Time has almost run out for Microsoft when it comes down to delivering the second beta build of Internet Explorer 8. The Redmond company is closing in on approximately six months since it started offering IE8 Beta 1, a release which got the green light courtesy of Dean Hachamovitch, IE General Manager, at MIX08 in early March 2008. IE8 Beta 2 was confirmed for delivery by the end of August 2008, and it appears that Microsoft will cut it as short as possible.

According to Mary Jo Foley, the Redmond giant is preparing to make Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 available for download by August 28. At the same time, since the company already pointed to the end of the year as a launch deadline for IE8, November was indicated as the month when the final version of Internet Explorer's successor would be RTW. In this context, Microsoft will live up to the delivery timetable announced initially following the finalization of IE7, namely a development process no longer than two years.

Microsoft has so far steered clear of confirming officially any delivery date for IE8 Beta 2, or the gold build for the browser. The Redmond company continues to claim that Beta 2 is right on track for availability by the end of August 2008. And even with less than 12 days left of this month, the software giant is proving inflexible when it comes down to the release of the next development milestone of IE8.

Additionally, Microsoft pointed to the end of January 2007 as the official launch of IE7 and not October 18, 2006 when the browser became available for Windows XP SP2. The January availability date completely changes the equation of IE8's delivery, potentially pushing the Release to Wed date for IE8 until early in the coming year.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is available for download here.