A couple of days ago my trusted Windows XP laptop decided that it was time for me to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8.  I decided to go ahead with the installation because once Windows determines that it is time to install a new version of IE it won’t stop pestering me until I consent.

I must say, I’m not happy with the new IE 8.

First, the installation completely disregarded the fact that I have a different default browser set up (FireFox).  It helpfully said that IE 8 would be my default browser.

Default Browser Ignored

So that meant I had to go through all of the excess steps of the “Choose custom settings” process.  This eventually led to the “Do you want to discover websites you might like based on websites you’ve visited?” question.  The installer helpfully left both choices unchecked.

Suggested Sites

Thanks, but no I don’t want IE and Microsoft keeping track of places that I go so that Microsoft’s “carefully selected” partners can tell me about all of the “wonderful opportunities” that they have available for me.  I don’t mind the question per se.  It just irritates me that there was no default choice.  The default choice should have been “No.”

If you notice from the “Default Browser Ignored” dialog, the subject of “discovering websites” isn’t even mentioned in the list of things that the installer is going to do for me automatically.  Was that just an oversight?  What would the “express” setting have been?  I suspect that it would have been “Yes.”  But maybe that’s just conspiracy thinking on my part …

With the new version of IE, the “tabbed browsing” functionality has ceased working correctly.  The new page just stays on the “Connecting …” animation forever.

Stuck Going to New Page on a Tab

Getting stuck like that makes it kind of difficult to check and see if the new post to this blog looks OK in IE 8.

Tags: IE, web browser