NEW DELHI: Microsoft is adding a private browsing mode in the next version of its web browser Internet Explorer 8.

Popularly called porn browsing mode (as one of the most obvious advantage of the feature is that users browse porn sites without leaving a trace), it will form a part of its IE 8's beta 2 scheduled for release this month.

Porn mode will allow users to erase their online history, cache and personal information entered or shared by users. Also, it will alert users in case they are being tracked.

The feature seems to be a part of Microsoft’s new emphasis on user privacy, a sour point with many IE users. In fact, in a recent blog post, Microsoft said that privacy is one of the major components of the "trustworthy browsing" element of Internet Explorer 8. Incidentally, IE8 will not be the first browser to offer private browsing, Apple’s Safari browser has this feature since 2005. Also, Mozilla too planned to include this feature in its latest browser Firefox 3, but didn't include it due to some “complex designing” issues.

However, Firefox 3 has an option that allows users to delete history and cookies immediately at the end of a session or during every session start up.

Microsoft has released first beta of IE8 in March. Though company officials have declined to say when the final version of IE8 will come, reports indicate that it will be out by the end 2008