Internet Explorer 8 takes the Web experience beyond the page and introduces a new way to seamlessly experience the power of the Web whether you are a Web developer writing to standards, or an end user discovering a new online service. This beta release is available to everyone, but is primarily for Web developers and designers to test the new tools, layout engine, and programming enhancements.When not developing your web site, you can click the Emulate IE7 button in the command bar to browse the web like you did in IE7. Internet Explorer 8 can be installed on Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista, Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2).

The Internet Explorer Beta 1 has been released to the public. This Beta version of Internet Explorer is for web developers and designers. We invite you to use the resources listed below to learn about the improvements, changes and new features available in this release.

Activities give users ready access to the online services they care about most from any page they visit, and developers gain an easy way to extend the reach of their online services. It’s as simple as selecting text to get started with an Activity.

Developers can mark parts of webpages as "WebSlices" and enable users to monitor information they rely on as they move about the web. With a click in the Favorites bar, users see rich "WebSlice" visuals and developers establish a valuable, persistent end-user connection.

As always, this is beta software so please use this with caution. It is recommended that this be installed on a test computer or in a virtual machine.

Downloads:

• Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Window XP SP2
  
• Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
  
• Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows Server 2003 SP2
  
• Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows Server 2003 SP2 x64 Edition and Windows XP SP2 Pro x64 Edition
  
• Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows Vista x64 Edition and Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition
  

Homepage: Internet Explorer 8

Link: Lunarsoft Frontpage

I heard that IE8 will finally adhere to standards.

I truly hope that is true.

I've installed Beta 1 on my server machine and it has only a few visual differences. It's not too bad, really.

I think I heard it passes the ACID2 test too.

I hope so...

Passes acid2 just fine, though I can't recall if the nose was clickable or not.

It beats Opera 9.50 betas on Acid3 too! 67/100

I'm on: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b4) Gecko/2008030714 Firefox/3.0b4 - Build ID: 2008030714

Nice!

Seems finally Microsoft got going, and actually did something...

Firefox 3.0 beta 3 passes 61/100 of the acid3 test.

Glad to see that IE finally adheres to standards...