Well, using IE 8 for 4 days. Its interface now looks much more streamlined (atleast on my vista basic themed lappy, no aero). For the first time in my life i have started using favourites bar, i never found it useful enough, and more than that in almost all browsers, it looks ugly to me.IE7s fav bar also does't looks as good. But the new fav bar integrating smoothly with tab bar looks asthetically pleasing to me. Again, personal choice, it is. Tabs are thin now which is good,also there is more space for tabs since favourites buttons have been moved to links bar. Rendering engine needs quiet a lot of work, but that is acceptible in beta and emulated mode works without problems.
web slices and activities both are welcome features. So all in all a nice release, for now i'll continue to use combination of browsers as i've been doing it b4.
@switch: Yes you are right. The new addon management window is neatly designed now, and its easier to work with. IE7's looked pathetic.