Microsoft just released the second beta of IE8, which is described on the download site as "Faster, Easier, More Private, and More Secure."

The new features are Compatibility View, InPrivate Browsing, Accelerators, Web Slices, SmartScreen Filter and Search Suggestions.
The compatibility view enables you to switch between the available render modes (Quircks mode, IE7 mode and IE8 Standards compliance mode).
With the press of a button you can enter InPrivate Browsing mode, in this mode IE doesn't save things like url history, cookies, forms autocomplete information etc.

The standard IE8 beta 2 download replaces IE7 on your pc so i installed a version from The Internet Explorer Collection. This download contains standalone installations for all IE versions, including the new IE8 Beta2.
I've already experienced the first crash, but thats might be a good thing since automatic crash recovery is one of the other improved area's of IE8

Update: after installing the béta the popup-blocker is screwed in both IE7 & IE8. De-installing the béta from the Internet Explorer Collection and installing the "normal" IE8 beta fixed this. The disadvantage is that i've now lost IE7, but so far IE8 seems to be working ok.

Microsoft Live Labs released a first version of PhotoSynth last week, a new tool that uses multiple photos to create a 3D model. After signing in on the PhotoSynth website with a live account, choosing a username and downloading an ActiveX control you're ready to go. Off cource i didn't watch the introductionary video and just started taking pictures of the Logica office in Rotterdam. The PhotoSynth tool is extremely easy: all you have to do is select some pictures on your disk, these pictures can come from any source and don't have to be made using the same camera, resolution or even on the same day. There are no configuration options, just give a name and description for your project, select a licence type, and PhotoSynth starts figuring out which foto's belong together and how everything is related. After completion you (and the whole world) can watch the result on the PhotoSynth site.

Like I said i just started to make picture of my office which didn't give the best results possible. To create a good PhotoSynth you'll need to take quite a lot of pictures from different angles and make sure they overlap, watch the video for some tips. I'm currently uploading a second attempt from outside the building. For this synth a college joined and we made 144 pictures. Unfortunatly the tool still says "Publishing Synth" after almost an hour, so i might have to start it again. If it's finished the results wil be visible on my PhotoSynth Profile Page