thanks! This is great feedback!

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):Q: I don't know what kind of image scaling to call this but this article (or rather images) for instance looks plain horrible in IE8: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/mac-office-2008-review.ars Browsers such as Safari scale these images very well.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):Q: Will users in position to file the Bugs or broken website through IE like this feature is avilable in some of the new browsers came recently in marketA: Hi Vikramp, I'm not sure I understand exactly what you are asking. What feature are you speaking of? A public database?

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: In IE7 gallery user was able to buld his/her own search providor without any coding or MSDN in 3 simple steps but in IE8 Gallery you need some coding skill to build your own search provider, web slices and accelator . Do you have any plan to make it simple
A: Great suggestion, thanks. We're looking into this.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: which is really fast in this respect. Hope you'll fix it by release time.
A: do you notice a difference when running without add-ons?

Vishwac (Expert):
Q: When are we able to test IE 8 with other language than English under XP ?
A: IE8 Beta 2 was released in Chinese Simplified, German and Japanese on Aug 27'th with English with more languages to follow in the comming weeks. The Beta 2 languages released already are supported on XP. You could look at our release notes under "Language Support" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949787 for the complete list of Beta 2 languages and the platforms they will be supported on.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I do not mean viewing the images individually, but how they look in the article.
A: Can you be more specific about what you feel is wrong with their rendering? They look fine to me...

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The password remember dialog box should be made an information bar so users may choose an option even after login. Have you considered this?
A: It's a fine suggestion, thanks.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: On the accelerator "floatie" the little blue box that appears when text is selected, could a Copy Text option be in that list? I have found ymself looking there for it.
A: Great question. I've received this request before. What are you copying it for? In other words, what would you do with the copied text that you can't do with an accelerator? Thanks for the feedback!

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: The new View Source feature looks nice, but the keyboard is not working there (not even PgUp/PgDn) and having a text cursor would be great.
A: Thanks for the feedback!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can we have Ctrl-S shortcut for Save function?
A: We're looking into this, thanks.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will IE8 Beta 3 or RTM be able to handle moving the command bar to the left side of the screen, and thus have all cascading menus be "float:left" rather than "float:right"... ATM you can't put the command bar on the left
A: are you looking to move the command bar more than you can in beta2?

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Has IE8 addressed handle leaks when opening tabs?
A: Do you have a specific example where this occurs?

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: BTW, I'm over-the-moon ecstatic that I can now move the Refresh/Stop Icons back where they belong on the left of the address bar! Just wish this could be back ported to IE7 ;-)
A: Glad you like it. Hopefully, you'll find much more to love about IE8.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I have a suggestion for a new feature. Can the IE team make thumbnails of website URLs in thumbnail view in Windows Explorer? And I second the Ctrl+S shortcut for Save.
A: That's a great idea! Thanks :)

Vishwac (Expert):
Q: Hello there!!! :)Well, when do you will release IE8 BETA 2 in brazilian portuguese?! any date?! :P
A: Pretty soon!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Favorites button glitch: http://i37.tinypic.com/2ef5ob4.jpg
A: If you're referring to the tiny vertical bar on the right hand side, then yes, this is a known issue on some XP themes. The problem is the ClearType-shadow of the "Favorites" text that runs off the right-side of the button.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: you see in IE7 gallery : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/searchguide/en-en/default.mspx youhave yellow box on right and user could build his/her own search easily but in IE8 gallery it is not so simple
A: That would be a good place and idea for it. I'll pass it on to our gallery devs and see what we can do with it

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: Is there any practical difference between IE8 in Compatibility Mode and IE8 in IE7 Standards Mode?
A: In Compatibility Mode we are using the IE7 Version Vector so that bad UA detection by the web site does not cause rendering issues. IE7 Standards mode will use the IE7 rendering engine, but the browser will be using the IE8 version vector.

Jane [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I'm getting the URL of this tab in the address bar instead of about:Tabs (the contents is from about:Tabs though). Sorry for mentioning, but I gave up on IE on my laptop (which is less beefier than my desktop) and using GChrome instead, which is really fas
A: Which URL are you seeing in the tab instead of about:Tabs?

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: When we submit a site that is rendering completely wrong, with that report tool. Do we need to keep the site the same or can we add the IE7 tag, even when you haven't checked yet?
A: If it's your site, it's probably best that you either 1) file a bug with a reduced repro case, or 2) keep the page the same, or 3) put a note in HTML comments near the top of the page telling IE team members to remove the header. But unless you know it's actually a bug, it's expected that as we support standards better we would be incompatible with IE7 rendering.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @27: Actually, I believe that I don't have many of add-ons -- just regular MS Live and Adobe stuff...
A: okay. it might not hurt to run without add-ons for a little while to see if it improves, but as i said, performance is something we're continuing to work on

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Read comments about MS Vendor Extensions -- designers, including myself, are DYING for border-radius. Please please please at least an experimental form of border-radius? Mozilla, Webkit: check. All we need is IE and you'll be saving us all MUCH markup!
A: We've heard this request loud and clear. No promises we'll get it in to IE8, but we do understand how much deveopers want it.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: is Built-in Silverlight Runtime is possible in upcoming version of IE ? I guess should not be a big deal instead of asking users to Download it !!
A: As you noted, it's easy to download SilverLight and keep up to date with the latest versions. thx!

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Frank: Since you're the sre interface, expert many people who like the new toolbar effect still say it's too bright/light... Have you considered making it a darker/richer color (see http://jasonw15.741.com/office2007style.png)
A: Good feedback - I'll talk to my design team about this feedback.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: ieaddons.com is incredibly great, thanks for hosting Accelerators, etc. One gripe: It takes 3 clicks before you can get to a paginated gallery. For instance, click on Accelerators... you then have to click "More" to access other pages. 2 clicks? :)
A: Thanks for the suggestions... will pass it on to the ieaddons guys and take a look at the issue. Thanks :)

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: I don't know what kind of image scaling to call this but this article (or rather images) for instance looks plain horrible in IE8: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/mac-office-2008-review.ars Browsers such as Safari scale these images very well.
A: Hey Tux. The image scaling we use is bicubic interpolation which should be at least as good as the image scaling you see in other browsers. This was a change implemented in Beta 2. Beta 1 uses nearest neighbor which doesn't look as good. It might be helpful if you send me a screenshot identifying the issue.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you describe the tab process isolation for us? Does each tab run in a new process/job or is it just isolated to prevent a single tab from crashing the entire browser?
A: this post has a good description: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/11/ie8-and-loosely-coupled-ie-lcie.aspx

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: will we be able to search in our history and favorites in a later build. The search and view in Google Chrome works amazing, I really miss it in IE8
A: The IE8 Beta 2 address bar will search your favorites and history. There's a blog post on this up on the IEBlog.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: I'm happy with the solutions you came up with for standards compatibility. They allow us to design for standards but won't keep people from upgrading. Thanks.
A: Thanks! It's a big challenge to balance the short-term and long-term needs of users and developers, but I think we've chosen the best set of solutions.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Re: [34] Actually, I had an Add-to-Favorites button on my IE7 toolbar so it did save going to Favorites | Add to Favorites ... . I am accustomed to the IE8 way, but I wiould happily give back that star-arrow thingy for an add-to-favorites direct button.
A: Ah I see. Well I appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I saw rather I file some of Bugs for Chrome yesterday :P where the windows states bug is getting report to somewhere with screenshot
A: Part of our IE8 Beta Feedback collection process uses an add-on called "Report a Bad Webpage" that sounds similar to what you describe above. Here is the link to this add-on: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a950a427-d16c-4379-b641-2f319a69f70d&displaylang=en

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):Q: Following up Q58 (@Helen): Often, pasting it into a Windows Live Messenger text box, or into an email or a Word document.A: Makes complete sense. Thank you for this feedback. This is a great request :)

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will you ever support plugins or extensions in modern programming languages (i.e. not C++.COM)? Perhaps .NET or DLR?
A: You can develop controls for IE in

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: About question 43, SmartScreen filter in IE7 is slow, and in IE8 BETA 1 It is a bit slow. It will be ver fast in IE 8 final?
A: Please elaborate on what you mean when you say it's a "bit slow." The filter runs asynchronously in the background and takes significantly under 1 second to return a result.

Travis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there any plan to better handle the Operation Aborted issue in IE8 Beta 3 or RTM, in terms of handling the DOM modification without throwing an error or ceasing to render?
A: We've certainly looked into it. Our ultimate goal in this regard is to make sure that a "full fix" for operation aborted scenarios is completely interoperable with other HTML parser implementations. After discussing with the HTML 5 folks we now know what "interoperable" looks like and have ensured that the HTML5 spec covers this scenario, and we'd really like to get the full fix in, however we have to prioritize that against many other bugs, so I can't say if the fix will make it in for RTM or not.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
A: Sorry, hit enter too early. You can develop extensions using .NET etc. Check out CodeProject, which has some good examples of them :)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: what events relating to all of the browser tabs can you catch within a bho running in one of the tab processes? (sorry for sending this twice - 1st time was not 'ask the experts')
A: We currently run BHOs on a per-tab basis. There's no supported mechanism for getting cross-tab events, although it's obviously possible to have each BHO instance communicate via shared memory, etc.

Jane [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Do you have any update in this month for IE8 with windows update?
A: Currently there are no plans for an update for IE8 this month. IE8 beta2 was released via Windows update to the IE8 Beta1 XP and Windows Server 2003 users at the end of August.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Matt: I submitted the "Internet Keyword" suggestion at https://connect.microsoft.com/IE/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=366297, and chance of it being implemented?
A: Saw the bug... we'll update it based on our status. Remember that we're still working diligently on the product :)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you include the domain in the title bar of the Alert() function, or alternatively block this command like you have with prompt()? The way it appaears could make it appear to come from a legitimate web page when in fact it is coming from a frame.
A: Thanks for the suggestion.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: BTW, I'v erecently discovered that I can split the Favorites button and the Favorites bar so I can put Favorite before the tabs and the favorites bar as a menu to the left of the command bar, saving v. space. That's a really thoughtful addition - thanks!!!
A: Oh wonderful. So glad you like this :)

Travis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Re: [5] I see lots of pages where standards-mode truncates content, sometimes in the middle of a word. Compatibility View gets it though, so may be a glitch in how standards mode gets lost?
A: Yes, we have a few more bugs to work out in our new layout engine. Thanks for your continued testing!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I also want to mention that I currently really dislike the IE8 render engine. I'm a webmaster myself, 90% of my sites are completely broke, but are 100% validated in both css and html. Beta 1 was better. IE8 feels like a more worse IE6 to me
A: Valid markup doesn't guarantee that your sites will look as you'd expect. You can use the META tag or HTTP header to get IE7 Strict rendering if that works better for you.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: My sidebar gives tons of issues with IE8 installed. They close when using them. Is this a known bug?
A: Hey Peter. Is your OS in high DPI mode (DPI greater than 96)? We have a couple known issues with sidebars in high dpi mode.

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can the limit of one default per accelerator group be removed? I'd really like to bring several search engines of same category to the top level menu, instead of having it in a sub-menu.
A: Thanks for the suggestion. This is the kind of feedback that can use to tune the final product.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is the Beta 2 of Internet Explorer "feature complete" - is there any chance we will see new features in the final build or is it "bug fixing only" now?
A: We are feature complete, although of course we're open to feedback. We don't expect to be adding more features.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Matt, in IE7, if you open a new tab then close it, handle usage for Iexplore.exe doesn't return to the original count; it's up by one. Eventually this leads to system problems because IE uses too many handles.
A: Let's take this offline. Can you send me a screenshot of the handle usage to mattcrow@microsoft.com?

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: the ONLY dialog box in IE that hasn't been updated in IE 8 is the "Properties' dialog box when you right click on an item... have you considered at least updating the win95 icons and showing Kilobytes instead of bytes...it looks really old?
A: That's not actually the only dialog box that hasn't been polished, but certainly it is a bit less shiny than newer dialogs. Of course, making this dialog shiny is fairly low on our priority list, since it's very rarely used for anything.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Any thoughs on expanding keyboard usage abilities like that in vimperator?
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Why is Offline Browsing removed in IE8? Feeds and Web slices don't exactly replicate this functionality. Was the code insecure?
A: Offline Browsing was limited in IE7 and remains unchanged in IE8.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will we be able to put the normal add to favorites button back. The current way to add things to favorites is just amazingly unusefull. (could use worse words for it). I want a star in my addressbar or a one/twoclick scenario, in a easy way. not favbar!
A: Actually, add to favorites is a 2 click scenario in Beta 2, just like it was in Beta 1 and IE7. Now, instead of clicking the "star" and clicking "Add to Favorites" (2 clicks), you can now click "Favorites" and then "Add to Favorites" (2 clicks). Our usability studies showed that users were looking inside the Favorites Center (where your favorites, history, feeds are kept) to add favorites. So the number of clicks for adding a favorite is the same (and is in a place where many users look for it), and the number of clicks for adding a favorite to the favorites bar has been decreased by one.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Matt, could be more specific with these .NET add-in examples on CodeProject.come?
A: See http://www.enhanceie.com/ie/dev.asp for links to my favorites.

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Following up Q10: I would like to add my vote for this feature as well where links are followed.Also I would like type-ahead find to have the option to activate without having to hit Ctrl+F - i.e. if typign occurs without a field focused, in linksonly mode
A: there are some issues with eating keyboard input (instead of 'sending it to the page'); we'll look into ways of doing this.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: I am not asking when or in which version but will Microsoft eventually in the future support SVG?
A: SVG support is something that we have been evaluating for some time. We recognize the demand for vector graphics from Web developers, and realize this is a high-priority demand.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Suggest for phishing filter (smartscreen for phisher): when you block a website show that the true website is what and direct user there: example: 123.22.11.11 is phishing and blocked but you need to add option to say this is not paypal.com go to paypal.co
A: It's a fine idea, although that would require that our data providers keep track of the legitimate site each time. It could also lull users into a false-sense of security, since a phishing site could itself fake this UI and redirect to another phishing site.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Matt, could be more specific with these .NET add-in examples on CodeProject.come?
A: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/shell/dotnetbandobjects.aspx

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Thanks @Chris Wilson re: border-radius. In fact, the popular WordPress platform has adopted the other border-radius vendor extensions, so the UI only doesn't look good in IE, sadly. Hope you get a chance to get it in, and thank you again!
A: Yeah, I know. My blog is a WordPress blog. :)

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Any news on IE 8 and Facebook V2. It doesnt work in IE 8 Beta 2 default mode.
A: For now, use compatibility view with the pages on Facebook. We are working with vendors to make sure their sites are working with the new version of IE8

Travis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can we please, please, please, have the window.prompt() method fixed for Beta 3/RTM?
A: There are quite a few issues we're investigating regarding the "modal" prompts (alert, confirm, prompt). By "fixed" I think you are talking about the "information bar" that is triggered by script invocations of window.prompt. We are hoping to address some of the usability issues while preserving security in the window.prompt, but I can't promise anything for this release [of IE8].

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there an ETA for Beta 3? I've started extensive testing in Beta 2 and have not yet had a chance to file bugs against it. There are still some significantly major rendering issues (TDs, z-index) that need to be sorted out before an RC goes out.
A: Hi Steve_Web, I understand your testing sistuation. As you know, Beta software can have bugs and we are working to investigate issues on our side. We have not publicly disclosed any IE8 timeline information beyond Beta 2. Keep an eye out on the IE blog for any new information.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Also, is there any chance that right clicking a word could select it rather than me having to double click (to select it) and then right click? Safari does this and those clicks really add up. I want to r. click "apple" and that word selected with contexts
A: Cool request. Never heard this one before. Thanks for the feedback (Glad you're trying out accelerators!)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: No. The "Make available offline" feature is gone in IE8. I can using it right now on IE7. I could set pages to synchronize on a schedule or manually.
A: Where do you see that option? The "Make available offline" feature and associated code was removed in IE7.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: @Performance question. OK, now I'm running no-addons mode. Just slightly faster. about:Tabs still takes noticable time to open.
A: Hey wasker, are you in high dpi scaling or zooming the about:tabs page? We have a known perf issue when zooming on a page with repeated background-images, which will be fixed by release.

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Go here: http://tinyurl.com/5vev97 perform a search (e.g. "Richards" in "Gloucester"). F7 to enable caret mode. In standards view, can't use up/down arrow keys to go up down through results. In compatibility view you can which is desired behaviour. Thanks!
A: Nice find! I think we have this in our bug db; I'll doublecheck.

Jane [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Suggest: you ever experiance that users error typing currect: Microsoft.com but you type microsft.com forgot "o" and you direct to another website my suggest is in these mistype ask user to want go to Microsoft.com or microsft.com
A: That's an interesting idea. Thanks for your feedback.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Could you use heurustics to determine if a site is phish, in addition to using data sources? Searching for well known phish targets like Paypal on non-official domains for example.
A: Yes, our SmartScreen phishing filter includes heuristic logic to find and report new phish.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: re: developing extensions in .NET - Building COM objects in .NET isn't exactly what I was hoping for. Are you looking into ways to host .NET code without requiring COM?
A: We're always looking at ways we can improve the product, unfortunately I can't speculate on new features or models. At the moment, you need to use COM to develop extensions.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How is MS make sure that the suggestion webslice cannot be used by virusses and threads? I mean,,, it somehow executes a website when I do something. It somehow executes something directly when I do something in IE... is it well protected?
A: Webslices are simply HTML and Script. You can't do anything in a webslice that you can't do in a normal webpage.

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Does new address bar require any indexing prior the usage? I had "site.url" shortcuts in my favorites before I installed IE8. Right after the installation, address bar drop down was showing those, but if I select and click them, they were not opening.
A: Any site shown in the address bar is (should be) immediately clickable. So the experience your getting in not intended. I'll have the testers look into this. Thanks.

Travis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will autoComplete (for form content) properly save values in IE8 Beta3/RTM when FormObject.submit(); is called? The bug with this feature is quite annoying and results in a less than optimal user experience for IE users. (the workarounds are a bit hacky)
A: Have you filed this bug in Connect database? This sounds like a good one to go tackle... (especially if this is a break from IE7 behavior)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Also, if a site uses a subdomain that is longer than the width of the user's screen, then domain highlighting is useless since the domain is too far off to the right. Perhaps the domain should always be centrered?
A: On the contrary, domain highlighting is valuable because the user can see that the actual domain isn't in the visible area. Playing games to try to center the domain name in the address bar causes its own problems.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Again about:Tabs issue. If I click one of the history links, they open in the very beginning of the tab stripe. I expect them to be at the end of the stripe, like Ctrl-Mouse Click does...
A: I'm not quite sure I understand. Say you have 2 tabs open and the focus is on the first tab (a.k.a. the first tab is active). You go to the Favorites Center, click on the "History" tab, and open a link. It opens in that first tab? Or does it open up in a tab in front of the other 2 tabs?

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Please add SVG support in IE9
A: SVG support is something that we have been evaluating for some time. We recognize the demand for vector graphics from Web developers, and realize this is a high-priority demand.

Jane [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Which is the speed difference of load of pages webs between IE7 and IE 8 finally?
A: We have made many investments in performance for IE8. See this blog post for more information: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/08/26/ie8-performance.aspx

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The "Make available offline" option is present in IE7 in a URL's properties. Web Document tab.
A: I'm looking at IE7 right now, and it's not there. Either you're running IE6, or your IE7 install failed and you have some IE6 dlls in use.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: what is the eventual endgame of of IE 8 gonig to be on users that use high scale (120 DPI) fonts ...? I installed IE 8 on a Vista computer running 120 DPI scalling and it automatically took me to 125 % zoom, and it was incrediblly slow..
A: Hi Jason, There is a known perf issue when zooming background-repeated images, which accounts for most of the perf issues you see in zoom. The current plan of record is to zoom automatically to match the DPI Scaling of Windows. You can ofcourse change this back to 100% and persist zoom by Openining Tools – Internet Options, Advanced page, uncheck ‘reset zoom to 100% on new pages/tabs’

Vishwac [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: when we have IE8 in spanish?
A: Spanish is one of the languages we will support for IE8 Beta2. You could refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949787 under "Language Support" section for the complete list of Beta 2 languages and the platforms they will be supported on. IE8 Beta 2 release in Spanish - Pretty soon!

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I second Jon's suggestion about hosting .NET add-ins/extensions without requiring COM.
A: I think it's a great suggestion as well :)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: some users ask me to tell you to build a babylon dictionary international accelator can you do that and is it legal?
A: Not sure what the Babylon dictionary is, but there's nothing stopping anyone from building an accelerator that works with any web page.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Any status update on all the UI-chrome issues in IE8? Many dialogs have "Windows 95" buttons or styling (in XP), and changing styles on a select element de-themes the drop arrow of a select list (in XP) Will the final version have a unified chrome?
A: Hi Webben, I'll pass this information on to Frank. :)

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Any status update on all the UI-chrome issues in IE8? Many dialogs have "Windows 95" buttons or styling (in XP), and changing styles on a select element de-themes the drop arrow of a select list (in XP) Will the final version have a unified chrome?
A: We'll continue to get these cleaned up.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: http://webbugtrack.blogspot.com/2007/10/bug-109-javascript-prompt-in-ie-how-did.html
A: The IE7 change here was intentional, and made for security reasons. Very very few pages actually use prompt().

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Paul: there's no answer to "indexing question".
A: Yes items need to be indexed before they're shown in the address bar dropdown.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Please document all the internet options settings. Especially Advanced options and 'Security settings'. Can't Microsoft use context-sensitive CHM help if WinHlp is obsolete?
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Frank Olivier: All keyboard navigation features would help, so whichever you can get into a release soonest. All other things being equal, spatial navigation would probably make the biggest difference (e.g. to very quickly skip over groups of links).
A: I'll pass this information on to Frank.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can we also have some options in the context menu of a right-click to open a frame in a new tab/window. This one feature is one of the main reasons why I will not develop in IE...
A: You can write a trivial extension in Javascript to do this. Email me if you need help.

Jane [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there a way to make the beta compatible with non-english XP until they have theirs langages ? (We can install it but don't run)
A: English IE8 Beta 1 and 2 will install on any localized version of XP. However, to install localized versions of IE8, the desired IE language must match the OS locale. See my blog post for more information: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/08/27/upgrading-to-internet-explorer-8-beta-2.aspx

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Q67... Fav button... Well I still think people will miss the old button. I mean, how are u goign to explain to a nood to get into a menu first, and then click on at to favorites? Vista and the newer apps are more like a see it already scenario
A: I see your points. The logic was that if someone wants to add a favorite to the list of favorites, they would click the "Favorites" button, then click add. This design decision was based on feedback and watching how users browse (in usability studies here at Microsoft). I appreciate your feedback!

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I've got version vectoritis: First there was =IE5, =IE7, =IE8, then came emulateIE7, emulateIE8, plus modifications to these by Doctype! It's out of hand, really. I've read the docs and still can't get a clear mental model. IE="autodetect", perhaps?
A: If you don't put in a version vector, it really is the same thing as "IE="autodetect""

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: When deleting a single item of History, the title bar for the warning is "WARNING" in capitals. Doesn't that violate Aero/Windows User Interface guidelines that window captions should be in Title Case rather than BLOCK CAPS?
A: Good find. It should not be all caps. Thanks.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: suggest: some websites ask user to enter information like credit cart which is sensitive but they won't encrypt it can you put a icon that these information are sensitive but not encrypted: one method : keyword scan for "mastercard ,VISA, payment,etc
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: Harel: So native 100 % DPI scaling like IE 7 has is not planned for IE 8 and you intend to use zoom instead in I 8?
A: Hey Jason, I am not sure what you mean by 100% DPI scaling. When you set the zoom back to 100% you will be viewing web pages at 96 DPI essentially.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you implement multiple discontinuous text/word selection holding down Ctrl?
A: Good suggestion... thanks for the feedback!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Re:Q46: prompt()... no, the info bar issue is annoying, but not as much as the fact that IT JUST DOESN"T WORK!... bug 109, and bug 139 on Web bug track.
A: I'm not really sure what you're referring to when you say it "doesn't work". Once you accept it via the Information Bar, it works fine. Of course, you're better off using a showModalDialog or equivalent instead.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):Q: when i went to 100 %, it was fine, but it rendered in 96 dpi modeA: Yes, there are known issues with zooming (at zoom levels other than 100%) which we are addressing.

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Some sugg: Replace the cursor which appears when middle clicking and moving the mouse with a new smooth one. Also the icon in the Properties of a web page. And the graphic on the Options tab in the Print dialog. And Make the Save webpage dialog resizable.

Travis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there anything new in XML standards support? XForms, XML namespaces etc?
A: While XML functionality is not a primary focus of this release of IE8, we have tried to introduce a few improvements to IE's "behaviors" parsing, such that web devs can use default namespace declarations. See (http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/ie8whitepapers/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=573). In Beta2 we made a few small fixes for compatibility; namely element names that are "known" HTML elements will not be opted-in to the default namespace scope. For example, a DIV inside of a default namespace declaration block will be treated as a DIV from the HTML namespace, rather than the declared namespace. One thing we've definately learned is that introducing namespaces in HTML will have a very large compatibility impact if not done carefully :)

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @71: Helen, it will open in front. I would expect to be a new tab behind all opened tabs.
A: If it navigates the active tab, that makes sense (it's as if you're clicking on a link in the tab, it will open up in that active tab). If it adds a new tab to the front of your tab band, then that seems like a bug to me (it should either navigate the active tab or, if you've set the advanced setting to open up links in new tabs, it should open up at the end of the tab strip).

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @EricLaw re: prompt() @ ChrisDenman... EXACTLY!!! no one can use it on any application because it DOESNT WORK in IE!
A: The web was around for quite a while before IE7 shipped, and even at that time, it was used exceptionally rarely. There are better alternatives.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is there anything new in XML standards support in IE8? XForms, XML namespaces etc?
A: While XML functionality is not a primary focus of this release of IE8, we have tried to introduce a few improvements to IE's "behaviors" parsing, such that web devs can use default namespace declarations. See (http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/ie8whitepapers/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=573). In Beta2 we made a few small fixes for compatibility; namely element names that are "known" HTML elements will not be opted-in to the default namespace scope. For example, a DIV inside of a default namespace declaration block will be treated as a DIV from the HTML namespace, rather than the declared namespace. One thing we've definately learned is that introducing namespaces in HTML will have a very large compatibility impact if not done carefully

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can we except, that IE8 always check in %Temp% if the folder "Low" exist? Sometimes some "Cleaner" delete this folder an IE won't work the properly. It would be great if IE8 check if this folder is there. If not, IE8 create this folder by itself.
A: The folder is created when it is needed by IE through our broker APIs. Check out our whitepapers for more information on these.

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How much effort would it take to implement multiple discontinuous text/word selection holding down Ctrl?
A: Not too much effort, but we need to balance that work against everything else we have on our plate:)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: what type of favicon support IE8? IE7 cant support png, gif..favicon. Only .ico favicon.
A: As when the feature was initially created by the IE team in the 1990s, IE8 continues to support .ICO for FavIcons.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Eric, perhaps the OS is the difference? I can use Synchronize feature via %windir%\Offline Web Pages
A: What OS? I'm looking on XP.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: sorry, clicked the bakc button if you already got thsi.... Frank: many people like the newe toolbar but think it's too bright/light and isn't gradient enough... have you considered making it more rich/darker? see http://jasonw15.741.com/aero-toolbars.png
A: Thanks. I'll pass this information on to Frank.

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: sorry, clicked the bakc button if you already got thsi.... Frank: many people like the newe toolbar but think it's too bright/light and isn't gradient enough... have you considered making it more rich/darker? see http://jasonw15.741.com/aero-toolbars.png
A: got it already;thanks

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will the next version's schedule be accelerated now? The period between IE7 RTM (Nov 2006) and when IE8 work started as per Channel9 videos (August 2007) was also quite long.
A: We aren't commenting on future releases and/or schedules.

Travis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I'd love to see more frequent developer releases - CTP or Preview releases, like the ASP.NET MVC team is doing. Make it clear that they're not supported, we'll run them in VM's.
A: This is an excellent suggestion.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Are we as webmaster recommended to WAIT untill IE8 is shipped to change our website, or should we fix our sites already during the beta?
A: We encourage webmasters to download IE8 Beta-2 and work to fix any issues they find as soon as possible.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):Q: When we delete all files and folder but some files still remain in temperory file like Fabican Why not it delete all?A: How are you deleting the files?

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Also can we select a physical area instead of a region by holding down ALT and dragging, like in Office applications like Word or Outlook? I use that freqeuently there and it's useful for copying bits of tables.
A: I love the suggestion! I'll pass the information on to the appropriate program manager. Thanks for this great feedback!

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: Harel: In IE 7, high DPI fonts were enabled in default 100 % view, and the images were the same size, but the fonts were larger, just like in programs... is this going to be done away with
A: Yes, zoom will be replacing this functionality. In IE7 we only scaled up fonts that were defined in non-pixel measurements. This worked for some pages and not for others since many use pixels to define font size.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: When we delete all files and folder but some files still remain in temperory file like Fabican Why not it delete all?
A: We've made it very easy for you to make one ;) Checkout our whitepapers and blog posts... it's super easy to setup one for yourself!

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you create a WebSlice which shows me my Top 10 of visited sites? As well for my last 10 visited sites? This would be really cool :)
A: But... its a great idea for us to do as well! :)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I'd second the out of band releases of IE. More CTP's and transparency, less "IE devs in the dark room coding away".
A: As it happens, there is no dark room. The IE team is involved in getting community feedback from tons of sources every day. Of course, with 600 million+ users, we sadly cannot sit down with each for a chat. We hope to continue to increase transparency on our blog and via other channels.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: is IE8 feuture complete, or are we going to see improvements later this year?
A: IE8 is feature complete with Beta 2. We are taking feedback, of course, but we do not have feature additions planned at this point.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: about question 154, Format .ico is not compatible with the standard, I think IE8 should support png and gif favicon
A: Which "standard" are you referring to? As Internet Explorer implemented this feature over 10 years ago and everyone else copied it and supports .ICO format, it would seem pretty silly to author a standard that ignores the real world usage of the feature.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: Q79, tons of sidebar issues when IE8 installed.... No, not using other DPI settings.... Its when a gadget window opens, or when I hit enter two times. It probably thinks i'm clickin on the close gadget. Good example is xbox gadget
A: Interesting. If you are part of the beta program please bug this. If not, please send me as detailed repro steps as you can provide.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How come the 'Also Delete Files And Settings Stored By Addons' option was removed?
A: The option was made redundant: If you delete all, then the addon files/settings get deleted as well.

Jane [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you put an option to automatically reopen your last session when you open the browser like in other browsers?
A: That's a great idea. Thanks for your feedback.

Frank Olivier [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: When using the new Find bar, closing the Find bar and hitting Ctrl+F again takes you back to the first result, thsi differs both from IE7 and from other browsers and makes finding more difficult, could Ctrl+F again take you to the most recent instance
A: could you explain "most recent instance" thx

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Are there any Protected Mode in IE - specific changes in IE 8? Don't have anything specific in mind, just a general question.
A: 2 big ones. We've added broker APIs for extensions and COM objects so they can interact with the registry, files, and cookes without having to do any annoying workarounds with Vista integrity levels. The second is an edit of the NewProcess command that allows outside applications to load a website in IE without spawning a zombie process. We put those features in Beta 1 actually, so checkout our whitepapers on MSDN for some more technical details I put up there.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: suggest: show location of website domain with their flag and possiblity to filter some domain by users: www.microsoft.com(US), www. (Canada) www. etc. some user may want to know thta which domain belong to which country
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Puh, I forgot to say: What about a WebSlice which shows me my Tab history? This would be nice. I don't like alway to open a new Tab oder right click at a tab. In a WebSlice I think this would be a great way to show users their Tab history! :>
A: Do you mean the history of a specific tab (meaning where you've been on that tab) or a history of the websites you've recently been to (across all tabs)?

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can we create those dynamic webslices too. like suggested sites, top 10 etc? If so, how can wo do that? And can we make it in a way so it doesn't require to use our server all the time?
A: Actually, this question was brought up earlier in the chat... I am going to bring it up with our gallery team and see what we can do. Thanks!

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: Harel: I think it might be a mistake as users might not want to see larger graphics with zoom, and only lrger fonts, which is what IE 7 does
A: Duly noted, but increasing font size alone is more likely to break layout.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Please add the ability to drag a tab from one window to another.
A: Hi Tux, Thanks for requesting this feature. We have this on the customer wishlist for consideration in future versions of IE.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: Acid3 test a good impression to the browser has some goal it to be compatible?
A: No, we do not have a goal to pass the Acid3 test. In fact, that test tests several features that are not part of standards (i.e. W3C Recommendations).

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How come that IE8 doesn't load the first picture when I placed it in a table with just one row, and 6 columns? I mean, it just forgets to load! Some sites also don't load the first time, like I need to refresh before it becomes usefull. I hope B3 fixes
A: Please file a bug or point me to a repro page. thanks!

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: suggestion - allow user to seprate/move a Tab as a New windows
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Yes on XP and IE7 I too am able to use offline browsing. Why was the feature removed in the first place when there is no exact replicating feature?
A: Not sure why it's there, since my developers removed the feature. :-) The feature was little used, very buggy, and had a number of architectural problems that necessitated its removal. We're obviously interested in hearing that you miss this feature and would like to see it in a future release.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: With regards to transparency and blogging, have you ever considered using a tool like RightNow to enable specific users or all users the ability to log what they wish to see or fix and have that information categorized by default?
A: Hi Dodge, I am not familiar with this tool. I'll check it out. Thank you.

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):Q: Having rendering issues when in IE 8 Standards mode, only works 100% in IE7 Standard (Page Default)... With the 3 floated columns, some elements lack visibility until you mouse over: http://tinyurl.com/6lflt5 -- known issue? glad to help troubleshoot.
A: I ran the page in IE8 Standards and I'm not seeing the problems that you're seeing.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @ Eric Law: Ah thanks, wasnt sure. I have seen a few requests for this feature to be brought back on various websites. Perhaps a note in a blog post explaining that deleting files also deletes addon settings.
A: I've sent this along to the PM for the feature, thanks for the suggestion!

Allison [MSFT] (Expert):Q: How to apply to the MSIE Program in Connect ?A: Please send an email to IESO@microsoft.com <mailto:IESO@microsoft.com> and tell us a little about yourself including why you’d be a great beta tester.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Helen: I mean the history of the closed tabs in one WebSlice of the actual session!
A: Ah ok (we already have a button for the other option I mentioned). If you have, say, four tabs open, and you close 3 of them, and then open a new tab (either by hitting ctrl+T or clicking the "New Tab" button), the "Reopen Closed tabs" section should show the 3 recently closed tabs. I hope this is along the lines of what you were asking!

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: In menu tools-->To show related links, For me It does not work, why?
A: Please elaborate on the problem your having. I'm not clear on what you're trying to do.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Eric, XPsp3. I still have %windir%\Offline Web Pages. Open Favorites in side bar and drag one into the folder. Right-click or use the Tools menu...
A: Fascinating. That's not supposed to be there anymore. :-) Do you see any UI in IE that allows you to "Make available offline" within IE itself?

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Here's the about:Tabs with the previous tab URL glitch: http://i36.tinypic.com/20hvg2g.jpg
A: Thanks for the SS. We'll look into this as a bug and file it. Thanks!

Travis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: In Chrome you have a function that you can make an app-looking-like shortcut, that opens up the website without any tooldbars and stuff, so it runs like an normal app. Can we see this in IE8?
A: Other than HTAs, IE8 gives web developers new tools to start to build web applications that can behave more and more like "desktop" applications, such as HTML5's offline storage, as well as connectivity events (offline/online). We'd like to invest more in offline scenarios in the future.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you add an "Open in new tab" to the context menu when right clicking a URL in Windows Explorer?
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: is Built-in Silverlight Runtime is possible in upcoming version of IE ? as a built in plug-in or something...
A: As noted earlier, user can easily download Silverlight with IE. It's also available as an optional update on Windows Update, etc.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: sometimes when we log on to livemail and sign in although ask do not remmenberpassword and then sign-out after we try to re-sign it it did not ask for username and password again why?
A: There's a known issue in Beta-2 where logout requires that you close the browser windows. We're looking at this, thanks!

Walter [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: is the suggestion slice connected with our Live ID, and are we able to turn that connection off for more privacy, but still the functionality? And does this keep us from being traced? And will the sites we visit, it's url, be used or indexed when suggested
A: No, suggested sites it's not connected to your Live ID. In addition, when you are InPrivate, the sites you visit aren't used for suggesting sites.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I really appreciate all your efforts with chats and blogs, but I think you'd get more "buy-in" from web developers if you gave us CTP releases so we felt like we were involved in the development process rather than a communication endpoint. :)
A: Understandable. We're working to improve our process to help you guys out; we'll take some serious consideration on this one. :)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I miss the "Go To"-Button from the favorites in the adressbar. Sometimes I want to open a website from the adressbar in a new tab instead of the actual tab. So it would be great if theres such button next to the "delte"-button in the adressbar!
A: We've heard this suggestion a few times, thanks.

Travis [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Frank: All other browsers fill in the pass using autocompole, are you aware of this, and if not, would you lilke me to file a report?
A: If you have a reliable repro for this issue, please file a report, we'd love to look into it.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I agree with Jon Galloway, as it is it seems like we get asked only during the beta process and at that point we're told it's too late for new features. But the communication via blogs is getting better despite the beating you all take. :)
A: Agreed. We want to keep you guys happy... you help make the product awesome :) If you think of anything else beyond the chat that would be helpful, shoot me an email to mattcrow@microsoft.com. We can also chat offline and see how we can make the process better.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I don't think that the Microsoft Update website is rendered properly with IE8 beta 2.
A: There's a minor layout issue with the top frame, which the MU team will correct. thanks!

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: In Google Chrome, Once user clicks on "X" button on Tab whole Browsers get close,such is not in case of IE I observe, can it will get implemented? instead of clicking "X" close button on top of the screen?
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Eric, no. FWIW I thought that the change was merely a clearer delineation of browser and OS function. ; )
A: That was a part of it (on Vista in particular) but it was also related to code quality and low usage.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I'd love an "Inspect Element" context menu item which would view the element in the IE Developer Toolbar. Firebug and Chrome do that, it's really handy.
A: thanks for the suggestion! i can see how that streamlines the process instead of opening the tools and using select-element-by-click.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there an active process limit set up for IE8 tab processes? I've heard that Google Chrome currently limits their browser to 20 processes (which seems low).
A: There's an algorithm which takes a number of factors into account to balance performance and reliability. there's no end-user exposure of the algorithm/limits.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will IE8 have searches from the address bar, drag a tab to create a window and thumbnails of your most visited sites in your homepage, which are some of the major features in chrome?
A: IE8 (and even IE6 and IE7) all perform searches from the address bar.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert)
Q: I know in beta 1 that we sometiems couldn't terminate IE8, because of it's automatic recovery functionality.... if this somehow happends in a later build, how can we terminate it without logoff?
A: So, there is a way to determine what the frame process is versus the tab processes. Add the "command line" column to Process Viewer in Task Manager. Tab processes will be those that have "SCODEF:..." in their command line params, thus if you want to close IE frames and nix tab recovery, close those processes without "SCODEF" in their params

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Suggest show network heath to user in order to better browing example when user use public Wi-Fi show network not health and in private area show network is healthy (unhealthy encryption is neccessery)
A: When using HTTP (rather than HTTPS) you should always assume the network is hostile.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Helen: No, this is not what I mean. I want a WebSlice which shows me my Tab history of the closed tabs of the current session. This would be a great usability +
A: Understood. I think it's a great feature request. I hope that, until someone looks into the great suggestion you have given, the tab history of the closed tabs of the current session shown on the New Tab page will provide you a substitute. Thanks for this feedback!

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: @Paul Cutsigner re: http://tinyurl.com/6lflt5 -- it's very quirky... when it happens you'll see that everything below "Add to Favorites" is lacking visibility until you hover over a link, resize the browser, etc. Block-level links in floats = trouble?
A: Ok. Thanks for the feedback. I'll look into it.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: this has been such a great beta experience with IE 8, have you talked with the ive team to make actual connect betas like IE...? For exmaple, the first Win Live Mail didn't have a connect beta, and it suffered from a bunch of bugs?
A: I'm happy to hear that this Beta has been a good experience :) We really tried to improve on the IE7 Beta. I have not spoken directly with the Live team in regards to their Beta program. Depending on the nature of the product, some Betas are run slightly different from one another. Based on your question though, i will see if I can touch base with them on their beta plans.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Forgot to mention: IE8 breaks Windows Desktop Search on Windows XP. Try to install WDS and IE8 on a clean machine and press Win-F: left-side bar will complain on some add-ons. It does work with IE7 though.
A: Thanks for the note, we'll look into it. You can easily fix this by using the info bar.

Harel Williams[MSFT] (Moderator):
Q: will Windows Mail and future version of Windows Live Mail renderer using IE 8 default mode with standard compliant rendering? that would be great
A: Well that is really up to the Windows Mail team, but we are confident that moving forward Microsoft properties will take advantage of the latest and greatest :)

Walter [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: ok, this might be a noob questions, but how can we as webdeveloper tel what height and width a slice should be?
A: Have you had a chance to look at the "Web Slice Style Guide" at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc848871(VS.85).aspx ?

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: http://www.denman.me.uk/lasso/ok.htm In this example it is possible to force an IE8 window to close without display the Are You Sure dialog, this is a security risk isn't it?
A: It's certainly an annoyance, yes. Since you can easily undo tab close in IE8, it's not nearly as annoying as it used to be.

Walter [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: ok, this might be a noob questions, but how can we as webdeveloper tel what height and width a slice should be?
A: towards the middle it suggests: Size: 320 x 240; this should be applied to the element of class “hslice”.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will the IE7 engine still become available in IE9 or is this unkown?
A: We're not going to even speculate on IE9... ask us after IE8 ;)

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Before I forget, I would like to say that I love the developer tools. Changing CSS live is awesome.... Just miss the function to live edit the website itself, like adding divs or something.... Can we have that before RTM?
A: thanks! i'm glad you like them! you can edit the full source in beta 2. in the HTML tab, press the 'Edit' button (the icon with the pencil) to put the page in full-text editing and press the 'Edit' button again to apply changes.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: most of the Live prodcuts will utilize the IE 8 engine, and it would be great to have a connect beta for them: I don't have immediate visiblity into their Beta plans.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: can we have dynamic status bar for IE,means once the request and response starts then only it should get invoke like in Chrome one can observe, this will able web developers to utilize lot more real estate
A: Thanks for the suggestion!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: About network health you know users you always say do not do and do this but they don't lissen untill they become victom user need to be aware of network health
A: When using HTTP, it doesn't matter if you're on a public network or a private one, a bad guy on the wire can still view and modify traffic. that's why HTTPS is so important.

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: When I close IE with some tabs It ask me if I want close all tabs or close current tab, I would like It ask me If I keep all tabs, do you understand?
A: Understood. Great feedback. Thanks :)

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: thanks kristen, it would be great if you could even blog on IEBLOG about how other MS products witll "take advantage" of IE 8 features and standards complance, such as windows live mail :)
A: That's a good idea. Thanks for the post suggestion. I'll keep this in consideration for future posts. :)

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Suggestion: Can you bulit in a function to force that IE works with one instance? I'll hate if I click at a link in an application and IE launch a new window, instead of opening the link in a new tab...
A: Tools / Internet Options / General / Tab Settings offers some choices here. Sometimes these don't work as expected if the calling application demands a new instance,e.g. because it wants to drive via COM automation.

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
Q: thanks for all your responses and keep up the great work as the chat ends soon! :) IE 8 is tremendously better
A: Thanks! We've been hard at work.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I know this won't get into the final IE8 release but I'd like to mention that I think a built in spell checker would be useful. In the meantime I use IESpell, but I would also like something inline and also built in.
A: Thanks, this is a pretty common request. (The IE7Pro plugin also has this feature.)

Paul Cutsinger[MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I am in Google, I go to menu tools-->show related links, and It show nothing, I dont see nothing new
A: You must have some extentions installed that add items to the tools menu. That's not a feature we ship.

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Thanks everyone! Oyasumi... and see you next month!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: about network health again for example live mail by default is on unencrypt but user may forgot to change it to encrypt mode
A: We've been pushing all sites, including our own, to use HTTPS more often.

Kristen [MSFT] (Expert):
Thank you, Everyone for coming ot the chat! See you in October at the next one. Please see the chat schedule to add it to your calendars: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/chats/default.mspx

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: There is a workaorund to medium level popup blocking that attaches an onClick event to teh whole page and invokes a popup then, making IE think it was user generated when it wasn't, I've seen this a lot and it's quite annoying, any fix possible?A: I always throw sites that do this into the restricted sites zone, or stop visiting them entirely.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: EricLaw: Okay, but can't you change this so, that this IE force?
A: Doing so could break applications.

JohnHrv [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: ok, Can the edit thin for live html edit, be in real html colors like it was before I clicked edit?
A: that's a good suggestion and something we'll look at for future versions.

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: IE8 is a nice release. Faster too than IE7. :)
A: thanks!

Helen [MSFT] (Expert):
Thank you all for trying the beta and giving us great feedback!!

Matt Crowley [MSFT] (Expert):
Bye!!!!!

Allison [MSFT] (Expert):
Thanks! bye

Chris Wilson [MS] (Expert):
bye all!

EricLaw [MSFT] (Expert):
thanks; see you next time!

SameerCh [MSFT] (Expert):Thanks everyone! Bye!!!

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