Welcome to CoDe Focus for Internet Explorer 8! In this issue, you’ll find information on all things related to Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. From Web Slices to Developer Tools, from our improvements in performance to the great new features for building Web 2.0 applications, there’s something here for everyone. Since I joined the Internet Explorer team back in 1995, I’ve helped ship a lot of Internet Explorer releases, and Internet Explorer 8 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting, with a full set of new capabilities and improvements for users and developers. We began Internet Explorer 8 by developing a strategy for protecting compatibility with the content of today, while simultaneously unleashing our ability to deliver great standards compliance. We then set the foundation for delivering standards compliance by building a brand-new layout engine, designed from the ground up for CSS 2.1 compliance. With that foundation in place, we started addressing other areas: not only have we improved security throughout, as well as building new capabilities to help Web developers build secure mashups (with features like cross-document messaging and cross-domain network requests), but we’ve also focused on performance throughout the Internet Explorer stack, particularly for today’s (as well as tomorrow’s) JavaScript-heavy Web applications. Finally, we wanted to make the Web more efficient and approachable for users, and encourage users to reach beyond just a single Web page with Accelerators, Web Slices and new Search features. Not only does this let users navigate the resources of the Web more effectively, but it also provides new opportunities for Web services to integrate into the browsing experience, rather than just being a destination. With this issue of CoDe Focus, several of my colleagues have written some great articles on these areas of Internet Explorer to help you start developing for Internet Explorer 8. Happy browsing! -Chris Wilson Internet Explorer Platform Architect Chris Wilson |