Facing a fresh attack from European regulators and with Google breathing down its neck, Microsoft could really do with something special from the next version of its Web browser. That would be one way to silence the critics who claim its dominance of the market has killed off innovation.

As it happens, there are plenty of good ideas in IE8 (a near-complete version of which was released today.) As often with Microsoft, though, some of these represent refinements of breakthroughs that were made by rivals rather than genuinely new ideas. The main new features in IE8 include: Read more