Explore the Internet at a Snail's Pace! (Microsoft Internet Explorer 8)

Member Name: Escorcio

Product:	Microsoft Internet Explorer 8
Date:	05/11/09 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Much better design with IE8 compared to others

Disadvantages: Still too slow, glitchy and crash prone. As well as poor Mac version

Internet Explorer is Microsoft's version of a modern Internet browser. Probably the most used web browser (as it comes pre-installed on windows computers) but I can't help feeling that it comes up short.

Installing Internet Explorer is pretty simple on the majority of popular operating systems, although finding the download link for the Mac version from the Microsoft site took a while. After a generally quick and easy install it's time to hit the web.

The general appearance of Internet Explorer has never been the best, but IE8 definitely has a lot more appeal. Everything is easy to find, with features that are shared between the majority of modern Internet browsers such as tabs, bookmarks, search bar and private browsing. All buttons are a good size and have clear icons, which is probably one of the reasons that so many people get used to the Internet through Internet Explorer.

After appearance however it is pretty much downhill. Customisation is nowhere near as good as Mozilla Firefox and is very limited. Support for the web browser is also quite low and I can safely say that Internet Explorer is probably the buggiest web browser I have ever used.

The software itself is easily exploitable and is a hell whole when going to ad supported sites as pop-up blocking is very ineffective on Internet Explorer. As well as this the browser is very glitchy and constantly crashes when using multiple tabs, using intensive java applications and uploading files to Facebook, YouTube etc.

The thing most people have issues with is speed. Internet Explorer is extremely slow, lags a lot when opening new windows/tabs and the general loading of web pages takes noticeably longer than Firefox, Safari and Chrome. It's no wonder people get annoyed with the browser when you can be sat there for 10 minutes looking at a swirling icon, waiting for a site with numerous pictures to finally load.

However the most annoying thing about Internet Explorer and the think that annoys me the most about Microsoft is there inability to play fair. The Mac version of Internet Explorer is clearly a watered down version of the Windows version with very basic features. They have done exactly the same with programs like MSN Messenger and it's gotten to the stage where they are very bitter about users on different operating systems.

Overall Internet Explorer is probably the worst browser that I've used, slow, prone to crashes and very basic. The only reason why so many people use it is because a) They are using it pre-installed on their computer or b) They haven't tried/can't be bothered to download another browser. I would recommend using another browser as soon as possible.

Summary: A very average web browser, still used by many but not that great in comparison

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