Are you using the all new Internet Explorer 8? Of course you aren’t. But, just in case you are, Alex Chitu at the unofficial Google Operating System blog sets out some new search features in IE8 that make it just a little more “spayshul.” Check out the link for screenshots and more detailed explanations. However, if you just want the quick lowdown, check these out:
- prefix a query with a “?” in the search bar to find results from your default search engine;
- see previously visited pages matching your typed text (titles and URLs only);
- use as search engine direclty without typing the query in the IE search box;
- find matches of the query in search results, using “find”;
- automatically apply distinct colors to tabs to facilitate identification;
- employ “search provides” to familiar sites, such as Wikipedia, Yahoo, Live Search and Amazon;
- use “accelerators” to secure added useful information about selected text on a page, such as address mapping, translation and bookmarking from a little menu overlay;
Nice for IE8 – these tweaks get it a bit closer to the competition, which is still enjoying a commanding lead.
Hat tip to Lifehacker.