IE8 beta 2: shit that’s good!
Downloaded it
Installed it
Love it!
Unlike beta 1, I am gladly surprised by this version!
IE8 really improve the way you browse the web.
The IE team seems to have listened to users more than usual, did a strong research on how people browse the web, and as a result worked a lot on user experience.
First we have a wonderful new tab experience. I am a really heavy tab user, usually after 5 minutes of surfing I have more than 25 tabs opened and my browser start to freeze (I have IE taking 400 MB of memory more than often).
- Related tabs are grouped by color, that means all the tabs opened from links on one tab are identified with the same color.
- Tabs are more isolated from each other so crashes won’t stop your browsing session anymore.
- You can reopen closed tabs, or even your entire last browsing session!
New tab menu: 
Related tabs grouped by color: 
IE8 also brings nice features I was waiting for (often copied from Firefox):
- Find as you type! at least!!!!! I use it every time so I had to install an addin before.
- The Search bar also search in your favorites (and history and feeds).
- Developers tools: this is a slightly different version of the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar which is now built-in.
I won’t detail but you will also find other features to make your daily browsing more efficient, like Web Slices and Accelerators (new name for Activities).
Conclusions:
After MIX conference my advice to people was to install the beta 1 in a VPC only because it was developers oriented only and not very user friendly. After a few hours I can tell that IE8 beta 2 is safe ton install on your machine. For those who wonder, beta 2 is much more responsive than beta 1, which is not difficult..
Can’t wait for the final version!