IE7 It’s On The Way (and it’s not that bad)

So I was doing my regular rounds around the sites I most visit and whilst visiting The Register I notice its report that Microsoft had released Beta 2 of the new version of Internet Explorer, best yet, it was public. So I downloaded and installed this new beta version. If I’m being honest, I was pleasently suprised by IE7.

First off, yes it does have ideas and features that have been used in Firefox and Opera for donkey’s years. You could argue to the cows come home which browser stole which idea and who thought of it first. In this world it happens. Opera has tabbed browsing, did Firefox steal this from them? To be honest, who cares?! The main key for me is, does it work and more importantly is it secure? It’s not just Microsoft that does this so deal with it.

Looking Good

As mentioned, I was pleasently suprised as it had the features I liked in Firefox (tabbed browsing and an integrated search bar) but it also added a couple things of its own. The main one for me is known as “mini tabs”. This feature gives you little screen shots of the page you were visiting so finding the page you were just looking at is much easier. The other feature I like is its “favourites center” which is where you can view your RSS feeds.

This is a nice feature and is nicer than a drop down menu. What has also been added to IE7 is a “phishing” filter which tries to let you know if the site you are looking at is the real deal. I think it’s a great addition and the fact that it’s built in just shows, I think, how seriously Microsoft are taking security now. Yes I know IE is known to be a risk security wise but then again it is the world’s most used browser. Security by obscurity is no security at all before anyone gets smug. IE7 also has the pop-up blocker which first appeared in IE6 and it has also gone a little re-design too. Tool bars are different graphics changed which is really the norm on new software.

Must Try Harder…

I really do think Microsoft are making a big effort to make IE7 secure. This would give its customers confidence in the browser. Whether you use IE or not, for the average home user its the only browser they know. Microsoft have woken up to the criticsms of its current browser and are now trying to change them. This can only be a good thing.

I’m in no doubt, however, that it may still suffer security problems. The anti-Microsoft people of this world will continue to bash it. What I say is give it a whirl (though if you don’t like trying beta stuff try it when its on full release) and see how you go. Don’t be obtuse and make up your mind from your own experiences.  I only switched to Firefox because I like customising things and you can’t do much of that in IE.

So if you’d like to, read more on the IE Blog (got the screenshots from there too) and if you’re feeling dangerous, download IE7 Beta 2!