The final version Internet Explorer 8 is now available! You can get it at the IE official website. Some of the new features in IE8:

Accelerators - Accelerators let you do some of the common task much easier. All you need is just a few mouse clicks to get map directions, translate words, email your friends, and more…

InPrivate Browsing – Commonly known as ‘Pr0n mode’, InPrivate browsing let you browse the web without saving your history. Now you can ’shop online’ *ahem* with confidence knowing your family won’t accidentally find out or use a shared computer without leaving a trace.

Web Slices – Keep up with changes to the sites you care about most. Add a Web Slice and you won’t have to go back to the same website again and again for updates on news, stock quotes, online auctions, weather, or even sports scores. But this is web page dependent and not all not website have web slices yet.

Search suggestions – Search smarter with detailed suggestions from your favorite search providers and browsing history. See visual previews and get suggested content topics while you type in the enhanced Instant Search Box.

SmartScreen Filter – New security features help to protect you against deceptive and malicious websites which can compromise your data, privacy and identity.

The beta of the next version of Internet Explorer is now available! The IE team just announced the availability of the Beta in MIX08.

One of the new features that the IE team boasted about is that IE finally passed the Acid2 browser test, which mean IE conform to CSS standard. (All previous IEs failed this test) Some other features include:

• Faster JavaScript handling. 2.5x the speed of previous IE. “Back” button support for AJAX.
• Webslices (I’m not quite sure about it, but it said it will let you subscribe to part of a website)
• Social integration/activities in right click. Live maps, Facebook, etc…
• Better developer tool.

You can download the Beta version here. The IE team said that the main focus user in Beta 1 is web developer (to help them create website that compatible with IE8/standard compliance) Normal user would have to wait for Beta 2 for more features that focused on them.

It is really great to hear that Microsoft have finally releasing a standard compliant web browser. But for now, I’ll just stick with Firefox. :p

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 Official Website