Microsoft has reduced a major bottleneck for web developers in its latest Internet Explorer browser by making it compliant with web standards, which could dramatically reduce the time users take to test browser compatibility.

Many people probably will not ever use the compatibility button that Microsoft has built into IE8, which means some sites will not work and the user will get a message saying the site needs Internet Explorer.

IE8 also offers productivity improvements and security measures designed to protect the privacy of end-users by disabling cookies that keep track of which websites they have visited.