Microsoft already handed out a second beta for Internet Explorer 8 back in August 2008 and now it seems that a release candidate build is just around the corner. Officially the company has only said that they are "about to release" RC1 while mentioning it in a larger blog post about rendering problems on whitehouse.gov using IE8 on Windows 7 Beta. However, according to sources familiar with the company's plans, the update is coming on Monday.

Given its release candidate status we should expect the software to be feature complete and stable. Windows 7 beta users will have to wait a bit longer, though, as the RC1 build will initially be offered to Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems only. Microsoft originally had hoped to release the final version of IE8 before the end of 2008, but as with other product releases, the software's delivery was pushed back.