As selected testers first received invitations from Microsoft yesterday, numerous reports speculated as to the nature of the IE 8 Beta 1 test. Late last night, Microsoft sorted out those reports for BetaNews.

In a response to a BetaNews inquiry, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the Beta 1 testing process for Internet Explorer 8 has begun. To help distinguish it from the public preview process, in which prospective customers are given peeks at how the finished product might work, Microsoft officially calls this a "Techbeta."

But individuals who had either read or were told that the company had launched a beta project for IE 8 on its Connect site, found themselves dismayed to see no such page existed...at least, not for the general public.

In the case of IE 8, regular Connect users are not being asked to submit solicitations for invitations. Rather, the company already knows who it wants to examine the first builds of IE 8 to be distributed outside the Redmond campus walls.