I have a sort of an image map, where I\'ve used li\'s to create the elements, and on hovering the information pops up. The html code is:
From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms530766.aspx
Windows Internet Explorer 7 and later, in standards-compliant mode (strict !DOCTYPE), can apply the :hover pseudo-class to any element, not only links. If the pseudo-class is not applied specifically to an element in the selector, such as the A tag, the Universal (*) Selector is assumed. Indiscriminate use of the :hover pseudo-class can negatively impact page performance.
See Defining Document Compatibility
Internet Explorer has some problems with dealing with :hover events, especially for li elements. You need to use this: http://www.xs4all.nl/~peterned/csshover.html
Should work for you then. If all else fails, and in my case, I use jQuery's hoverIntent to show menus reliably.