14 DAY TRIAL // Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 became available for download starting with August 27, 2008. As its precursor, Beta 1, the Beta 2 Build is tailored to a range of operating systems including Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Vista RTM and SP1, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Sever 2008. Microsoft already informed that users of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 on XP and Windows Server 2003 will have the smoothest upgrade experience as the process was streamlined as much as possible. In this context the Redmond company will be serving automatic upgrades to IE8 Beta 1 users on XP and Windows Server 2003 via Windows Update, as an alternative to manual installations. The same will be valid for Windows Vista RTM and SP1 at a date yet to be announced by the software giant.
"For all you WU users who happen to be running Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 on a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 system, we wanted to let you know that on [August 28 we've released] IE8 Beta 2 to Windows Update so that getting the latest Beta is super easy and convenient for you. If you have Automatic Updates turned on, Windows Update will automatically download IE8 Beta 2 and notify you when it is ready for install. You’ll then have the option to proceed with or postpone installation," revealed a member of the Microsoft Update team.
The transition from Beta 1 to Beta 2 for Internet Explorer 8 will generate two reboots, one necessary to uninstall the previous Beta and the other to complete the deployment of IE8's latest development milestone. The upgrading process is completely automatic, and it will also be tailored to Windows Vista in the future. Microsoft failed to reveal when it plans to start serving IE8 Beta 2 automatic upgrades via WU and only confirmed that such a scenario is coming. "IE8 Beta 2 will be made available to WU users running Windows Vista at a later date," the MU team representative added.
For the time being Windows Visa and Windows Server 2008 users have to manually install IE8 Beta 2. In this regard, existing installations of IE8 Beta 1 also have to be removed manually prior to integrating Beta 2. The same is valid for IE8 Beta 1 installed on XP SP2 prior to Service Pack 3.
Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Beta 2 is available for download here.