Includes tabbed browsing, greater security
Microsoft has released a new version of its Internet Explorer browser. IE7 Beta 2 is now available for download from microsoft.com.
The public first got a look at IE7 in January with the release of the public preview. Last month, Microsoft announced that the layout engine "feature is complete" so that web developers could start testing their sites against what would be in the final release. From now on, the only changes to the browser will be related to the user interface.
The new version includes tabbed browsing, which allows users to open several sites in one browser and easily skip between them. Tabbed pages can also be organized into groups and saved into the user’s ‘favorites’ folder.
Whereas Microsoft aimed previous test versions of the software at Web developers and designers, the new beta is the first that targets consumers, and the company will offer free, round-the-clock technical support by phone for the browser.
No-charge phone support is being offered to consumers in North America, Germany and Japan.
Security was also a high priority, after a number of security flaws were exposed in 2005 which tarnished Microsoft’s image in the browser market. Microsoft says that the new browser has "robust" new architecture and a module designed to give users early warning of any site which is part of a so-called “phishing” scam.
According to Dean Hachamovitch, the leader of the IE development team, many of the changes made to the browser were a result of comments from customers:
We acted on a lot of feedback and bug reports from the previous public releases. In particular, I feel good about changes we made based on reports from web developers around some CSS behaviors, application compatibility feedback, reliability data (yes, we do analyze the information that comes when you click “Send Error Report”), and user experience feedback."
The browser’s interface has not changed dramatically since the public preview. There is still the strange arrangement with the menu bar sandwiched in-between the address bar and the list of tabs. However, there are some minor changes, such as with the customizable search engine box. Fans of Google can rest assured that IE7 still allows you to select your search engine of choice and have it remain the default. A new Favorites Center groups favorites, tab groups, browsing history and RSS feeds into a single panel.
Improvements to the new version primarily revolve around speed and stability. Beta 2 takes less memory than its predecessor and appears, at least at a cursory glance, to render pages slightly faster. The addition of native XMLHTTP support means that AJAX-based Web applications (such as Gmail) will no longer require an ActiveX control in order to function. Taking a page from Firefox’s numerous extensions, Microsoft has opened up a new, redesigned web site devoted to promoting 3rd-party plugins for IE7, which should help fill in any feature gaps in the product.
Michael Arrington of the Technology news site TechChrunch attended the launch for the product, and says that Microsoft seems to be "taking the browser war seriously and without arrogance."
Over the past two years, Microsoft has faced a significant challenge from the Firefox browser launched by Mozilla.
The new beta version of IE 7 will run on PCs with the Windows XP operating system, and contains all of the features Microsoft plans for the final release of the software later this year. Version 7 includes the ability to browse the Web using tabs, new technology for printing Web pages more faithfully, support for RSS feeds, and a new warning system that can flag dangerous Web sites to users.
The IE7 Beta 2 download is available for Windows XP, Windows XP 64-bit edition, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2003 for Itanium. It is not available for users of Windows 2000 or earlier operating systems. Currently the download is only available in the English language, although Arabic, Finnish, German, and Japanese versions are scheduled to follow next month. While the download is free, when you start the installer it uses an internal version of the latest Windows Genuine Advantage check to ensure that you are not running a pirated copy of Windows.
The installation recommends that you uninstall any previous IE7 previews or betas that may be on your computer. Fortunately, Microsoft has promised that once this is done, users of IE7 Beta 2 will not have to uninstall anything to upgrade to the final version.
Microsoft also launched a new Web site for add-on software for IE 7 featuring products from Yahoo and other companies, at www.ieaddons.com.
Microsoft plans to offer a new test version of the browser for the upcoming Windows Vista system when it releases a second beta of Vista sometime before the end of June.
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