We've speculated before that the final version of Internet Explorer 8 will arrive no later than April 2009, but Tech ARP claims it has found out that "Microsoft is ready to release Internet Explorer 8 to manufacturing (RTM) in the next few weeks." This is in line with what Microsoft has said: after the Release Candidate build is released to the public, the RTM will be the next one to go live.
Tech ARP also notes that Microsoft will be promoting the following features that IE8 offers over IE7:
Extensive improvements in the areas of performance and reliability.
Monetization opportunities (for OEMs).
Visual Search Suggestions, which offers the ability to configure a search provider and additional services into the IE8 search box to search for shopping, news/portal sites, social networks, sports, etc.
Web Slices and Accelerators, which are additional web services within the IE8 monetization ecosystem, built specifically for IE8 by content providers. These services will be used by OEMs to deliver brand exposure and content updates to the users.
Enhanced user experience, greater user privacy, and security enhancements.
It will good to finally see the full working version on 7 here. The version that comes with the beta likes to hang and be restarted quite often. Feedback on that problem has been submitted already.
W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Bo...AMD Phenom II X4 975 Deneb 3.6ghz - 965 2nd r...Kingston Hyper X DDR3 1600 1.5v 16gb - Hyper ...MSI HD Radeon 5750 1gb - MSI HD Radeon 6450 o...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom builds = 2
OS
W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 975 Deneb 3.6ghz - 965 2nd remote pc
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4-Gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H remote pc
Memory
Kingston Hyper X DDR3 1600 1.5v 16gb - Hyper X Fury 8gb 2nd
Graphics Card(s)
MSI HD Radeon 5750 1gb - MSI HD Radeon 6450 on mini tower
Sound Card
Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Audio P - Realtek onooard 2nd case
Monitor(s) Displays
ASUS VW199T-P 19" HP 2082a Main-HP 2082a 20" remote pc
Screen Resolution
Asus 1440x900 - HP 1600x900
Hard Drives
WD Black 1TB HD per OS W7, W10, and pending W11 presently on 500gb OS Drive - Pending Triple 1TB HDs for Spanned Storage/backup volume
Single 2TB external USB enclosure, single 1TB System 7 Host/Boot drive, Pending 8TB external HD for system image b
PSU
Corsair 750TX - primary / Corsair CX600 - second
Case
Antec 900-2 - SSD compatible / NZXT Vulcan mini tower
