IE8 Logs You Into Multiple Webmail Accounts

The problem with CookieSwap is that when you switch to a different cookie file, even if you are in a different tab, it applies the cookies from that file to all tabs in the window.

This is a problem when you are logged into a site like Yahoo! Mail, which updates automatically every few seconds, so if you're logged into two different Yahoo! Mail accounts, the first tab will automatically log into the account from the second tab once you switch cookies! Annoying.

mjschmidt

Nice feature... too bad is IE who has it.

Joel Cloralt

This isn't new at all. You can do this with IE6! Just click the blue 'e' a second time (as opposed to File->New or Ctrl+N) and you'll get a second session. You can verify this by opening up task manager and finding two iexplore.exe processes.

This is useful as a developer of a web app. The separate processes would allow me to log on as different users in different tabs.

I haven't checked, but do other browsers feature this? If so, which ones?

djlurch

@omegakumar:

The major annoyance so far for IE8 has been the inability to remove the favorites button from the browser interface.

djlurch

@TressaCyclopes: Quick, think about wanting an article on how to predict lottery numbers.

This would be useful for me...and Cookieswap never quite worked properly, as it would constantly log me out of my main IGoogle page.

The setup I have is this:
I have my personal Gmail account. I also set up an account that is for work, that my whole department uses - not for email so much, but for Google Docs and Google Calendar.

What I'd love to be able to do is access my work account while at the same time keeping my personal IGoogle logged in and able to access my personal Gmail as well, without having to constantly log in and out.

If anything, it's just a minor inconvenience, but an inconvenience nonetheless.

The -nomerge tip is incredibly useful for me! Our company's ERP software requires Internet Explorer, and when I upgraded to IE8, I wasn't able to have more than one session running at a time. I updated my shortcut and, voila, it works!

ossavir

for firefox, use Google Account Multi-Login script for Greasemonkey. it replaces the "log out" link in google pages with a drop-down box that lets you swap accounts instantly.

it's even compatible with the Gmail Manager add-on. with these two installed, you'll be unstoppable! you can be checking email in one account while reading feeds from a second and checking the calendar in a third :)

garbanzo-bean

Until the Gmail "multiple inboxes" thing came around, this would have been useful. Now, I have no need for it.

jkrell

It seems to want to do so by opening another window. Meh.

They (and by 'they' I mean all browsers) should base it off of parent tabs and child tabs. If I have open my personal Gmail and work Gmail in two tabs and middle-click the personal's 'Calendar', it's child tab should stay with that account. Separate browser windows are a step towards the goal but not there yet.

Xander

@omegakumar: while i know look and feel is really a subjective thing - im not going to argue over that stuff - id like to point out that you can really customize ie7/8 to make it look very 'uncluttered'.

[img259.imageshack.us]

i really dont see how that looks any more cluttered than chrome - and esp firefox

natenovs

That actually is pretty cool and useful, am I right in thinking this is a first? Well done for innovation Microsoft! Credit has to go Chrome for opening up the market though.

Jon Nettleton

@ku1185: You can open an incognito window in Google Chrome and log into a second account for any site (Gmail/Facebook/Etc). I use it all the time when my fiancée is logged in on the home PC and I want to quickly check something without logging her out.

I think my biggest issue with IE8 at this point would be the aesthetics. It just looks far more cluttered than say, Chrome. But then again, even if I feel like a browser power user, I don't use ANY extensions for any browser (including adblock) so perhaps I'm deluding myself into thinking the Chrome feature set is sufficient for everyone.

omegakumar

You know, I've been waiting for Chrome and Firefox to work on their respective weaknesses before I fully devote myself to one browser, but perhaps it's time I give IE8 a look.

ku1185

Wow! Lately Lifehacker has been in tune with my needs. When I needed to know how long to boil an egg, they gave me a timer to boil the egg later that day. When I needed to know about storing coffee beans, a coffee bean article popped up. Now when I needed to figure out how to manage multiple gmail accounts, a perfect solution came up!

TressaCyclopes

Hey, Is it possible to develop a code as a team?? I came across [bit.ly] where Microsoft says that its possible to work on visual studio as a team. I am yet to download the free trial. Kindly have a look [bit.ly] and suggest.

Shez Khan

@Joel Cloralt:

Chances are one of the hundreds of developers that script for Firefox will release an extension for Firefox users, and I hear Google is working on an extension system for Chrome as well. That's the beauty of open-source- thousands of people can write for it and keep it up to standards, versus a proprietary browser like IE where features are limited not to what the user wants but what the parent company wants.

Jurandr

@mjschmidt: Yep, that's the exact problem I would encounter. Cookieswap was a neat idea, but not at all practical for what I needed.

The author of the post is cool, he wrote a program I use a lot called fiddler, [fiddler2.com]
Its a debugger to HTTP traffic

Tyrax

@TressaCyclopes: I wouldn't call it perfect, you still have to use ie8 then.

On the other hand, it sounds like it might actually introduce some new features to the browser market and be a competitor to the others. A new age for IE?

@ku1185: As for GMail, you can just throw the multiple inboxes lab feature on and forward your second, third, of fifth email into the same box. Much easier.

grawss

MS is really putting up their dukes. After the financial egg they laid with Vista (although I do still use it) Windows 7 and IE 8 look pretty good and IE 8 is starting (or already did) have a lot of features other browsers do not have.

Angry Numismatist

Well that's just damn neat.

rabiddachshund

Good feature of IE8. It really useful for me.
Generally I have to log on different account at a time.
It made my work very easy.

smith134

@Jurandr: dude - IE has had add-ons since before Firefox existed.

natenovs

IE8 takes for-ev-er to load on my perfectly capable PC. I could load Chrome, Opera and Firefox, sequentially in the time it takes IE8 to get up and running. Maybe I had a bum install, but so far Microsoft's not exactly winning me over with IE8.

In GMAIL I can include multiple attachments in one go using IE8, which I found super useful if I have to send lots of files. This is not possible with the Firefox (you have to attach files one at a time). I wonder if this is related to the IE8's ability you are describing here.

umut

For those of you who don't want to make the leap to IE8, you can use "Incognito Mode" in chrome to get something similar to this feature. All incognito mode windows/tabs share information, though, so at most this will let you log in with 2 identities simultaneously (one in a normal tab, one in an incognito tab)

@Claytons: This is weird, IE8 runs faster than my other browsers although I am a ff die hard fan

This is really amazing and helpful, thanks

Use the firefox extension dragdropupload. Select multiple files in Windows Explorer, then drag and drop. Works like a charm.

SuvarnaprabhaButes

The Stainless browser for Mac had this multi-login feature some time ago. I thought it was amazing when I first saw it, and was surprised that none of the "big boys" had picked up the feature. This seems like another case of Redmond firing up the copiers, but I guess all the browsers copy each other to some extent.

John Selden

@tartooob: Must be something specific to my PC.