IE 8 Beta 1 Launches New Microsoft Web Activities

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With the release this week of the first beta of Internet Explorer 8, we are finally getting a good look at the next step in Microsoft's Web strategy. And we also can finally start to put the next generation of the Browser Wars into focus with a new version of IE to compare with the recent betas of Mozilla's forthcoming Firefox 3.

Of course, this release of Internet Explorer 8 is a very early beta and one that Microsoft accurately describes as a developer beta, meaning that regular users should probably stay away from it.

However, while Beta 1 of IE 8 is definitely developer-oriented, it does include more in the way of actual new features than I'm used to seeing in developer releases, which are typically focused on helping Web developers code to the new HTML engine in the browser.

Among some of the new features in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 are WebSlices and Activities. While I didn't find either of these features revolutionary in their design, they do offer some interesting tweaks to how users access Web content and carry out everyday Web browsing activities.

Untrusted Vista

Making predictions is always a tough racket, I know that I have more than my fair share of prognostications that after a couple of years pass end up being way off the mark.

But there is one prediction that I made a couple of years ago that is looking to be right on the target. In columns in 2005 and in 2006 I predicted that there were features in the (at the time) upcoming Microsoft Vista operating system that would be used against consumers and would end up making some people regret ever upgrading to Vista.

These features fit under Microsoft's Trusted Computing umbrella and are known as Protected Video Path-Output Protection Management (PVP-OPM) and Certified Output Protection Protocol (COPP). And one of the main goals of these "features" is to enforce video digital rights management all the way from the PC hardware to the monitor it connects to.

In those old columns I predicted that PVP OPM in Vista would be used by video content owners to downgrade the quality of or even prevent people from viewing content that they had legally paid for if the content was being sent to a monitor connection that didn't subscribe to new DRM protocols. Some people responded that I was just creating FUD and that these systems would never be used against good customers doing everything legally.

Well, now that Vista has been out for a year we are starting to hear from more and more customers who upgraded to Vista, went out and purchased lots of legal video content and then found that they couldn't view the content, had to view it in an inferior resolution or ran the danger of losing the rights to view content that they had legally paid for.

Can Internet Explorer 8 Keep Its Promise?

Internet Explorer 8 is coming! Yay! And it will be standards compliant! Woo hoo! I can't wait to get my hands on it!

But just when will that be? Looks like there will be an initial beta sometime in the first half of 2008 (which probably means May or June).

Ok, so I guess I won't get to play around with it anytime soon. But did you see that IE 8 passed the Web Standards Project's Acid2, a key test for determing the standards compliance of a web browser? That's something that Firefox hasn't been able to do yet so take that Mozilla!

Well, an internal build of IE 8 passed the Acid2 test. I'm not sure if we can even call it an alpha. But this must mean that IE 8 will be standards compliant, right?

Hmm. I'm not to sure about that. For me, now that I think about it, I think I'll wait until I see a final shipping version of Internet Explorer 8 before I get too excited about proposed features and standards compliance.

Because when it comes to Microsoft and the promises of early alphas and prototypes, cautious skepticism isn't a bad thing.

Microsoft Serves One Up for the Home

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I have to admit that when I first heard about the Windows Home Server I didn't really think that much of the concept. After all, it's pretty simple to take an existing Windows server and turn it into a home storage and backup system. Also, there are plenty of easy-to-deploy Linux appliances that can quickly turn any system into an effective network-attached storage device, and never mind the many inexpensive network hard drives available at many stores.

And all of this is still true. But after testing the release candidate of Windows Home Server that was made available last week at connect.microsoft.com, I must say that I am very impressed with its implementation, simplicity and functionality. At least on the software side, it looks like the Windows Home Server could not only turn home digital media storage into an easy task, it may more importantly make home system backups much easier for users.

I installed the Windows Home Server on a do-it-yourself server system in our labs by simply booting to the installation DVD and letting the install run its course. One amusing aspect of the installation process was when it went from the Vista-like Windows Home Server screens and transitioned to installation screens for the Microsoft Small Business Server, which has clearly played a big part in the underlying code of the Home Server.