IE8 to feature "private browsing"

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 21 Aug 2008 at 12:39

Microsoft is reportedly building a "private browsing" into Internet Explorer 8, allowing users to browse sites without leaving any fingerprints on their machines.

Private browsing, or Porn Mode as it's more commonly known, automatically deletes a users browsing history and cache as they surf, meaning friends and family don't stumble on something incriminating.

The internet explorer team has filed for two patents related to the technology called Cleartracks and Inprivate: the first of which will delete search history after a user leaves a website, while the latter will disable the browser's history and file caching.

Mozilla considered the feature for Firefox 3 but ended up pulling it, while Safari has had the feature built in since 2005.

Microsoft has so far played its cards close to its chest on IE8's features, but private browsing will undoubtedly appeal to a broad section of users, and not necessarily for the reasons you'd immediately suspect.

"While viewing pornography may be a popular use case due to the nature of content on the web, assuming that this is the only reason that users need private browsing trivialises the overall feature," Mozilla noted, when first considering the feature for Firefox.

"For instance, users may wish to begin a private browsing session to research a medical condition, or plan a surprise vacation or birthday party for a loved one."

Microsoft would only say that it is considering a number of privacy features for the browser and would give more details out closer to release, which is expected some time towards the end of the year.

Read our review of IE8 Beta 1 here.