Posted by SecExtra on June 12th, 2010

Microsoft has traditionally been pretty lazy with updating the components that came with their Windows OS. Paint, Wordpad, Internet Explorer and others – all of them have remained unchanged for years (almost a decade, actually). And nobody really cared, because few people were actually using them. Those who needed better software, used paid versions, those who didn’t have the money, had no other choice but to use these outdated tools.

But later, when people became more savvy with their computers and operating systems, and a lot of free alternatives started appearing, more and more Windows users started replacing the standard tools with third party ones, which were most of the times better, faster, more stable and reliable and had a ton more features.

Such was the case with web browsers, too. Internet Explorer 6, despite being literally the worst browser available, was being used by over 70% of PC users, just because it came by default with their computer. It wasn’t until Firefox and its users started their anti-IE campaign that people started realizing that there are better and safes choices and installing Firefox. That’s how Mozilla’s browser became the most popular browser installed by choice in the US and Canada. Europe is a bit behind, but they’re catching up.

Along with the failure of Windows Vista and some of their other products, Microsoft realized they needed to do something, or their position as leader in desktop browsers and operating systems will be at risk. And they released Windows 7, along with Internet Explorer 8. This is their best browser yet, and only the 9th version could be better.

They had briefly released Internet Explorer 7, which was pretty good, but not good enough. IE 8 has all the modern features a browser should have, and conforms to the current widely approved safety and privacy standards (even better than Safari in some cases).

Here are the most important reasons why Internet Explorer 8 is a good web browser and can truly compete with the other browsers on the market.

Security zones. One feature that sets it apart from other browsers is “Security Zones”. It basically allows you to set different security level for different sites. So, the ones you trust can have cookies writing enabled by default with the pop up blocker disabled, the ones you know are bad can be fully blocked and the ones you haven’t yet visited can inherit the default settings.

Private browsing. Finally, Microsoft introduced a Private Browsing mode in their web browser. The Internet Explorer 8 version of this feature is very similar to that found on the other browsers. It will automatically delete all the history and cookies from the sites you visited during that session.

Anti-phishing filter. Of course, an anti phishing filter is a must for all the browsers nowadays. Internet Explorer 8 has one that is pretty good (it’s certainly not worse than Opera’s or Safari’s). It can certainly protect you from most phishing sites and warn you about potentially harmful ones.

Pop up blocker. As is the deal with any other current browser, IE 8 has an integrated pop up blocker. It is pretty standard, but it works in most of the cases. Of course, it will not block the pop ups that are initiated due to user fault (clicking on a link or button) and those written in Javascript.

Integration with Windows Firewall, Defender and antivirus software. Another unique property of IE 8 besides the Security Zones feature is its ability to fully integrate with the default Windows Firewall and Defender, as well as with any antivirus program on the market. This allows you to have a safe web browsing experience straight from the box with Windows 7 and an even more secure one if you install a better third party anti virus program.

Automatic updates. Internet Explorer 8 is updated using Windows Update, which should always be enabled. This guaranteed that your web browser will stay up to date at all times, and Microsoft has proven to be quite good at releasing updates in time for IE8 and Windows 7 in general.

Despite what you might have heard before, version 8 of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is a pretty good modern web browser that has all the basic needed features and satisfies the basic security and privacy standards (it even fares better than Safari!). If it came pre-installed on your computer (like is the case with new Windows 7 laptops and desktops) and you don’t want to mess around with the software on it, you can easily use Internet Explorer for web browsing, without being concerned for your safety online.