The startup speed or a new instance of Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 may be slow and take several seconds.

One of the main causes of this slowdown can result from an add-on installed. The duration of loading add-ons is a parameter that was introduced in IE8.

Open IE8, Under Tools, select Manage Add-ons. Then select All Add-ons and check the column loading time.

A complementary module should load normally in a few seconds. If the duration of loading an additional module is too large, it is better to disable this module. IE8 will take charge when necessary to seek the add and re-submit.

If despite disabling add-ons including the charging time was set large, the problem persists, then disable one by one the other modules with the charging time is not appropriate to determine the culprit.

To keep Internet Explorer 8 in optimum operation, it is necessary to regularly empty the browser cache by deleting the browsing history.

Open IE8. In Security, select Delete Browsing History.
According to your habit of surfing the net, select the items to clean.
Check Temporary Internet Files and Cookies must be checked.
Click on Delete.

You can also clear the browser cache using CCleaner.

Today, we are announcing that we are extending the Browser for the Better Campaign with Internet Explorer 8. We will continue to help fight hunger by donating 8 meals for every download of Internet Explorer 8 throughout the month of September. September is Hunger Action Month.

We want to encourage our customers to upgrade to a modern and secure browser – so we are doubling donations for people who switch from Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 8 through this campaign. If you move from Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 8, we will donate 16 meals to help fight hunger!

For more information, see this press release from Feeding America.

I want to provide a couple of updates for my friends in Europe today in regards to Windows 7.

I want to start off with an update to our plans for the Windows 7 Family Pack. As I mentioned last month, starting with the launch of Windows 7 on October 22nd, customers will be able to buy a Family Pack in the US & Canada. This allows users to install Windows 7 Home Premium on up to 3 existing Windows PCs for a reduced price. It’s an easy and cost effective way to get customers entire household on Windows 7.

I can now tell you of several more countries that will have a chance to take advantage of this great deal: the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden. This will also be a limited offer, but is just one more way that our customers can save on Windows 7.

So what changed to make this possible? Basically, the fact that we are now able to have an upgrade version of Windows 7 available at launch.

On July 24th, 2009 – we announced a new proposal to the European Commission address competition concerns regarding the Windows OS and Internet Explorer web browser.

Under this new proposal, customers in Europe who buy a new Windows PC with Internet Explorer set as their default browser would be shown a “ballot screen.” Through this ballot screen, people can easily download and install the browser of their choice from the web.

As the result of our new proposal, as announced on July 31, we will no longer offer E versions of Windows 7 in retail, OEM or other channels. European Economic Community countries will have the same version of Windows 7 as the rest of the world.

As well as allowing for a Family Pack offer, it means that we are now able to have an upgrade version of Windows 7 available in Europe at launch. Windows 7 retail boxes will be available in both Full and Upgrade versions via pre-orders through Microsoft online stores where available and our retail partners starting September 1st and at General Availability on October 22. We will, however, continue to make Windows 7 N versions available that does not include Windows Media Player.

For customers who have already pre-ordered the full version of Windows 7 E in the EU – either as part of special pre-order offers or otherwise – they will receive full versions of Windows 7 that include Internet Explorer 8. These customers, and any other customer who pre-orders Windows 7 before upgrade versions are available on September 1, will still be able to get upgrade pricing for Windows 7 full versions.

Customers can also wait for September 1^st, 2009 when they will have a choice of an upgrade or full version of Windows 7 at separate pricing. So essentially if you’re in Europe, you will have the product and pricing options available on a worldwide basis as of September 1st through the Microsoft Store and our retail partners.

I hope to continue to keep people updated on our ballot screen proposal as we have more to share.

Today, socially engineered malware threats are on the rise and are heavily impacting the way people use the Internet - making it a consumer and industry issue.

A new study released today from NSS Labs shows that Internet Explorer 8 is the #1 browser in malware protection and also the #1 browser in phishing protection. The independent test results showed that Internet Explorer 8 blocks 3 times more malware threats than Firefox 3 and 10 times more malware threats than Google Chrome 2.

Given how Internet Explorer 8 performs against these socially engineered malware and phishing threats and the ongoing threat that cybercriminals pose against Internet users today, this is another good reason for consumers to upgrade to a modern browser and move on from earlier versions like Internet Explorer 6 where security issues were not then what they are today.

For more information on this new NSS Labs study and how Internet Explorer 8 continues to help keep people protected while browsing the web – see this blog post from the Internet Explorer Team on the IEBlog.

There’s been a great deal of more talk lately about browser performance. You may have seen some previous discussion about page load performance as you saw here in a video and whitepaper in March. Page load ensures that you get to where you want to go quickly. But page load time differences actually measure about the length it takes for a person to blink their eye once, making a win for any browser pretty inconsequential as far as time savings go.

However, Internet Explorer 8 today offers a feature that saves you time and clicks and lets you get things done more quickly: Accelerators. Accelerators optimize the browser experience by removing repetitive, time consuming actions and give people easy access to the online services they use most. You can discover new Accelerators for Internet Explorer 8 at the Internet Explorer 8 Add-ons Gallery.

With all the talk about performance, we wanted to see what features like Accelerators really meant for time savings when people use the web, so we created another video looking at common tasks people actually do in four browsers: Safari 4.0, Chrome 2.0 beta, Firefox 3.5 beta 99 and Internet Explorer 8. Please note, all tests were performed using the default installation settings for each browser. No additional add-ons or extensions were added. 

Here is a video that shows off how Accelerators in Internet Explorer 8 make your browsing experience quicker and easier:

Accelerators in IE8 Help Save Time!