Yesterday on Wednesday 18th at around 5pm PST Dean Hachamovitch, the General Manager for the IE development team, announced the immediate availability of Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP and Server 2003. Vista versions need not apply, as IE7 comes bundled with the operating system.
For posterity he noted his initial announcement back in 2005, after Bill Gates delivered a keynote speech in which he announced IE7, at that time there was speculation and drama developing as to the future of IE at all on XP which seemed uncertain at the time.
Clearly Microsoft needed to respond to its customers and come up with a better way to browse the internet and in my opinion it did. Will it be enough to sway users that strayed over to Firefox? Only time will tell and I'm keeping my options open, I regularly use both browsers and ultimately one will prevail. Its too early to say.
So whats new in Windows Internet Explorer 7 aside from the name?
I'll let Dean answer that: "The Phishing Filter and the architectural work in IE7 around networking and ActiveX opt-in will help keep users more secure. IE7 also delivers a much easier browsing experience with features like tabbed browsing (especially with QuickTabs), shrink-to-fit printing, an easily customizable search box, and a new design that leaves more screen real estate for the web site you’re viewing. IE7’s CSS improvements are incredibly important for developers as many of you have made quite clear. I also think IE7’s RSS experience and platform are important, powerful, and innovative."
For posterity he noted his initial announcement back in 2005, after Bill Gates delivered a keynote speech in which he announced IE7, at that time there was speculation and drama developing as to the future of IE at all on XP which seemed uncertain at the time.
Clearly Microsoft needed to respond to its customers and come up with a better way to browse the internet and in my opinion it did. Will it be enough to sway users that strayed over to Firefox? Only time will tell and I'm keeping my options open, I regularly use both browsers and ultimately one will prevail. Its too early to say.
So whats new in Windows Internet Explorer 7 aside from the name?
I'll let Dean answer that: "The Phishing Filter and the architectural work in IE7 around networking and ActiveX opt-in will help keep users more secure. IE7 also delivers a much easier browsing experience with features like tabbed browsing (especially with QuickTabs), shrink-to-fit printing, an easily customizable search box, and a new design that leaves more screen real estate for the web site you’re viewing. IE7’s CSS improvements are incredibly important for developers as many of you have made quite clear. I also think IE7’s RSS experience and platform are important, powerful, and innovative."
Thats a lot of improvement over IE6. Microsoft really has put a lot of focus into security.
So is there any bad? Well for me I find it strange that IE7 still uses the old style script prompts, blogging has become a part of our daily life for a lot of us, you'd think that controls for inputing data (like I'm doing now) would also be as important to look at, seeing an old script prompt top left of the browser is something familiar as far back as IE4.
Selecting text, I still cant select any portion of text I want without it also either going 2 chars further than what I want to select! I found a workaround, select the text backwards.. That seems to work for all those partial stories we lift from other sites to relay here.
Spell checker, this is just such a handy thing to have! Why isn't it included? Granted IeSpell works, but not nearly as nicely as Firefox 2.0 inline spell checking. I hope IeSpell comes with an update.
Anyway, if you haven't tried IE7 yet, I recommend it to anyone who switched to Firefox after being disappointed with IE6 lack of tabbed browsing and the above that Dean mentioned.
Download: Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP/64 & Server 2003 ~ 15 MB
View: IEBlog
Then I may come back.
You mean they're not perfect either?
Why do you feel the need to troll?
Rewriting a browser with a completely new UI, fixing all the CSS errors, and focusing on security are to be applauded, and I'd rather a browser take the 20 months and be good than have a .01 increment nightly that causes more problems than it fixes.
IE7 has been in a usable state for months, they've been taking the time to polish and fix final bugs. If more projects would do this, things would be in a better state.
Why did MS release it without fixing it?
I'm not going to bother downloading IE7 at all. I don't need it for anything.
Good for you, troll. I know you wrote your competitive browser in less than a year, right?
Also, one of the features I LOVE about IE7 (in Vista anyway, I actually haven't tried it in XP yet) is an accessibility feature (amazingly enough, one I took the time to suggest to MS) where when you host ctrl and move the mouse wheel the size of everything changes so that the pages keep the exact layout that the webmaster intended (whereas in 6, and Firefox it only changed the font size and you had to select 'ignore specified fonts). I have very poor vision and this is a boon for me!
Right now I'm afraid to try it right now (considering it's ridiculous integration into Windows), I'll wait for feedback.
It's looking like they headed it exactly the right direction with this one though, but time will tell.
Prime
Also, one of the features I LOVE about IE7 (in Vista anyway, I actually haven't tried it in XP yet) is an accessibility feature (amazingly enough, one I took the time to suggest to MS) where when you hold ctrl and move the mouse wheel the size of everything changes so that the pages keep the exact layout that the webmaster intended (whereas in 6, and Firefox it only changed the font size and you had to select 'ignore specified fonts). I have very poor vision and this is a boon for me!
Right now I'm afraid to try it right now (considering it's ridiculous integration into Windows), I'll wait for feedback.
Prime
Thats a cool feature, I just tried it and it works flawlessly
No it doesn't. In FF 1.5, it just increases or decreases the font sizes.
Hardly any do that, even this page garbles the top few lines.
More importantly pictures aren't resized. That's kind of important.
I sit slightly back from my screen so I always use the ctrl+scroll to make the text readable.
Firefox NEEDS whole page resizing. Hopefully we won't have to wait till version 3.0 to get this feature.
/sorry
I totally agree though. All the 'killer' features being shoehorned into FF2, I'd sooner just have a proper zoom function. Apparently that's slated for v3.
Clicked on the link to read the topic and the browser crashed...
Will stick to Firefox 2 even though it's not the final version. Gonna be plenty of IE7 patches coming out...
Happens on IE6 too.
Clicked on the link to read the topic and the browser crashed...
Will stick to Firefox 2 even though it's not the final version. Gonna be plenty of IE7 patches coming out...
A similar situation happened when I tried the first public beta of Vista. Installed it, second day IE7 didn't work anymore so that was that with my beta testing.
Will stick to Firefox 2 even though it's not the final version. Gonna be plenty of IE7 patches coming out...
Don't get me wrong here, I'm a big fan of Firefox, but Beta2 has plenty of problems itself. Yeah, it's beta of course, but with something (as mentioned earlier) that is such an integrated part of an entrie operating system these things are to be expected. I'm sure there with be plenty of patches, but I forsee the same thing with Firefox2 (granted, at least the B2 doesn't crash on me).
Prime
Good Job, Microsoft!
Good Job, Microsoft!
Oh gee, and many of the people that I know that have been running IE7 since Beta 2 have had hardly any crashes at all! I did not have a single IE7 crash on XP SP2 after IE reached Beta 3. IE7 did not crash even once for me on Vista RC1 or RC2.
IE7 ownz you.
Good Job, Microsoft!
Oh gee, and many of the people that I know that have been running IE7 since Beta 2 have had hardly any crashes at all! I did not have a single IE7 crash on XP SP2 after IE reached Beta 3. IE7 did not crash even once for me on Vista RC1 or RC2.
IE7 ownz you.
I never had a problem with the betas or the RC's just with the RTM build.
I don't like IE6.
I will have to run IE7 for web development, and I hope I'll start to like it.
However, there are still a lot of things missing.
1. CSS support: I know, it's improved, but there's a lot left to fix.
2. Extensions: Is this possible in IE7? If it is: good!
3. The looks: sorry, but I don't look the IE7 interface!
4. The reputation: Can I really start trusting IE?
5. ...
I don't like IE6.
I will have to run IE7 for web development, and I hope I'll start to like it.
However, there are still a lot of things missing.
1. CSS support: I know, it's improved, but there's a lot left to fix.
2. Extensions: Is this possible in IE7? If it is: good!
3. The looks: sorry, but I don't look the IE7 interface!
4. The reputation: Can I really start trusting IE?
5. ...
Haven't tried it myself but will when automatic updates gets it. I agree from what I've seen and read about IE7.
The interface, to me, looks messy and unfinished.
As for CSS support and standards, I'll wait and see, but one comment made by MS a long time ago didn't show much hope. It was along the lines of "we have tried to strike a balance between better standards support, and continued support for existing IE sites". How stupid can you get? The majority of decent websites already have support for FF and Opera with hacks/workarounds to make IE work. Why not chuck the towel in and make IE7 fully standards compliant? Then IE7 would work under the same code that the web designers have had to make for FF and Opera.
No browser is fully standards compliant. If Microsoft were to make IE display every page the exact same way all the other browsers do they would lose market share with IE.
No browser is fully standards compliant. If Microsoft were to make IE display every page the exact same way all the other browsers do they would lose market share with IE.
Why would they lose market share that way? It's a good thing, not a bad thing.
No browser is fully standards compliant. If Microsoft were to make IE display every page the exact same way all the other browsers do they would lose market share with IE.
Why would they lose market share that way? It's a good thing, not a bad thing.
That's the main reason so many people stick with IE is because it's flexible. Non-compliant, flexible. Tomato, Tumahto!
Well, it doesn't even support deeply integrated browser extensions. But it's definitely a big improvement over IE 6, so I guess it's useful for those who fancy that browser. I guess which you pick depends on which kind of a user you are.
It's a great addition to my OS as far as I'm concerned.
Microsoft, thanks for listening to the people
Now if we could position the tab bar on the bottom....
Windows 2000 = IE6 support (OS already phased out)
Windows XP = IE7 Support (End of Support, Oct 2007 included 1 year extension)
Windows Vista = IE8 Support likely (Projected End of Support Oct 2012)
The current default lifespan for Windows is 5 years, with a 1 year paid extension ususally to benefit volume license customers.
Windows 2000 = IE6 support (OS already phased out)
Windows XP = IE7 Support (End of Support, Oct 2007 included 1 year extension)
Windows Vista = IE8 Support likely (Projected End of Support Oct 2012)
The current default lifespan for Windows is 5 years, with a 1 year paid extension ususally to benefit volume license customers.
Actually, the current default lifecycle for Windows operating systems are 5 years mainstream support, or two years after the release of the successive version. After mainstream support ends, then come 5 years extended support.
Windows 2000 will be in extended support until 2010
Windows XP will be in mainstream support 24 months after Vista RTM, and end extended support 5 years later
Windows Vista will be in mainstream support until the end of 2011, and end extended support 5 years later.
Look at me I'm so kewl!!!!111oneoneone: I need to get a copy of Winblows and install it onto my Crapintosh. Then I'm going to watch TV on my new HPee television and listen to music on my Stonedy walkman.
Look at me I'm so kewl!!!!111oneoneone: I need to get a copy of Winblows and install it onto my Crapintosh. Then I'm going to watch TV on my new HPee television and listen to music on my Stonedy walkman.
Do you have a valid point, or are you going to sit refuting an off-the-cuff juvenile comment with a stream of juvenile references yourself?
Yeah, I loves me teh M$ Winblows operating system featuring da Intarweb Exploder!!!
Hey ma! The internet is down!
Look at me I'm so kewl!!!!111oneoneone: I need to get a copy of Winblows and install it onto my Crapintosh. Then I'm going to watch TV on my new HPee television and listen to music on my Stonedy walkman.
Do you have a valid point, or are you going to sit refuting an off-the-cuff juvenile comment with a stream of juvenile references yourself?
Juvenile references beget more juvenile references.
I don't feel like installing it till then.
I don't feel like installing it till then.
Wow, the laziness amazes.
Will wait till FF 2 final, but for now going to give IE7 a chance, even with that (ableit minimal) exploit that has been found. Though Opera 9.1 looks promising also.
I like firefox, I'll still use it, not necessary that since IE7 is the best now, it'll remain the best for evar?
Wasnt speaking of me but of the many friends I got who need to bypass it :p
Yeah so did my company when at the beginning of this month MS had a "bug" in their WGA servers which called all our volume licenced machines pirated. Neowin reported on this. 400 machines throwing "pirated" errors is a real good way to kill a companies work for TWO DAYS while the users freak out as well as myself fighting with MS who tells me I'm at fault until they figured out it was their error.
Wasnt speaking of me but of the many friends I got who need to bypass it :p
Sure you were ... you and all the other criminals that are always talking about their "friends" who need to bypass piracy protection measures.
I'm gonna get in trouble for this..... but the word is "posterity".
Oh, and personally I don't use favourites in IE (I use the Yahoo toolbar for that), so I'd like to not have the massive Favorites Center and Add to Favorites icons. No dice. You're stuck with them. Thou shalt not remove.
Still, it opened quicker than IE6, and loads pages quicker, which is a major plus. A pity I'm subject to stupid patent law of US and have to "abide" by the Eolas ruling so I can interact with a plugin.
Chronology of events:
- ran installer
- rebooted
- started IE7
- decided not to use Phishing filter and clicked the save settings button on runonce2.aspx
- Phishing filter settings dialog pops up. I again decide I don't want to use it and apply.
- I go to any page and the balloon popup appears each time wanting to know if I want to verify the site. This just spreads FUD for newbs as this make them think that everybody is potentially lying about who they are in order to nick their financial data.
- Right click icon, choose settings and fight my way through the advanced options list that would scare the bejesus out of any newcomer until I find the "Disable" radio button in the Phishing Filter section, select it and apply. Now the damn thing has gone.
Was there a quicker, more intuitive way? Please enlighten me as I've done it this way for three machines in the office.Which is of no use or interest to the standard user. I also couldn't care less about it as it should be configurable by the user the way IE6 was. As a result I have less screen space for the page than I did for IE6 (I'm not including the tabstrip height, as that doesn't apply if you don't have it enabled. You still get the unmovable buttons on their own row)
you need to work out what this is, and disable it, it might even be well worth your while to reinstall ie7 after you do to make sure it is fully properly installed, run it once, set it up, and then close it, before you re-enable whatever it was that was blocking changes again.
No, I don't. I have NOD32 running on Windows Server 2003 and that's it (I don't even have Windows Firewall running). There's no way I'm going to install something that requires web access during install without a traffic monitor checking everything, so I'm NOT going to disable it for that, no matter what anybody says, because that's really, really stupid.
EDIT: took 12 minutes. and wtf you have to restart afterwards...how crappy. Firefox installs and is usable in under 40 seconds. Hit later and you get two more confirmations asking if thats what you really want to do.
ok I'm done until I actually do more then just open one tab and actually surf a little
EDIT: took 12 minutes. and wtf you have to restart afterwards...how crappy.
FF isn't integrated in the core of Windows either. Thank goodness.
FF isn't integrated in the core of Windows either. Thank goodness.
witty-witty?
NOW DEFINE the "integrated in the core of Windows"!
That's part of Windows Update Agent; you've had that for ages. It is possible to switch that off BTW...
Hmm yeah, I spotted that in a XP VM, but it didn't happen to a 2003 install...
I don't like the default to "use US" rather than your machine settings. There's a good reason why yours might be different, namely because you aren't in US!
What's "Quick" about Quick Tabs? You click on the virtual-window-type icon and then click on the required tab screen? That's quicker than clicking the tab in the first place? Why not have like the Firefox extension that shows the preview (which only came about because of an XP powertoy that does the same thing on Alt-Tab)
Why the hell isn't res://ieframe.dll / about:internet in the Trusted Sites zone? If you've got any variety of script lockdown and get a 404 you can't see the "More information" content without viewing source
At least they've lost the poxy "Go" button
FF isn't integrated in the core of Windows either. Thank goodness.
witty-witty?
NOW DEFINE the "integrated in the core of Windows"!
In court papers filed today, Microsoft said the Justice Department's latest motion before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson shows that Internet Explorer is an integrated feature of the Windows 95 operating system, contrary to what the DOJ has been saying for the last two months.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1...osingconpr.mspx
Middle click a tab? Unless you're talking about having close buttons on every single tab like Opera (and maybe Safari).
I'm not bothered by it, but this is clearly influenced by Vista's weird guidelines for menus. Sometimes they have menu bars, sometimes toolbar buttons take their place, sometimes toolbar buttons pop down menus...
But otherwise, your other points make sense.
lol
lol
A criminal that can't write... shocking.
And so is the first security bug: http://secunia.com/Internet_Explorer_Arbit...erability_Test/