IE 7 beta 2
 

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx



http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/default.mspx



http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/softwa...9309020,00.htm



Microsoft releases IE 7 beta to public

By Alorie Gilbert, CNET News.com

Wednesday, February 01 2006 11:29 AM



Microsoft took the wraps off Internet Explorer 7 Tuesday, releasing the new "preview" version of its Web browser to the general public for testing.



The program, still a work in progress, is available for download from the Internet Explorer section of Microsoft's corporate Web site, the company said. The company, which began limited testing in July, had promised to deliver a public beta by the end of March.



"The big update is that it's public," said Margaret Cobb, group product manager for Internet Explorer at Microsoft. "All previous releases were limited."



The latest version works only with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and includes many of the features Microsoft has been touting for months. Among them are new security and privacy protection capabilities such as mechanisms designed to combat phishing attacks, spyware and other threats.



Another new feature lets users clear their browsing history more easily and thus wipe out passwords, form data and cookies in one click, the company said.



The new browser also includes tabbed browsing and a search box on a more streamlined toolbar, concepts that should be familiar to users of Firefox, a rival browser distributed by the Mozilla Foundation.



Microsoft said that the new Printing Enhancements and Shrink to Fit printing features enable users to adjust margins, change the page layout, remove headers or footers, and increase or decrease the print space.



Tabbed browsing lets users open multiple Web pages in a single browser window. Microsoft has tried to best Firefox with something called Quick Tabs. That feature provides an at-a-glance, thumbnail view of all open tabs in a single window.



In addition, the program is supposed to let users more easily subscribe to syndicated feeds from news and sports sites, blogs and stores. The browser detects feeds enabled by Real Simple Syndication, or RSS, technology, illuminating an icon on the toolbar. Users can preview, subscribe and scan syndicated headlines directly through the browser, Microsoft said.



IE 7 also includes a number of new features for Web developers, including support for up-and-coming Web-programming technologies known collectively as AJAX.



Microsoft plans to release a final version of IE 7 later this year, around the time the company debuts the next version of its Windows operating system, Windows Vista.

Wow, they're only about two years behind Firefox!

Well, although I do have Mozilla on my system, I generally don't use it. I much prefer Opera. That being said, the new IE 7 is pretty much a year late as you say, it has tabbed browsing, etc. So far I am runnning it with Opera at the same time, and it has been stable, and is rather pretty. I do have the portable firefox on my keychain (as well as portable open office), and I am a huge fan of Open Source... Ok I forgot what my point was already.... :neutral:

It was with a seething hatred of anything Microsoft and a wide open mind that I installed Firefox and Thunderbird. Some little voice in the back of my mind kept me from deleting IE, though. I'm glad I didn't.

Every time I went to a new site, I'd get a message about some kind of new plugin I needed to download. Of course, that's to be expected if you're starting out fresh. However what I didn't expect was the molasses-slow downloads (like 2kb/sec) and the buggy installs. Well, buggy is misleading -- I never got them to work, period.

Thunderbird looked okay, but it doesn't like google mail for some reason.

I dunno. I guess the point is that while Firefox might blow IE out of the water in any number of metrics, for the stuff I do -- casual browsing -- it's more hassle than it's worth.

Uses a boatload of memory, too. I wouldn't notice if I got more memory, which I need to do anyway. But somehow I think my browser shouldn't be the determining factor of whether or not I need more memory.

I am prepared to accept the fact that the reason FF didn't work for me is because I'm a noob.

I use Firefox and like it. Thunderbird too. I don't plan to change any time soon.

However, I'm very pleased that the competition has forced Microsoft to update its browser. For everyone out there that is too lazy to try a browser other than the default IE, this update will be an improvement to everyone's security.

I've kept IE installed, even if I don't use it. It's good for downloading updates to XP.

The only issue I have with Firefox is that Java stopped working with it a couple of Java versions ago. Anyone else see something like that? Not a huge issue for me, but it would be nice.

I love Firefox, especially the plug-in extension functionality.

The Adblock and BugMeNot extensions make the Internet palatable again :cool: and the BBcode extension, which lets me format bulletin board posts like a word processor. :D I have the local weather forecast and radar in my status bar, too. And I can't live without tabbed browsing and there's another extension which lets you make that even more usable.

I will never trust Internet Explorer; just too many holes for my comfort level.

Huh? I used Firefox 1.5 and the newest release of Java this morning without problems. Have you been upgrading the rest of your setup regularly?

I've upgraded both, but something just isn't working. Java boxes remain empty.

Well, While I concur that there are some really cool plug-ins for firefox, the "security" argument is just false. There are tons of holes in Firefox too....

http://search.us-cert.gov/query.html...irefox&x=0&y=0

Even my favorite, Opera http://www.opera.com/ has security issues.

http://search.us-cert.gov/query.html...=opera&x=0&y=0

A big problem with mozilla's patching is that you have to get a whole new build of the app, not a patch. http://www.mozilla.org/

Of course all three of these browsers are much better than the latest netscape iteration http://www.netscape.com/ a java based monstorsity. I used to love netscape back before the went all java codebase (plus I think AOL bought them)...

Anyway, I am curious, do any of you run open source OS'es?

I have a Fedora Core desktop that I use 15% of the time.

This is why they call 'em "beta versions" --- bugs and a security vulnerability.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6034054.html

I've been running Firefox, and been happy. Some business websites I use insist on IE.

What's the advantage of Opera vs Firefox, maffick?

I just find that Opera renders quicker, is a bit more intuitive with the default settings. It seems to have the same issues as firefox rendering pages that only want to work with IE though. It isn't nealry as popular though, so there are not nearly the plug-ins. I am really liking the IE7 though. I read a bunch of bad reviews about it, but so far it has been very stable for me.

Tried Opera, not crazy about it. I don't like the way they remapped the keyboard commands.

And I can't block ads with it, like I can with Firefox. :cool:

Lots of them. ;)