14 DAY TRIAL // Even though Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is available only as a development milestone, Microsoft went ahead and released a security update for the browser. On June 10, 2008, the MS08-031: Cumulative security update for Internet Explorer Security Bulletin became available via Windows Update, patching two vulnerabilities in IE5, 6, and 7 on various Window operating systems. At the same time, the Redmond company patched the HTML Objects Memory Corruption and the Request Header Cross-Domain Information Disclosure vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, also adding new capabilities for the browser.
In addition to being included into the June 2008 Cumulative security update for Internet Explorer, the patch for IE8 Beta 1 has also been made available via the Download Center, for both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of XP SP2 and XP3, Vista RTM and SP1, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. Still, in addition to patching the two security holes, the update for IE8 Beta 1 is also designed to enable web content designers and developers to prepare for Internet Explorer 8. The preparation involves nothing more than telling the browser how to properly render content. Developers have available a meta-tag which can be inserted in websites in order to get IE8 to render them in the same manner as IE7.
"In IE8 Beta 1, that option is the 'IE=7' X-UA-Compatible tag, which instructs IE8 to display content in IE7 Standards mode. However, the scenario this doesn't address is when IE=7 is applied as an HTTP header to a site that contains Quirks mode pages. The IE=7 HTTP header will force all pages - both Quirks and Standards - to display in IE7 Standards mode. Developers using this header while updating their sites would then have to add the 'IE=5' < META > tag to each page they want to keep in Quirks mode. This logic is fine for many websites. However, if a site has lots of Quirks mode pages, or for the case where pages with frames host a mix of Strict and Quirks mode content - as brought to light by IE8 Beta 1 user feedback - the compatibility opt-out adds a bit more work than we intended," explained Jefferson Fletcher, Product Manager Internet Explorer.
As of the June 2008 IE8 Beta 1 security update, Microsoft has taken this scenario one step further an added yet another meta-tag. With the 'IE=EmulateIE7', Internet Explorer 8 will render standards DOCTYPEs in IE7 Standards mode and Quirks DOCTYPEs in Quirks mode. Following the integration of the update, even IE8 Beta 1 will support the new 'IE=EmulateIE7' meta-tag.
Fletcher also said that the 'IE=EmulateIE7' meta-tag can be added to a custom HTTP header and be in effect throughout the website:
Here are the download links for the Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1:
- Windows XP (KB951804) - Windows XP x64 Edition (KB951804) - Windows Server 2003 (KB951804) - Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (KB951804) - Windows Vista (KB951804) - Windows Vista x64 Edition (KB951804) - Windows Server 2008 (KB951804) - Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB951804)
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is available for download here.