One of the features that Microsoft is cooking for the Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is the ability of the browser to masquerade as its predecesor, Internet Explorer 7. The move is designed to permit IE8 beta 1 testers to use the browser with websites that fail to offer support for the successor of IE7. But at the same time, Microsoft's goal is to enable web developers to easily introduce support for Internet Explorer 8, even from the upcoming Beta 1 version. A release that will be dropped to a selected pool of testers and then made available for the public.

"For the convenience of beta users, a new menu option is available in beta versions that will enable the IE8 beta to masquerade as IE7 without restarting. When the 'Report IE7 User-Agent string' option is checked, IE8 will send the IE7 User-Agent to allow beta users to interact with any sites that have not yet updated to support IE8," explained Eric Lawrence, IE Program Manager, indicating the way to tailor websites to IE8 Beta 1.

With the first beta of Internet Explorer 8 just around the corner, Microsoft is preparing the world wide web for the next version of its proprietary browser. Lawrence revealed that some websites would have problems identifying IE8, due to an updated User-Agent string. Without pinpointing the specific availability date for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, Lawrence offered the solution for introducing IE8 support. The issue affects specifically websites which have demonstrated sensitivity to alterations in the User-Agent string. A single update is sufficient to deal with the matter at hand.

"As Dean (Dean Hachamovitch is IE General Manager) announced, a beta version of Internet Explorer 8 will be released in the first half of 2008. The HTTP headers of every web request contain a simple string called the 'User-Agent' that allows servers to identify the type and version of the visitor's browser. For a deeper understanding of the User-Agent string, please see Understanding User-Agent Strings. When released, the IE8 beta will introduce an updated User-Agent string. For IE8, we've simply replaced 'MSIE 7.0' with 'MSIE 8.0'. For example, on Windows Vista, IE8 sends: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.0)," Lawrence stated.