Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 Download & Features Revealed

Microsoft has put in place the preparations for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 ready for Mix 08.
A full features page has been revealed which lists the following additions to Internet Explorer:

• Activities
• WebSlices
• Favorites Bar
• Automatic Crash Recovery
• Improved Phishing Filter

Activities allow users to lookup/send information in a right-click contextual menu, such as retrieving an address map from Windows Live Maps, submitting a story to Digg, sharing a page on Facebook etc. WebSlices allows users to crop a specific area section of a site and bookmark it. Improvements have been made to the phishing filter which continues to block known Phishing sites and now blocks sites known to contain malicious software that could harm users’ computer or steal their information.

Perhaps one of the best new features is Automatic Crash Recovery which recovers your tabs if your browser crashes. It is widely expected that Microsoft will release the first beta of Internet Explorer 8 at this years Mix 08 which begins today.

Update: The download is now live and can be installed on Microsoft Windows Vista, XP, Server 2008/2003

View: Internet Explorer 8 New Features
Download: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1

Microsoft Office Live Workspace Now Available to Everyone

Microsoft Corp. today announced the public availability of Microsoft Office Live Workspace beta, the new Web-based extension of Microsoft Office that lets people access their documents online and share their work with others. Office Live Workspace was among the first entries in the new wave of online services in Microsoft’s software plus services vision previewed last fall.

Office Live Workspace is now available worldwide in English. People can sign up for free at http://workspace.officelive.com and will be granted immediate access to the service. Microsoft is also unveiling a number of new Office Live Workspace features, such as an activity panel, notifications, direct links and multifile upload.

“Today’s announcement moves us further down the path of bringing a software plus services experience to people at home, work and school,” said Stephen Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division. “By combining the rich client experience of Microsoft Office with flexible, intuitive service offerings, we’re providing seamless computing experiences for our 500 million Office users worldwide.”

Announcement: PressPass @ Microsoft