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One new feature called Activities allows users to combine web services within one tab. For example, a Windows Live Maps "Activity" can be used to superimpose a map over a postal address within a website.

Other updates include a crash recovery feature that saves a session, allowing any open tabs to be restored after a browser or system crash, and an improved phishing filter.

However, Internet Explorer 8 will focus more on improved compliance

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with web standards than providing a raft of new features, and many improvements to the interface that are on the way are missing from this first developer-orientated beta.

"A lot of the end user or consumer features are not featured on this build because it really is targeted at the developers and the designers," says Matthew Lepsen of the Internet Explorer development team.

Microsoft claims that Internet Explorer 8 will be its most standards-compliant browser to date, as part of its recent interoperability pledge.

"IE8 has been significantly enhanced, and was designed with great support for current internet standards," claims Ray Ozzie, Microsoft chief software architect.

"This is evidenced by the fact that even in its first beta, IE8 correctly renders the popular test known as 'Acid2', which was created by the web community to promote real-world interoperability."