Internet Explorer 8 has moved from beta to Release Candidate and is publically available for download today. Internet Explorer 8 RC1 is available in 25 languages for Windows Vista, XP, and Server only! Windows 7 users will get an updated IE8 with the next update of Windows 7.

So what’s new? What are the changes between Beta 2 and this Release Candidate? In brief:

• Platform Complete. The technical community should expect the final IE8 release to behave as the Release Candidate does. The IE8 product is effectively complete and done.
• Reliability, Performance, and Compatibility improvements. We’ve studied the telemetry feedback about the browser’s underlying quality and addressed many issues.
• Security. We’ve worked closely with people in the security community to enable consumer-ready clickjacking protection. Sites can now protect themselves and their users from clickjacking attacks “out of the box,” without impacting compatibility or requiring browser add-ons.  We also made some changes to InPrivate based on feedback from customers and partners.
• User Experience. Some changes here based on feedback. An example is that fitting more items on the Favorites bar has been made easier based on data about how people actually use it.

Before you upgrade/install, please read this Upgrade Guide by Jane Maliouta. Feedback is welcomed here! 

Download IE 8 RC1