Microsoft has revealed that it is gearing up to release a new version of its Internet Explorer system.

A blog posted on the company's website said that IE 8 would be released as a beta in the coming months.

"A beta version of Internet Explorer 8 will be released in the first half of 2008," the developer wrote.

One challenge that is believed to have delayed the release of IE 8 is making sure that websites which were designed for earlier versions of the software will still function.