Windows XP

Windows: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Released

Some New Features:

Faster: Especially with scripts

Web Slices: Alerts you when changes occur to sites

Improved Search Box: There are now images in your Search Box and it Auto-Fills

Accelerators: Similar to Data Detectors for OS X folks

Tabbed Grouping: Group your tabs

Compatibility View: Downgrade to 7 for certain sites

Address Bar: Auto-fills based on History, RSS Feeds and Favorites

inPrivate Browsing: Activities, History and Cookies are not used when enabled

Reopen to last session: Similar to the same feature in Firefox

Suggested Sites: Search for sites similar to those in your browsing history

Overall I found IE 8 to be, well, not much like a Beta.  I only had one crash during my first round of testing.  It seems much closer to RC than a Beta.  The new features are nice, but most are similar to features already present either natively or using plug-ins with other browsers.  It’s got a new glassier look and feel and it’s definitely faster.  But I’ll have to augment my own workflow before I can really harness many of these new features.