Make Internet Explorer 8 your default Browser

Why use IE 8

Anyone who has graduated through the Internet Explorer series will admit that IE8 is far and away the most user-friendly. Microsoft's engineers have pulled out all the stops to make surfing the web a pleasant and painless experience. The gradual and subtle changes are many, particularly around the program's ability to interact with "outside influences" such as Google and Real Player.

One of the features about Internet Explorer 8 that many people find intrusive is that once the program has been installed on a computer it can only be removed if the hard disc is formatted. That means that if you have Internet Explorer 7 on your computer and decide for any reason to uninstall it, IE6 will pop in its place. And so on. You can off course relegate whatever version of Internet Explorer to be your non-default browser; you can do so without any sirens blaring.

How to…

All that is required is to click on the start button on the bottom left hand side of your computer screen. The next stage is to click on the "Set Program Access and Defaults" button on the top of the page. When you do so, a menu will drop down that provides three options.

• Microsoft Windows

• Non Microsoft

• Custom

The non-Microsoft button is the nearest thing that you will find to hostile on any Microsoft product. You will be surprised to discover that there are no Microsoft options, and no conditions. The Custom option does provide a choice between for example Internet Explorer or any other web browser that has been installed. This option provides browsers with the best of both Worlds, and if, for any reason, someone wants to switch between browsers, it can be done very quickly.