14 DAY TRIAL // It is the purpose of every piece of great software to deliver a top user experience and Internet Explorer 8 makes no exception to this rule. But so far, with the freshly released build of IE8 Beta 1, user experience is the last aspect of the browser that Microsoft seems to have focused on. Of course, the evolution from IE7 to IE8 is largely contained under the hood of the product, with such examples as support for CSS 2.1 and HTML 5. In this context, there is little reverberating on the surface, namely features aimed to wow end users. But as Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager Internet Explorer, said, IE8 beta 1 is a developer beta with a strong emphasis placed on "developer."
This will not continue to be the case as the browser's development moved forward, and even as early as the second beta for IE8, Hachamovitch promised that the user experience will be kicked up a notch. Because so far, IE8 Beta 1 is only delivering a poor user experience. And Helen Drislane, Program Manager on the User Experience team of IE, offered ample proof of this by reviewing the new functionality of the overhauled Links toolbar.
"The Favorites bar, previously known as the Links toolbar, has been updated with great new functionality that helps you get information from your favorite websites quickly and easily. The new IE8 Favorites bar still has your favorite links just one click away, but also allows you to add WebSlices (new feature debuting in IE8) and feeds to the Favorites bar, facilitating your navigation experience. The WebSlices and feeds on the Favorites bar will check for updates to content on your favorite websites without requiring navigation to those websites," revealed Drislane.
WebSlices is a new feature in IE8 designed to allow users to subscribe to just a fragment of a webpage and receive updates when the content is modified. You can read a complete description of IE8 from the perspective of both end users and developers here. WebSlices function on the same principle as Feeds, and subscribing to a new feed involves clicking the Feed Discovery button. IE8 Beta 1 now offers the possibility of monitoring a feed on the Favorites bar.
Drislane enumerated additional functionality of the Favorites bar, but in IE8 Beta 1 the truth is that end users will not be able to enjoy a complete user experience. But it will be interesting to see what Microsoft has cooking for IE8 beta 2, expected later this year.
"In addition to adding a link through the 'Add to Favorites' button, you can drag and drop links onto the Favorites bar," Drislane said. "You can rearrange items on your Favorites bar by dragging items from one spot to another or by creating folders and organizing your favorite links, WebSlices, and feeds by dragging and dropping items into the folders. When an item within a folder updates, you will see the updated status on the folder itself."