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Welcome to Windows Internet Explorer 8. This is the message displayed initially by the installer for the next iteration of Microsoft’s proprietary browser, as you can very well see from the screen shot accompanying this article. Just an anodyne proof that Internet Explorer Beta 1 is now live. At the end of the past week, Microsoft began sending out invitations to the first beta build for IE8. Participation in the limited technical beta
program for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is possible only through explicit invitations from the IE Team.

The Redmond company has now confirmed the kick-off of the private IE8 Beta 1 testing.Here is the link pre-selected IE8 Beta 1 testers have to follow, but if you have not been invited to participate in the Technical Beta, it won’t do you any good. The best that I can do for you, at this point in time, is to deliver the first taste of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1. Yes, I do agree it isn’t much, but at the same time, it’s better than nothing.

As you can see, the screen shot contains the first dialog box displayed by the IE8 Beta 1 installer running in Windows XP. At this point in time, the sole difference that separates the IE7 and IE8 installation experiences is the “Welcome to the Windows Internet Explorer 8″ message. Otherwise, the users are still advised that “before you begin, we recommend that you save your files and close all programs. Because Internet Explorer 8 will be updating files that might be in use, you must restart your computer once setup is complete. This ensures that all files are properly updated and installation is completed.”

Lets see , where it stands in competition with its rival fox and flock.