Channel 9 recently interviewed the developers of IE, although the current situation of IE8 is still somewhat unclear, the specific development direction has gradually become clear.
1. First is the support for vector graphics technology. With Adobe eventually abandoning the SVG plugin, developers are unsure what to use as a replacement. However, IE8 will natively support SVG and provide web developers with more convenient options.
2. The development of AJAX and component models has always been a top priority in the IE8 development plan. It will first offer support for the CSS 2.1 layout standards.
3. IE's extension capabilities will be easier to use, requiring less effort from developers to successfully create an extension. Moreover, Microsoft is attempting to provide a client-side application programming interface (API) to support local storage and mash-up.
The specific development cycle should be around two years after the development of IE7.0 (which would mean that IE8 could be released next year), and there is currently no mention of any delays.