Though a second beta version of IE8 isn't due out until at least August, Microsoft has released some further details about features in the browser.

The company's aim is to "provide the most secure and most reliable browser that respects user choice and keeps users in control of their machine and their information," according to Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer.

Improvements to security and privacy features introduced in the current version of the browser, IE7, such as the Protected Mode, will be one of the areas of focus for Microsoft.

Protected Mode is a feature that only exists in the Windows Vista version of IE7 and takes a safety-first approach to allowing applications on your PC to access the web.

Another aim of the developers is to give surfers more control of the information that they reveal to websites they visit.

In an attempt to appease critics that accuse Microsoft of pushing its own products to surfers rather than providing them with a choice, IE8 will also respect the individual's choice of search engine.

Microsoft has already said that it will offer better support for web standards, something that it has also been criticised for, in IE8.

Rival Mozilla, which recently released Firefox 3, has expressed its desire to see better standards support and compatibility in IE8, saying that previous versions of the browser had been seriously lacking in this respect.

European President of Mozilla, Tristan Nitot, told Web User in a live web chat: "I hope that IE6 will quickly disappear, because it's so limited in terms of standards support. Repeat after me: die IE6, die! I hope that Microsoft's IE8 will bear fruits and help in this regard, also with the help of the other modern browsers."

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