Microsoft Cagey on Details as It Sets IE 8 Time Frame

The next iteration of Microsoft’s Web browser, Internet Explorer 8, will roll out in beta form early next year, the company announced Wednesday. The long-awaited news comes just days after the earlier-than-expected launch of the second beta version of Mozilla’s Firefox 3 Web browser. The eighth version of the browser won’t be hamstrung with the difficulties IE 7 had following its release in October 2006, Microsoft said, due to improvements Microsoft made to IE 7’s Cascading Style Sheets.