One was a new option that lets users choose to automatically engage IE8's backward-compatibility mode and render sites on a Microsoft-generated list as does IE7. "At first run, users will be able to opt in to a list of sites," said Hachamovitch. "These are sites that are best used with Compatibility View."
Microsoft uses the telemetry data provided by some IE8 users to identify sites that are being heavily viewed in IE7 mode, reaches out to those sites, and as part of its effort to get developers to shift to IE8's default rendering mode, offers the list as a stopgap. "We tell them 'In the meantime, we can add you to this list,'" said Hachamovitch.
The list is downloaded "with some regularity" he said, from Microsoft's servers to a user's PC via Windows Update or other standard update mechanisms, such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), the most popular business update process.
Hachamovitch also said end users would see marked improvements in IE8 RC's reliability, site compatibility and performance compared to IE8 Beta 2, but declined to claim how much faster the release candidate actually is. "It's definitely faster than IE8 Beta 2," he said. He refused to make any claims about IE8's JavaScript rendering speed, however, and called the claims of competitors such as Mozilla and Google, which have touted their browsers' JavaScript benchmark scores for much of the year, a "drag race" that Microsoft isn't interested in.
"The release candidate is around the corner," Hachamovitch said a second time during the interview. "Developers should get ready for [it, because it] takes some time for sites to make changes and adjust."
Microsoft did not reply to a request for confirmation Tuesday that it has already seeded partners with the IE8 RC build.