Comments on: My painfully poky week with IE 8

There are plenty of good things about the new version of Microsoft's browser. But I found its interface sluggish.

[wango2007]

Shankland's experience is just the OPPOSITE of my own. He should check his computer or his Internet connection.... that's where the problem probably is.

I use IE7 on one of my computers side by side with IE8 on the other. I see no difference with IE8, it is fast and efficient. I will upgrade the other to IE8 soon.

What drives me crazy is the slow speed of FF. I have deleted it twice because it is so useless. I only have it now for testing purposes, but it is far too cumbersome for normal use. Chome is better than FF if you like the Chrome interface, but I don't.

Slamming IE8 shows a weakness in Shankland's reporting, not IE8.

[Shankland]

To be clear, I prefer IE 8 over IE 7 and found the new version faster. Just not faster than Firefox or Chrome, particularly after a full day of use. My computers might have their issues, sure, but they don't seem to hold back the interface of Chrome and Firefox. As I said in the article, the problem isn't so much page-loading speed, it's getting the software to respond to my keyboard and mouse commands.

[Boomstickedition]

Dang Stephen Shankland are you using windows 98? Yes I know its the classic style interface in xp...but come on really in 2009? These old journalists are old. Do you still drive a 1995 ford escort with primer as well?

[Shankland]

I'm not one of the Vista haters--I use it at home (64-bit version for the large memory support) and generally find it OK, despite the hardware burden it imposes over XP. But XP is still *very* widely used among corporations that don't see the value of Vista upgrades. I suspect they'll move after Windows 7 settles down.

[Ilgaz]

I recently used a 16 core custom Tyan setup running Windows 2003 with Classic interface.
On Apple side, if you compare empty desktop showing Finder of 1989 and today's Leopard, you won't see much difference.
MS keeps "classic theme" for a reason you know?

[superfunkomatic]

i'm always amazed by early reports on new microsoft products. do they not do extensive user reporting and testing? i know this has been in beta forever, why haven't they, as users, picked up on interface lags and niggly feature quirks? to me this still seems light years behind the other browsers and will likely introduce a whole new round of security issues of it's own. microsoft should seriously reevaluate their R&D department and start to innovate again like they did when they originally created IE.

[fcg1502]

I honestly think that when reading some of these reviews on Microsoft products that Microsoft must've killed this guys pet gold fish in some way. I mean, I've been using FF as my everday browser on my home computer for a while since I wasn't overly impressed with IE7, which I had used everday at work. But then I downloaded the IE8 RC a couple of weeks ago in my office and it seriously has made me consider switching at home, especially now that I have the final release. IE8 opens up faster on both my computers than FF (work: 1GB Ram, 2.4 pentium 4, XP Pro SP3; Home: 4GB Ram, 2500 AMD dual core black, Vista Ult SP1), and the accelerators, which he does give credit to, are far more useful than most things I can do with FF. So you use Google reader? Then don't have IE8 subscribe for you. Simple. First you think there is no easy way to highlight your address bar, then some guy tells you F6 will do it, and you pass that off like you weren't just proven wrong. IMO, since Ctrl+L and Ctrl +C are on two opposite sides of the keyboards and require 4 keystrokes with 2 hands as opposed to 3 keytrokes, I'd assume F6 + Ctrl+ would be faster. But to each his own. Sure, there are problems. But my main issue with both? Some sites want to be loaded with FF, and some want to be loaded with IE. In this regard, the IE tab in FF is my most useful add-on. IE8 is as good a browser as I've ever used, as good as FF in my opinion. Maybe if the reviewer didn't go in wanting to hate IE he would've come out with a different opinion.

[rollinshultz]

Dude; have you seen the fish on the windows background they look like they haven't been fed since XP. chuckle.

[HlLLARY CLITON]

Years ago I recall staying up until 2am to get a release of IE, I don't recall the version but there was lots of excitement, Microsoft was giving away tshirts, advertising the new release a lot. Now days its like OH a new version, ok maybe I'll upgrade or not. There isn't any excitement around Microsoft products any more. IE8 certainly shows that

[The_happy_switcher]

"here isn't any excitement around Microsoft products any more" You just figured this out now?

[Ilgaz]

I remember struggling on a dial up modem just to get IE 4 too. I ended up getting a promo CD from MS. IE 4 was a huge revolution compared to version 3. The Version 3 automatically made IE 1-2 look like the ultimate joke. The real state of art in terms of stability and performance was version 5.5

I even remember finding some Netscape developers on IRC and told them to be very alerted about IE.

[MushroomStamp]

Very skewed article, which is obvious by the lack of knowledge by the writer on a few points.. the simplest being.. in IE.. just hit F6 to highlight the address.. Technically one button click less than the other way.

[Ilgaz]

Since the first browser on earth on NeXT, address bar shortcut is Command (or Apple) L. Why on earth change it and expect everyone to learn it? Opera's actual shortcut is F2 but they always keep the L shortcut.
Their "not invented here" syndrome has really came to pathetic levels and IMHO, MS should fire the entire IE/MSHTML team. They are really wasting time, money and bandwidth of the global economy.

[MushroomStamp]

Oh one more thing.. Those of in the IT field that spend a LOT of time with browsers.... Really don't use plugins/extensions. For the simple fact of uniformity.. you don't want to get used to an extension being there because when you go to another machine your extensions dont' follow you, so you get frustrated with having to do things the default way.... Which it ends up saving you time and frustration if you just learn to use what everyone else has.. maybe on your home pc it would be different.. but IMHO, extension while serve a purpose for a person that has to use more than 1 computer.. the rest of us.. it's a hassle.

[TheReaperD]

What are you talking about. I handle most of the IT functions where I work and I use several extensions in FireFox. I find Foxmarks and Adblock Plus to be the most valuable tools for the web - period. (Though I admit that Foxmarks would not be all that useful to someone who never works on more than one computer.) I also have a cornucopia of other extensions installed. None of these are earth shattering but, they make my day to day web browsing easier.

When I am on another computer on our network and I need to do more on the web than just downloading Windows updates, I just Remote Desktop into my main computer and browse from there. With the updated RDP client, I can save any files I need to the hard drive on the local computer without having to worry about network drives or sneakernet.

But, all of that said, if you are not the person who wants to browse and install extensions and just use the web browser in the default configuration, I think Opera and Chrome are better choices than FireFox. They offer an array of features that the average user will find useful that FireFox does not come with out of the box. Chrome and Opera are deigned for the person that doesn't want to know how or why a computer works, they just want it to work out of the box whereas FireFox is a build your own web browser kit without requiring you to know how to write one line of code. In my opinion, this is the way it should be and happy with the three respective browsers for their intended audiences.

For the rest of you who are saying "what about my browser?" I understand why Konqueror and Safari exist but, I consider them superfluous. IE has long been a cancer on the web and needs to stop being malignant or needs to die once and for all. It has improved and I'll give Microsoft credit for that but, there's more ground to cover before they even reach superfluous. For all the new browsers that add 3D effects, IM and other bells and whistles, I put them in a similar category as Chrome and Opera as they can do things "out of the box" without having to download extensions to modify your browser to make it what you want.

[TheReaperD]

Yuck... Sorry about all the mistakes in words and grammar in my previous post. That's what I get for posting after 3:00am on a work night.

[sillygoosen]

This article is kind of silly. The main problem is that you're used to Firefox/Chrome. Where you lost the most credibility was your CTRL+L rant. Maybe if you did a quick search on it you would have found that in IE you press ALT+D to move focus to the address bar and highlight the address, then you type in what you're looking for and press SHIFT+ENTER to go to the first result. So if you visit a site often: ALT+D type a few letters of the name, press SHIFT+ENTER. Or you can type in the name without www. or .com and then press CTRL+ENTER to automatically add www. .com to whatever you typed and it goes there.

I used Chrome and loved but it but switched back to IE8 b/c I did love the new features. Web slices are awesome, and they DON'T take up almost any screen real estate like you seem to think, just a little icon in your Bookmark bar, and you click it and it drops down a list of the latest headlines and even Bolds and flashes when the site is updated. Are you sure you're even setting them up right? I don't hae to constantly go to pages to check for updates, it tells me.

Also, the accelorators are so handy because they do the same thing for maps, definitions, and numerous other things. You don't have to leave the page to get more information on a word or address or anything else.

Once those two features are supported by more and more sites, it will only get easier.

[NWLB]

The IE Tab extension for Firefox gives me 100% of the IE access I need, without having to stoop to using the fouled creation from Redmond.

[bpinson]

For the record, to "activate" the address bar in IE (all versions) it is ALT+D. So ALT+D, CTRL+C to copy a URL. The same key combo works in FireFox and Safari as well.

Also, you can easily set your tab preferences to make links that would normally open in a new window open in a new tab. This will resolve your "middle click" frustration.

[ktswami]

Thx for the info on IE key combos. Wouldn't it be cool, though, to just be able to issue CTRL+C to copy, and then CTRL+B to "paste & go" or "paste and search" right away...? Or just do a middle-click to "paste & go"...WITHOUT pressing ALT, CTRL, ENTER, whatever?

You can...except you'd have to be willing to try a browser that everyone else copies and follows...Opera.

@Stephen:
Sorry to have to hear about your occupational hazard in trying IE8, sounds like torture. Having said that, it is really UNCOOL that you continue to diss Opera users (30M on the desktop, 25M on mobile) by not mentioning it. Very lame. You do a disservice to all CNET readers since it's the elephant in the corner in every browser article you write...

[wts]

Upgrading to IE8 caused me a loss of 2+ hours time, as my ThinkPad security chip software balked ... (maybe due to the first-time stuff IE 8 puts you through?).

As far as I can tell, IE8 doesn't come close to FireFox loaded with your favorite add-ons (mine include session manager and tab mix plus).

Has Microsoft indicated if/when/where it will have IE8 part of Microsoft Update (not soon, I hope!).

cheers, wayne

[The_happy_switcher]

Microsoft drops the ball--again.

[KehaarHraka]

I agree that IE 8 is painfully slow. Simple tasks like opening a tab require a mysterious connection to a default page. It's literally painful to operate. Microsoft would be better served by removing the browser from the operating system and forcing the product team to compete on a level field with other browsers. Maybe then the product team would stop using the OS as a crutch and be forced to field a truly competitive browser in order to gain market share.

[Shankland]

I like the options that show up in the new-tab view. Maybe that's one thing that slows it down, of course, but I think it's a useful feature if performance impacts can be minimized.

[Angmarr]

Even as a Fan of PC's I can never see myself going back ... for me Firefox has just soo much to offer. Not to mention 3.1 in looming in the horizon!!!!

[i_made_this]

Steve, we're in agreement nearly 100% on what a lousy ("not competitive"?) browser IE8 is - I however did not find it that much an improvement over IE7 as you. To me, it is basically a gussied up IE7. Redmond really must learn how to reduce rather than increase, if you take my meaning - a Feng Shui approach would be lovely as Google's Chrome is most aware.

Chrome is what I call a serious browser, with Firefox (no tweaking with non-Mozilla extensions please) a darned excellent number two. The way it stands now, Chrome isn't for everyone and most IE converts will find Firefox far more user-friendly. While Firefox 3.1 BETA clocks in at almost the speed-demon numbers as Chrome, it only does so without third-party add-on's / extensions.

Knowing MSFT as we do, it's impossible for me to guage the "innate" quality of a new IE browser without shoveling it onto the new O/S for which it's destined. So, I had to run Win7 with IE8 to get the feel of where this packaged "improvement" is headed. The experience stunk, to be blunt. The system was loaded onto a powerful and speedy new hardware rig to ensure "no cheating" (e.g. "blame the rig for slow computing").

I am aware that most C|NET Win7 coverage to date has been strongly pro-Win7. Most C/NET coverage also takes Microsoft P/R at their word that the O/S will be released this year - I sense this view maybe overly naive for such an esteemed publication.

Overall, a bold and fascinating point of view, rather highly risky looking back at history - CBS is putting its tail way out on the line here, as we have not experienced a non-enterprise, good (never great) Windows O/S version straight out of the gate in over one decade.

Nonetheless, to tweak my Win7 experience and try best as able to be fair, I only cheated by loading Chrome and FF as alternating default browsers. These cheats paid off nicely, but unlike you, I wasn't testing the Win7 / IE8 experience for publication - I was testing it for me. A fascinating comment was that running those two browsers as my VISTA defaults delivered a relatively speedier plus higher quality experience than the same on Win7.

But then, Microsoft knows all of this before the likes of you and I. Which, in turn, is why I make the case that we won't see Win7 pre-loaded on all those DELL HP and ACER systems people seem to expect to exist - near mystically - quite soon. I reckon the new O/S pre-loaded on all those DELL HP and ACER systems by late springtime / summer 2010 at earliest. I guarantee those three outfits will not get burnt with the "XP Professional Downgrade" sort of hassle they did with VISTA once again. As well, for them, a lot will have to do with the tonnage of O/S Version Numbers MSFT actually issues and at what pricings. Personally, I suspect there will be many - perhaps 10 to 12 from which to select for marketing reasons. Hereagain, I am at odds with what little info's been issued by MSFT's P/R Dept. History is my guide - with Redmond's operating systems, nuttin is nuttin til you can buy them. PS I do expect that we'll see IE8 as a download for VISTA this late summer / autumn but who cares, really? Moreover, MSFT has not yet said anything about it's being available as a download for XP at all. This makes sense to me, as Win7 is built on the VISTA core after all. At best, I foresee Win7 effectively as a VISTA SP2 or more likely SP3 - and hey, that'll be a good thing if it's the improvement XP2 was to XP (a bad thing for those on a budget tho, as you will now have to pay MSFT for the "new" O/S, which I don't find it to be.

[pb_virus]

you can use alt + D to go to the address bar.it works in firefox too

[Tod Smith]

I.E. 8 is better than I.E. 7. As for performance they appear to suffer optimization like the Vista complaints.

Let's HOPE that MS gets the msg and that all future software will be optimized first with new features less of a priority!

[rollinshultz]

I am a 99% keyboard user and the compatibilty of IEs versus others with the standard windows shortcuts makes life easier for me. Try alt + d for highlighting the address bar contents it becomes natural quickly especially id you are already using Windows + d to bring up the desktop.
I have this tendency when I am in a hurry or mentally busy to use alt + F4 to close a tab which in IE7 just brought up a close all dialog but IE 8 gives you a choice of all or the current tab. Ctrl + w is the appropriate sequence for closing the current tab and ctrl + t to start a new blank tab. I use my browsing in a simple style without add ins and doo dads and I have found IE8 to be quick enough for my purposes. I like being able to open a new tab in the bacj=kground and keep working in the current tab while it is loading even though my computer and connection speeds are blisteringly fast and most sites only take a few seconds. I can work ahead by opening links of interest while reading the initital content.
As for searching I use the web ferret for the ultimate dialing in on information and I am glad IE8 works well with it.

[dpower123]

Comparing speed of internet browsers is like comparing which airline can fly to CA the fastest. Relax and stop drinking so much coffee. Very boring subject.

[nyolsson]

lol point taken.... but here's a fun fact.

there is almost a 1.5 Billion, B with a billion.... internet users daily man. if over 1/6 of the worlds population was trying to get to CA, including me, I'd want the fast plane.

[angeljeanne]

Yes all I have seen and read is how many people are not happy with IE8 vs the IE7, Ok I went a head and inited it into my side of the fence. What a mistake it is slower then that waited syrup to go onto your pancakes. No I am not happy with this nor was I happy with IE7 big mistake. Yes I tried FOX nope did not work either. So I guess I say here we go again, till someone can do better I guess we or I am stuck with what is shown here. Take care all those who can make it go better and faster. JJ