It took Microsoft five years after Internet Explorer 6 to release Internet Explorer 7 but you won't have to wait that long for the next version of its, currently prevailing, Internet browser.
Microsoft announced that the first ...beta version of Internet Explorer 8 would be delivered during the first half of 2008.
We're posting this information now because we have real working code checked in and we're confident about delivering it in the final product, said Dean Hachamovitch, the general manager for the Internet Explorer team. We're listening to the feedback about IE, and at the same time, we are committed to responsible disclosure and setting expectations properly.
According to Microsoft, Internet Explorer 8 will focus on multi-platform support and compatibility. It is not a secret that Internet Explorer doesn't follow most web standards. Internet Explorer 7 has been an improvement over its predecessors, but it remains the least standards-compliant of any major browser.
Microsoft also declared that the current build of IE 8 passes Acid 2 Browser Test. Acid 2 is a respectable but not official test for internet browsers' CSS standards compatibility.