On the first day of Mix08, Microsoft unveiled the next version of Internet Explorer. Athough the bits are available now, I haven’t had the chance to toy with it as I am reluctant to install beta software on production machine. Perhaps I will do so on a virtual machine.
The video shows two new features of IE8: activities and webslices. Both features provide a user experience similar to the Search Provider feature we can find nowadays in IE7 and Firefox 2, i.e. there is nothing to install on the client side, just click on a icon and accept the activity or the webslice to be registered with the UI.
Activities allow you interact with pieces of information displayed on the screen. For instance, an address can be right-clicked and mapped directly with service of user’s choice (such as Microsoft Live Maps), in a small context window. This is neat as it allows the user to interact with the information in a non Copy/Paste way.
Webslices are small pieces of information that are continuously updated by IE. If you want to keep an eye on your Ebay auction, you may want to know when the price has updated. Of course, you can always go back to the auction page and can watch for incoming emails from Ebay, however these methods are manual. Webslices are displayed as small icons on the toolbar and they flash if there is an update available, to notify the user.
Although I am just an occasional Firefox user, I am thrilled at the number of add-ins available and how easily they are installed and updated. I wish IE had the same number of add-ins and be as developer friendly as Firefox.
As you probably know, the MIX conference is taking place in Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel at this very moment. As expected, the conference showcases some of the best products being developed. This year’s Mix is no exception and I am eagerly waiting for the next great thing to appear.
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