IE 8.0 was officially released and some of the standout features are – Web slices (quickly call up selected content from a web page such as updates from a page), Accelerators (cut and paste text from one application to another easily), InPrivate browsing/filtering (history not stored) and most of all the improved Developer Tools.
On the server side, IIS 7.0 is a vast improvement on IIS 6.0 with a better extensibility model that allows custom plug-ins for features that are not built-in. It is now possible to manage remote web servers and also manage the associate databases all in a single administration console. Application URL routing is available. There is a tighter integration between IIS and VS 2010. Windows Powershell (an IIS snap-in) provides the command line interface to IIS – scripts can be written to automate configuration tasks. IIS Media Services, another free download on top of IIS allows for easy streaming of video (working in conjunction with Silverlight 3.0).
The site www.microsoft.com/web is the best place to find both information and downloads for web products and tools, everything at one site rather then the previous multiple sites (Codeplex, MSDN or other product center sites). The Windows Web App Gallery (a tab on the site) houses all the applications and the Microsoft Web Platform installer (a free download) helps with the installation and keeping your system current.
