Microsoft cites developer, security boosts in IE8

Microsoft hailed its newly released Internet Explorer 8 browser as a boon for developers and for its security measures during a presentation at the Mix09 conference on Thursday.

“With IE8, developers have a great opportunity to integrate your sites into people’s everyday activities,” said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for Internet Explorer at Microsoft.

[ For more Mix09 news, see InfoWorld’s story “Microsoft cites design updates as economic booster.” ]

The browser upgrade also offers full Cascading Style Sheets 2.1 support and a comprehensive test suite. “IE8 passes more CSS 2.1 tests than other browsers,” Hachamovitch said.

Microsoft’s first step for IE8 pertaining to developers involves enabling them to build “great sites” leveraging standards, interoperability, performance, and developer tools, he said. The second step involves creating new opportunities for developers.

Developers should think about where users seek one-click access and how visual search can bring users back to a site, said Hachamovitch. For example, IE8 uses visual aids to help with searches.

Security capabilities of IE8 were touted, including protection against malware. Since the release of the second beta of IE8, the browser has protected one in 40 users per week from downloading malware, Hachamovitch said.

“IE8 offers better protection against malware than other browsers,” he said. “IE8 is the only browser today with built-in protection to keep your users safe from many cross-site scripting attacks.” It also protects against click-jacking attacks and helps protects privacy, he said.

Continuing the Mix09 theme on the benefits of good product design, after Hachamovitch’s presentation, Microsoft had Deborah Adler, a designer at Deborah Adler LLC, detail how she developed safer and easier pharmaceutical labels for Target Pharmacy with her ClearRX system.

“Throughout this process, I really learned firsthand that design has the power to make a difference,” she said.