Trying IE8 and Going Back to IE7

I downloaded the new Internet Explorer 8 last 2 weeks ago when it first came out so I could see what all the fuss was about. I had heard mixed review about IE8 and wanted to see for myself how it ran on my work desktop (3.2GHz P4 with 3 GB of RAM, Windows XP SP 3).

Basically, here was my experience with IE8: it was slow and kept crashing. Truth be told, IE7 crashed on a daily basis for me and I was hoping IE8 would resolve this, but it didn't. IE8 was not only slower, but it slowed down my computer in general and crashed more often than
IE7. I don't know what it does to the underpinning of Windows, but I noticed the graphical speed of Windows slowed down noticeably after installing IE8. What I mean by graphical speed is the minimizing, maximizing, and switching of windows, refreshing of the desktop, and
other graphical animations of Windows.

Did I mention IE8 crashes more often then IE7? This is not necessarily an IE8 problem, but more of a compatibility problem. The company I work for uses software for job tracking and time sheet tracking. The UI for the software is done through IE, thus compatibility with IE is an
issue. The software would crash pretty much daily for me in IE7, and not just the software I use for work, but Adobe Acrobat would cause IE7 to crash too. I thought IE8 might resolve these issues, but it tended to crash even more when using the company software. Adobe Acrobat
seemed to work okay, but IE8 would crash sometimes crash with no apparent reason, which would then cause all Microsoft software on my computer to stop responding. Sure, IE8 did a great job running the company software in IE7 emulation mode, but this would not prevent the
crashing.

I got tired of all the crashing, so I downgraded back to IE7 via Microsoft's own website and software. The graphical speed of Windows is back and IE7 crashes as much as before but less than IE8. I can only say that my experience with IE8 left a lot to be desired. I'm sure
someone with a new PC who only surfs the internet will be happy with IE8, but if you run corporate software through IE7 on a computer that's 1-2 years old, I would recommend you stick with IE7.

Comments

dosmastr said…
yeah, i had the same issue under vista with a slightly newer PC than yours.

I am on dialup and usually the excessive number of tabs i had open would choke up ie7 every so often but ie8...ugh... just like you said. it crashes way more.

Popular posts from this blog

It's All About the Sound

Obama and McCain: Where Do They Stand on Catholic Issues?

Fun with Light Fixtures Part 1