Microsoft has debuted the planning for Internet Explorer 8 since early January 2007. In addition, the Redmond Company has been testing a pre-alpha version of the browser internally and it has also looked for input on the features that will make it into the next version of the browser. The future of IE7 will be dissected at MIX07 between April 30 and May 2 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Microsoft has not let many details leak out, but it will discuss the features and layout issues currently under development for the upcoming version of its browser.

In this respect, while Mozilla is already offering alpha versions of Firefox 3.0 under the codename Gran Paradiso, Microsoft has muted all details concerning IE8. However, among the innovations presented at Microsoft TechFest 2007, apc reported one that has the potential to be the first taste of Internet Explorer 8.

Web Assistant is a project that has been cooking in Microsoft's labs, and it could be integrated in the next version of the company's browser. Web Assistant is designed to work in concert with a browser in order to deliver contextual information to the content viewed by the user on web pages. Via Web Assistant, Microsoft aims to increase search relevance.

The preview of Web Assistant revealed that the tool identifies key words and phrases on the web page and provides a set of links in accordance with relevant online searches. Aside from this, Web Assistant has the capability of recognizing the specific meaning of keywords and will provide accurate results even in the context of ambiguous content.