How To Keep Track of Your Top Sites with Web Slices In Internet Explorer 8

Posted: 14 Jan 2011 08:30 AM PST

The favorites bar in Internet Explorer 8 got better when a new feature called Web Slices was introduced. Web Slices keeps up with frequently updated websites directly in the aforementioned favorites bar. A drop-down window reveals the latest information in the stock markets, weather, and more. It’s actually a pretty neat feature for those of you that continue to stick with Internet Explorer (I know you are out there somewhere).

How Does It Work?

Internet Explorer automatically checks websites for compatibility with the Web Slice feature, providing a green icon (shown below) when a slice is available. A quick click on the icon will add the site to your favorites toolbar at the top of the screen. Selecting the title of the site will take you to the actual web page, but clicking on the arrow to the right of the text will provide the instantly updated dropdown window.

In my experience, simply surfing your favorite sites and hoping that they would be compatible with Web Slices became quite tiring. Instead I located a list of Web Slice compatible sites and was able to see up-front what websites supported this feature. It was then an easy step to click on the image of the site which sends you to the webpage where you can then click the green icon to add the site to your favorites. Check the screenshot of the webpage below.

Once you add a site to your favorites bar (by using the green button while on the selected webpage), you will be able to access a drop down window that provides you with the latest updates on articles or changes in weather or stocks by watching the site for new material, and keeping a constant connection with the site. In the long run, it saves you a lot of time that would have been spent browsing all of the different sites that you follow.

Internet Explorer may not be my favorite web browser, but I was actually impressed by the usefulness of the Web Slice feature and just how much I actually used it. The user interface still seems unfinished (read ugly), but I applaud the developers for actually thinking of an original and interesting innovation for an otherwise obsolete IE.

Try it out and let us know how you feel about it below!