14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has sent out an Internet Explorer 8 Feature Survey Email. While the Redmond Company has yet to announce Internet Explorer 8 officially, Bruce Morgan - a Software Development Manager on the IE Team, revealed that Microsoft is already testing a pre-alpha version of the browser.
The IE8 Feature Survey Email comes to settle the question over what numeric index will the next release of the browser bear. In this regard, it has been speculated that Microsoft will not make available an IE 7.x version of the browser and that it will focus instead on version 8.0 alone.
All participants on the Microsoft Tech Beta program have received the IE8 Feature Survey Email. The message has been sent by the Windows Beta Team and is a request for feedback. According to the email, the Windows Vista Team welcomes input from the Tech Beta participants.
Microsoft will use the feedback to create guidelines in the planning phase that will precede the development of Internet Explorer 8. The survey the email points to is designed to summarize feedback and to deliver a perspective over the customization and performance scenarios that will be implemented in Internet Explorer 8.
Although the Redmond Company has sent out the IE8 Feature Survey Email to all the tech beta participants, only a select few will actually get their hands on IE 8 in its early stage. Apart from informing that the first test versions of IE8 will be accessible only to a limited pool of Tech Beta participants, Microsoft failed to deliver additional details.
At this time, information pertaining to the testing stages and the launching date of IE8 are still unknown. The Redmond Company has set a time table for Tech Beta participants to fill in the 59-question survey hosted at Microsoft's Connect website, for March 1, 2007.
As one of the sessions at MIX 07 is entitled "First Look at the Future of IE," between April 30 and May 2, Microsoft is expected to showcase Internet Explorer 8.