The dates aren't changed, because that's the same file, just uploaded correctly this time. The md5 sums will tell you if your download is corrupted, I've tested the files to work ok on my board.
Posted above I checked the MD5 sums and verified them with yours. I'm assume its some sort of issue on my end, as others have had this image work for them. Just not sure what to do as I have verified my steps. At least the older image is working fine for me and the issues I had are gone.
Make sure to read the README file in the directory with the full image - you'll notice that you need to upgrade the firmware to 0.9.0 first to be able to run the 0.9.0 SD card image. I had problems booting the 0.9.0 SD card image having 0.8.0 firmware installed (probably that has to do with the board initialization changes reflected in the 0.9.0 release notes).
I've already successfully flashed the firmware (version 0.9.0).
As far as IDE is concerned - the only officially supported with IDE image/firmware version is 0.7.5, so think twice if that's that important for you. I've used IDE for my tests (no full-blown projects though) just fine both with 0.8.0 and 0.9.0 images.
I appreciate all the work you've been doing for the community. the reason for wanting to switch to the later firmware and image is really only driven by the fact the the only supported version had known issues which where hindering my progress.