Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows XP and Vista is available for download at the Microsoft Site.IE 8 has improvements in many area’s in comparison to its competitors like Firefox and Chrome.

Improved Features In IE 8.

• The browser is faster than its predecessors, It loads faster, switches pages faster, and renders complex graphics and videos faster than in previous versions.
• The “accelerators” feature,lets  you highlight an address, right-click, and select Map to get almost instantaneous directions from your location.
• New InPrivate browsing mode, which allows you to browse the web without having your browsing history stored.
• Web Slices, a feature that allows you to be notified via IE’s favourites bar when a site has been updated with new information. Sites have to be “Web slice enabled” in order for this feature to work.
• SmartScreen filter is a refined version of the phishing filter found in IE 7. Even better, an impressive domain highlighting feature helps to alert you when you stumble upon a potentially unsafe site.When IE 8 detects that you’re on a potentially dangerous site, the entire address bar turns red.
• IE 8 has “compatibility mode” thats accessible by clicking a toolbar button beside the refresh button to display websites that were designed for older browsers without breaking the site in IE8.

You can download IE 8 RC1 from here.

Direct Download Links

Windows XP 32-bit

Server 2003 32-bit

Windows XP and Server 2003 64-bit

Vista and Server 2008 32-bit

Vista and Server 2003 64-bit