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Microsoft releases IE 7 beta to public


Corrine

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I spotted this on Harry Waldron's blog. Its quite a fancy page at the Microsoft link.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.http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/default.mspxhttp://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6033116.htmlYou can get a "tour" of the latest Beta version here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/tour/default.mspxNote: It is important to note that IE7 is still in the Beta version so should not be used on production systems in mission-critical environments.

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I'm using it currently.Some thoughts:-Quick Tabs is a pretty cool feature. It's a button to the left of where the tabs are, and when more than one is open, pressing it will display a mini version of each page. Helps with a bunch of tabs open, when it gets harder to tell which page is which.-Tabs in general are okay, but need work. There seems to be a noticeable delay when creating/opening/closing tabs, and the screen flickers a bit.-I've seen a few page layouts that are broken (not majorly, but enough to be annoying), including the live.com frontpage (the "add content" sidebar overlaps the page content)-Removing the "classic menu" seems to be okay, I haven't missed any of the menu options yet.All in all, not nearly enough changes have been made to support web standards, so this browser will not be my browser of choice. I also haven't added any RSS feeds yet.

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-Quick Tabs is a pretty cool feature. It's a button to the left of where the tabs are, and when more than one is open, pressing it will display a mini version of each page. Helps with a bunch of tabs open, when it gets harder to tell which page is which.
I'm pretty sure there's a Firefox extension for this as well... B)
-Tabs in general are okay, but need work. There seems to be a noticeable delay when creating/opening/closing tabs, and the screen flickers a bit.
Sounds like the poorly-implemented IE6 tabs with the MSN toolbar.
-Removing the "classic menu" seems to be okay, I haven't missed any of the menu options yet.
It drove my [non-savvy] family members absolutely nuts. Never mind that, it drove me nuts! Why remove such a familiar and good interface feature by default and not even give the option to put it back where it belongs?? (at the top, directly under the title bar)Looks to me like it's change for the sake of change, which is always dumb. Edited by epp_b
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It works...No plug-ins to mess with.It works...No extensions to download, install and add functionality to IE.Did I mention it works?Hitting the Tab space and the blank pages loads in less than a second. Click on a Favorite and the page loads in about a second. Seems way faster to me...I'm sure the FF faithful will pick it to bits to bolster their position now that there is some real competition in the browser market...It just works...I've got 12 tabbed windows open and total memory usage is only 66 Megs... no memory leaks

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No extensions to download, install and add functionality to IE.
I'm pretty tired of this particular argument. I don't need any extensions for Firefox, but they're great to add extra features. The only extension I use in every install is gmail notifier--which is a feature I can't add to IE. Sometimes I use adblock, again, something I can't get with IE. If I want, I could use Firefox without extensions at all, and it would still be a perfectly useable browser for me.Memory usage is a good argument. Firefox needs to clean that up, and the upcoming 1.5.0.1 release seems to have helped some.epp_b, yeah, I think the "tab" implementation is the same in IE7 as it was with the MSN Toolbar for IE6. I might have to look into that Firefox extension, since it's a cool feature. As for the Classic Menu, it isn't exactly my favorite change, but I can live without it. The mini menu to the right seems to have all of the options accessible from there.I am missing the bookmarks toolbar, though. I detest sidebars.
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Is Anti-Phishing available in FF without an extension or plug-in?Will FF operate within a "sandbox" in Vista?When the extended IE7 features kick in Vista, IE7 will be the most secure browser on any platform...Looks like the Mozilla kids had better get busy...

Edited by Marsden11
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Tabs This is clearly not the MSN Toolbar...You can open new tabs with the CTRL+T shortcut key, and close them with CTRL+W, as it should be. You can switch between open Web documents using CTRL+TAB, which is the right way to implement this feature.IE7 takes it up a notch or two. Once you open two or more tabs, you'll notice a few changes to the IE7 interface. A third icon has appeared called Quick Tabs, this places IE7 into a new mode where each open Web page is displayed as a tile.http://www.udrogoth.com/images/tab-tile-view.jpg From the Quick Tabs view, you can close individual tabs, refresh any or all open documents, or, right-click an individual tab and tell the browser to close all other tabs. It's late to the party but gets the party rolling!Check out the Close Tab button on each Tab and also on each tile. You are also not forced to use a single Close button at the far right of the browser window. If you have just a single tab open (the default), you won't see this button. But once you open two or more tabs, you'll see a Close Tab button right on the select tab, where it belongs.With a group of tabs open, you can save the group as a new kind of Favorite called a Tab Group, and you can even configure the Tab Group as your home page... you can set IE7 to open multiple sites every time you start up.EDIT: Changed the img link to hyperlink so it doesn't break the forum page with overly wide image. Please use Image Thumbnails if you wish an image to show that meets number 8 of the Forum Rules.Bambi

Edited by LilBambi
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Extra features for a (browser in a) new operating system seems rather ridiculous. Especially when those features are security ones.I'm not going to update to Vista when it comes out, so I don't get protected? That seems fair. B) At least I get some updates since I'm using XP SP2. B)

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Tabs This is clearly not the MSN Toolbar...
It's not the MSN Toolbar, but it's similar to it. Tabs feel like they were bolted on. I've noticed a delay in opening/closing tabs, albeit a minor one.
Check out the Close Tab button on each Tab and also on each tile. You are also not forced to use a single Close button at the far right of the browser window. If you have just a single tab open (the default), you won't see this button. But once you open two or more tabs, you'll see a Close Tab button right on the select tab, where it belongs.
I guess this is a knock on how Firefox does it? They're currently testing new code that changes the way tabs behave, including a close button on individual tabs. IE7 does not let me drag and drop tabs to reorder them. Maybe they'll add it B) Middle clicking closes tabs in both Firefox and IE7. Also, I'll probably send in feedback about it not showing a close button on tabs that aren't selected.
With a group of tabs open, you can save the group as a new kind of Favorite called a Tab Group, and you can even configure the Tab Group as your home page... you can set IE7 to open multiple sites every time you start up.
That's a nice feature, but the Favorites as a whole need re-working. Unless I'm missing something (entirely possible), there's no way to view Favorites without opening the sidebar--which floats by default, and doesn't remember/care that I hit the "dock" button every time.Of course, the biggest problem I have is that, while they've fixed several bugs, their level of standards compliance is still far below where it should or could be. IE 6 was released in late August of 2001, and they're still not anywhere near Firefox or Opera (standards compliance-wise, at least) with this version 7.
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I tried it yesterday. What a poor attempt to copy Firefox. It did not even have an email Icon. It was slower than Firfox and IE 6. It is now gone and never to return.

Is Anti-Phishing available in FF without an extension or plug-in?Will FF operate within a "sandbox" in Vista?When the extended IE7 features kick in Vista, IE7 will be the most secure browser on any platform...Looks like the Mozilla kids had better get busy...
When the extended IE7 features kick in Vista, IE7 will be the most secure browser on any platform
I believe that is what they said about IE 5, IE 5.5 IE 6.0 ...................etc B) Edited by Gary
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Change for the sake of change is not necessarily good. However, I think some major improvements have been made. I will play with it at work for the next week or so. So far I like what I see. I have to be familiar with what is out there in order to teach it so I will give it a fair trial. To be honest, the pages load incredibly fast. I like the mini-window view. I can see a lot of times this will come in very handy. As far as the removal of the drop down menus at the top, I think we will be adapting to this or staying behind since I understand the newest office products are headed that way as well. I can't tell you how many folks have a hard time figuring out the old toolbars. Then again, I can give directions on quite a few programs when I am far from a computer because the menus have been very much standardized across programs and vendors.

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someone at ms spent a few minutes on that flash splash screen...as the site says, its beta software; i'd expect it to be slow, buggy, missing features... they're testing...as to ff, i like orange.
I am running Firefox 1.5.01 RC 1 and guess what. It works. Everthing works. B)
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It did not even have an email Icon.
Who really needs an email icon in a browser when I can do this...?http://www.udrogoth.com/images/owa-2.jpgOh look at that... my Outlook email viewable from any browser... and I don't need no stinkin' email icon...EDIT: Changed the img link to hyperlink so it doesn't break the forum page with overly wide image. Please use Image Thumbnails if you wish an image to show that meets number 8 of the Forum Rules. Edited by LilBambi
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Oh look at that... my Outlook email viewable from any browser... and I don't need no stinkin' email icon...
That's nice, not everyone has Outlook or is M$ giving that away with the Browser. :hmm:
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James M. Fisher

Anybody notice any odd behaviour when trying to compose/edit a post here or in any other forum? My backspace key behaves more like the back arrow and the DEL key doesn't delete.

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James M. Fisher

It did this on both my ThinkPad and my desktop PC, separate downloads too. Worked fine in another IPB board. Odd. The only other thing both machines had in common was Avant browser installed. I wonder if that could have caused this somehow? :hmm:I uninstalled B2 from my ThinkPad. I'll have to experiment on my desktop PC now..

Edited by James M. Fisher
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I have Avast installed as well. I have noticed that I can type ahead every so often but I do type fast. I have played with both quick and regular reply as well. Oh, I have Avast, not Avant. I just had a rather slow reaction time when typing. I wonder if it is the delay you are seeing?

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Using this for a second day. I still don't have a reason to use this over Firefox, but I like the direction they're going in. I think if they polish up a little more, Firefox is in trouble of losing market--or at least not gaining any more.Competition in this market makes better web browsers for all of us :thumbsup:

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James M. Fisher

I just ununstalled Avant Browser IE7 B2 still caused me problems. Uninstalled B2 as well and all is fine.I'm going to try and reinstall B2 now and see what happens. It was not a delay I was seeing, Julia, it was the keys not doing their assigned duties. :thumbsup:

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Very strange James. Are the delete/backspace keys the only ones that show the problem? :thumbsup: It actually sounds like a focus issue. If you're in a textarea, the backspace and delete keys should work (obviously), but on any other pages, backspace will take you back a page in the history. Also, delete wouldn't do anything.

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James M. Fisher

The backspace key works, but it doesn't erase the text as you go back, it just moves the cursor. The DEL key does not work (or appears not to work) until you begin typing something new after using it. :thumbsup: If this were happening on one of my 2 PCs, I could narrow it down, but when it's happening on both, and one a clean image, I have to think it's IE.BTW, it only seems to be this way with forum software, not Word, for instance.

Edited by James M. Fisher
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