Since Microsoft introduced Windows 8, one of the most interesting things that immediately stood out has been the new graphical interface of Internet Explorer. In fact, in Windows 8 Internet Explorer 11 can be started in two different ways, one classic from the desktop and another optimized for touch screens, as an application bootable from the Start screen, full screen with all the space left for web content.
The navigation buttons and the address bar are relegated to the bottom, a dead zone for the eyes of those who read and surf the internet.
It is a new and fascinating approach that makes Internet Explorer 11 a very fast and pleasant browser to use.
It is therefore worth discovering all the options and what you can do with Internet Explorer 11, both in the application version for Windows 8, and in the desktop version available not only on Windows 8, but also in Windows 7 (if you haven't yet done, download Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 )
READ ALSO: How Internet Explorer 11 improves in Windows 8
In Windows 8 Internet Explorer 11 can be launched from the desktop icon or by pressing, with your finger or mouse, on the tile of the initial Start screen.
It may happen that on Windows 8 there is no tile to start IE11 .
This problem can occur if Internet Explorer has not been set as the default browser for surfing the Internet (see how to set it as the default browser for the Internet).
In the beginning, Internet Explorer 11 had Bing as the default search engine to search the internet from the address bar.
Bing is a search engine that works well only in the USA and in English while Google has no rivals for Italy.
To make Google the default search engine there are two ways.
In Windows 8, just install the Google Search application from the Microsoft Store.
Otherwise, you can open IE11 from the desktop, click on the wheel at the top right, go to the internet options and change the home page.
Then open the add-ons section always from the wheel menu and select the search provider in the Add-ons box.
You will find that the list contains only Bing so you have to press on the link below, " find other search providers " and add Google or even another search engine such as iXQuick to search the internet protecting your privacy.
After adding the preferred search engine, select it from the Internet Explorer add-ons window and click on the button at the bottom right " Set as default ".
What then, to do first, will be the Google site itself, when visited, to invite the user to set Google as the default search engine.
Also, alternatively, you can always install the Google Toolbar on Internet Explorer.
A very nice thing about Internet Explorer 11 is the ability to add websites as tiles on the Windows 8 Start menu or as buttons on the taskbar on the Windows 7 or 8 desktop .
If you use IE11 as a Windows 8 application, you can add sites to both favorites and Start menu tiles.
For each site that is browsing, click with the right mouse button on the page and press the " Add site " button at the bottom drawn as a pin.
The site can be added to favorites or to the Start menu.
For example, try adding Navigaweb.net to the Start menu to see the site icon on a new tile.
To reopen a website from your favorites, right-click anywhere and then, from the top section, press + to open a new tab and scroll with the mouse wheel to the added and frequently visited sites.
Favorite websites can also be viewed by clicking on the address bar.
Favorites and browser history are shared between the two versions of IE11 in Windows 8, so if you open Internet Explorer from the desktop, you will see the sites added to the favorites in the classic list, by clicking on the star icon in the upper corner right of the window or by pressing the key combination Alt + C.
Internet Explorer 11, both in the normal desktop version and in the application version "Metro" supports add-ons .
However, add-ons must always be installed and managed from the desktop version.
Click on the Settings button at the top right and open the Manage add-ons menu to browse the installed add-ons and access the gallery to find new ones.
In another article, Top 15 extensions for Internet Explorer.
In Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 8, many sites ask to locate the location of the computer .
Microsoft has added control options for the localization of Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 11.
On the Start screen, start Internet Explorer and press the Win + C keys (or tap the right edge of the screen) to open the menu bar.
click on Settings> Internet Options and in the permissions you can find a switch to enable or disable location detection.
You can also cancel all authorizations previously given to the sites visited.
In the same options screen, the one for continuous scrolling that allows you to read the sites with articles divided into several pages, all together without having to press the Next button, is interesting.
For several sites, you can see a whole full page by swiping the left mouse button (or your finger) from the bottom to the top.
Internet Explorer 11, as well as IE9, always remains the safest browser to use if configured correctly (see how to use the security and privacy options on Internet Explorer)
In IE11 for Windows 8 then, thanks to the smartscreen filter, it is impossible to download dangerous files and viruses without wanting to, because every download is prevented in advance, even in an annoying way for the more experienced (I personally disabled the smartscreen filter from the system options: Control Panel \ Operations Center / Security).
Internet Explorer 11 used as an application is certainly the fastest browser, which becomes very useful when you want to open websites by clicking on their tiles added to the Start menu for visits on the fly.
Really comfortable, for example, in Windows 8 put an open web page in IE11 on the side of the screen and, in the meantime, navigate with Chrome or Firefox from the desktop.
In another article, 10 Internet Explorer functions to make it better than other browsers
