Bugs that have survived the RTW (release to web) deadline of Internet Explorer 8 will be addressed no earlier than in the next version of Internet Explorer, Microsoft informed. At the same time, the Redmond company is already looking to the future and is indicating that preparations are in place to start gathering feedback on the enhancements for IE8's successor. Still, the software giant is yet shy of talking any specifics about the next iteration of Internet Explorer. At this point in time, not even the specific moniker for the next version of IE has been made public. It is still unknown whether IE8's successor will be IE9, or if Microsoft will opt to release an interim 8.x build.

“Compared to feedback during IE7, we received a high percentage of actionable bugs. We appreciate the time everyone took to file detailed bug reports with the IE Team. What happens now? All Postponed bugs are now active for consideration in the next version of Internet Explorer. We resolved and closed all other bugs submitted since IE8 Beta 1. The Internet Explorer 8 Feedback website on Microsoft Connect will remain open and we will not delete any of your previously submitted bugs. Right now we are looking for new IE8 bugs and bugs that have regressed (meaning the bug was previously fixed and now occurs in IE8 RTW),” revealed Allison Burnett, program manager.

The gold bits of IE8 went live on March 19, on the second day of MIX09, for Windows XP (including SP3), Windows Vista RTM and SP1, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. Burnett emphasized that Microsoft was on the lookout for any regression bugs in Internet Explorer 8 RTW. Namely, issues that were not in the pre-release versions of the browser, but that have emerged in the gold bits.

Moving onward, the software giant plans to start gathering user input about what they would like to see in the next version of IE. “In the next couple of months, we will introduce a new type of feedback form designed specifically to handle improvements for the next version of Internet Explorer,” Burnett added.


Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) RTW is available for download here (for 32-bit and 64-bit flavors of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008).