From MIX '09: Internet Explorer 8, at last

For too long, Web site developers have found themselves having to "code to IE6" -- a process meaning, making sure their sites' appearances don't look altogether funky in Internet Explorer 6.0, still one of the world's most used Web browsers. Even Microsoft would like to kick the legacy of IE6 out the back door along with MS-DOS 5.0 and Bob, and now IE8's product manager will make the case to developers about how they can help way too many Web users help Microsoft do just that.

10:07am PT: Unfortunately, this last part (the first part, for those reading the live commentary in reverse order) isn't about IE8 at all, but about industrial design. Not a bad story, although the last half hour of the story was pretty much spent in self-congratulation, along with showing two Target ads, several print ads, and a clip from NBC Nightly News.

9:49am PT: Goal in redesigning the label was to give the consumer more confidence in taking medication. Accomplished by zoning the label by putting primary information, secondary information in specific segments.

9:46am PT: Longer, more detailed instructions that get stapled to the bag, actually end up getting thrown away. Difficult-to-read text that's discouraging on the eye. People's eyes get tired after reading 9 to 10 words per line. [Yes, yes, note taken.]

9:44am PT: With the pharmaceutical project, didn't research drugs, but worked instead with her grandmother. "I really understood my customer and was able to empathize with her needs."

Grandmother once took her husband's medication by mistake, probably because the packaging was identical, and because "Helen" and "Herman" may have been hard to read without glasses.

"As a designer, I saw an urgent problem that was just begging to be solved."

Another senior she encountered in her research died after chewing her medication, when her tablets were too large, having been unable to read the warning on the bottle.

Why are these accidents happening? Information is inconsistent and difficult to read. Consumers have to turn the bottle in a full circle to read the information.

9:39am PT: Deborah Adler on Changing Behavior by Design. (Principal, Deborah Adler LLC.)

"I'm not too savvy when it comes to Web design or development. But then I learned that you call yourselves 'UX professionals.' And that's okay, because I know a lot about user design."

9:38am PT: One blog rumor shot to heck: Microsoft will listen to user feedback on IE8 to build "the next version of IE," says Hachamovich as he concludes. Thus there will be an IE9.

Buxton introduces the next speaker, saying she's not a developer but a designer. Almost apologizes for that fact. Revolutionized the packaging and labeling of pharmaceuticals.

9:34am PT: "We want to make it easier to make it part of how people use the Web all the time."

"Think about what services your site offers that they want access to when they're on other Web sites -- that's a great Accelerator. This is all opportunities for your site to be how people use the Web all the time."

Accelerator demo: One-click access to most e-mailed articles on the NY Times, ESPN headlines, e-mail, traffic.

OneRiot can show video searches within the accelerator, real-time search results.

"From a developer point of view, this is easy." Just add a few tabs. Helps users keep what they like about developers' sites handy, one click away.

18 out of top 20 commands in IE involve navigation and tabs. What do everyday people think they involved? College students would say, "Delete Browsing History." Believe it or not, copy and paste. Accelerator button enables one-click blogging of an excerpt ["fair use"], share on Facebook, find a map of an address, look up a title of music.

Services are easy for developers to offer, just a little markup.

9:28am PT: Phishing site demo: "Perfect Defender 2008" appears to be an anti-malware site. Looks great, talks about the many faces of spyware. IE7, IE8 both active simultaneously. IE8 brings up a red page instead of downloading.

IE8 offers better protection against malware than other browsers.

"As we've made IE8 harder to attack directly, the bad guys have taken different approaches." Cross-site scripting attacks, click-jacking. IE8 is the only browser that has many features for cross-site scripting, click-jacking attacks.

"Designed from real-world data to be faster, easier, and safer." [Noticed that the performance tests only showed load time, not execution time.]

Developers have greater opportunities. Comprehensive test suite for developers. "We want to move standards compliance and interoperability from opinions and anecdotes to [actual actions]."

Test suite shows IE8 against latest Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox 3.0.5. All three browsers pass. CSS margin test fails on Firefox, not on Chrome or IE8. The 1-2-3 test fails on Chrome, passes on Firefox, IE8. "Real-world interoperability problems just waiting to happen to you."

Contoso test site doesn't pass Firefox in one case, and not in Chrome in another. "Standards are incredibly complex. Every major browser is trying to be a great browser for Web standards." But not all developers pay attention to the rules, thus the problems seen in Chrome and Firefox. "At the same time, we are committed to standards." IE8 passes most CSS tests, Dean says.

9:22am PT: Users don't care about the cause of a crash, they just don't want to be interrupted. Can restore the session post-crash in IE7, but not necessarily the work that was done or the point at the video. Demo shows the same crash in IE8, but now crashes are contained to the process, not the rest of the browser. [Chrome had an impact, didn't it?]

Performance: Data-driven approach to performance. Real-world tests show performance is often a "push." IE8 is faster at loading than other browsers, according to video. Scripting shows that IE8 isn't faster than Firefox 3.0.5 but much faster than Chrome (in this video).

IE7 blocks a million phishing attempts per month. Since IE8 Beta 2, one in 40 users every week were protected from downloading malware.

9:19am PT: Quick Pick in the search box: 70% of users had more than one search provider installed, so multiple provider icons in the bottom of the Search box.

People are often trying to go back to things. Can restore entire previous browsing sessions. [An everyday feature, no doubt.] IE8 automatically groups, colors the tabs. Easy to keep track of which tab goes with which task with color grouping.

9:17am PT: 80% of navigations are "back." So address bar shows matches out of user history, but so does the search bar. "Because people don't always go to the search box to do a search, but to get to where they want to go," which is most often where they already were. Implication: People use the Search box to find the Back button.

9:16am PT: Building a browser for people who just browse, faster and easier for them to use every day, all the time, and that protects them from the real attacks that happen every day. Again with the "every day." [I get the feeling that they're taking a page from the Chevrolet playbook.] "People just want to browse...We're looking at real-world data." [By Chevrolet, I mean when GM started pushing Chevrolet to the "every day" market, they were able to gloss over the fact that Chevys weren't all designed to be marvelous. Corvette notwithstanding.]

IE8 is now available. "We used real-world data to make people's real-world browsing with IE8 easier, faster, and safer." Read into that, we live in the real world, those other fellows with the little fox thingie are in a niche.

9:14am PT: Dean Hachamovich, at long last with his name pronounced properly by somebody: "MIX is an important event because of the people who come here: developers, the people who build the Web."

"Listening to feedback is an important theme." Wants to focus on three rather than 8. The browser is important for people who build the Web, for people who use the Web, and for people who attack those who use the Web.

9:12am PT: "It's just going to get awesomer from here," reads one title card.

That's over with.

9:10am PT: "There are pieces of content that either touch people emotionally or amuse them or they find outrageous in some way or that resonate with strongly held political or ideological or strongly held views...that they just have to share with the people with whom they feel most connected," cites the only non-comedian on the video.

9:08am PT: The festivities begin again with Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton: "Today's the day we launch Internet Explorer 8." [applause] He was going to tell a story or two, but then decided not to go on.

Introductory video featuring various comedians recounting the history of the Internet.