Microsoft fixes IE 8 for new Windows

Microsoft has issued a fix for Internet Explorer 8 contained in the Windows 7 beta.

The company said that the update mainly addresses stability problems which had been occurring within the browser. In addition to IE bugs, the update also addresses issues with some third-party components.

The update is strictly for users running the Windows 7 beta. The company said that many of the same fixes for the Windows XP and Vista versions of the browser had been placed into last month's release candidate update.

Program manager Herman Ng said in a blog posting that the update should address many of the most common stability problems in Windows 7.

"This update will address many of the top crashes and hangs from the Windows 7 Beta, which includes those caused by Internet Explorer as well as 3rd party components like Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat, and several others," wrote Ng.

The update comes as both products near their release. While IE 8 has been described by Microsoft developers as 'effectively done,' the company has also revealed that it will be taking Windows 7 out of beta status.

While the official target time frame for release is the first quarter of 2010, some have speculated that the new version of Windows could be on store shelves in time for Christmas.