So, Microsoft is releasing Internet Explorer 8 later this year, and a Beta is available now.

The question is, are you ready for it?

Internally, the tech savvy folks (myself included) have been tossing around the football of how to tackle it. The leap from 2 to 6 connections per host, on top of the basic rendering challenges that come with any new browser release are enough to make a Web team’s collective hive mind melt.

So, the bright team at Gomez are developing an IE 8 readiness kit.

Sounds like a great idea.

Why do you need to be concerned at a network level?

Let’s see…Well, while 6 simultaneous connections may be faster for clients, what happens to the TCP stacks of the devices that handle all of these connections, especially as more and more people start using IE 8?

Imagine that every Firefox user is using FasterFox, and then IE 8 comes along.

Do you have enough TCP sockets?

How quickly are sockets that are ready to be recycled actually recycled?

Are you really ready?