They say that first impressions are often the most important, and that a product that doesn’t grab you right away may be doomed to failure.

Now after a decently-long gestation period, the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 8, is now available for download. Forgetting preliminary reports about its performance potential — or lack thereof — I decided to give it a fair shake, download a copy and try it out.

Well, typical of Microsoft’s products, this was not so easy a process. Let me explain, and don’t miss the contrast where an installation scenario is handled properly.

You see, when I first launched my Vista installation, which comes courtesy of a Parallels Desktop virtual machine, I got a familiar notice, but not from Microsoft. Instead, if was the Windows version of Apple’s Software Update, informing me about the recent updates to iTunes and QuickTime.

Story continued in this week’s Tech Night Owl Newsletter.

This article was posted on Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 at 5:54 PM and is filed under News and tagged with: Apple, Apple Software, desktop, Failure, Fair Shake, First Impressions, Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft, Microsoft Products, Newsletter Issue, Night Owl, Owl, Parallels, Recent Updates, Virtual Machine, Vista, Windows Version.