Why do these Conditional Comments tell me IE8 is IE7?

Question

Why using this HTML page on Internet Explorer 8:

<p>
<!--[if IE]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer<br /><!    [endif]-->
<!--[if IE 5]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 5<br /> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 5.0]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 5.0<br /> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 5.5]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 5.5<br /> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 6]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 6<br /> <![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 7<br /> <![endif]-->
<!--[if gte IE 5]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 5 and up<br /><![endif]-->
<!--[if lt IE 6]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer lower than 6<br /> <![endif]-->
<!--[if lte IE 5.5]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer lower or equal to 5.5<br /> <![endif]--> 
<!--[if gt IE 6]> According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer greater than 6<br /> <![endif]--> 
</p>

I get this result?

According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer
According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 7
According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 5 and up
According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer greater than 6

Shouldn't I get IE8?

Thanks.

Answer 1

The only comment that appears incorrect it

According to the conditional comment this is Internet Explorer 7

Is the browser in compatibility mode as this would render as IE7

Answer 2

For local documents, IE8 tends to automatically use the IE7 Compatibility Mode. In that case, IE8 acts as if it was IE7 (with a few quirks).

You're either testing this locally, or your browser is currently set in IE7 Compatibility Mode.