Ie 7: A First Look Heres a rundown

[optykal 0]

Ok, I just got my copy of Internet Explorer 7.0. I'm actually using it right now as I post this.

Well... first things first. As soon as you install the program you have to reboot... this annoyed me, I hate having to reboot my laptop, its so much slower than my desktop (3.06 gHz Pentium Mobile) Anyway, after a reboot, it initialised my settings during startup. As far as I can tell, this included importing my favourites and other settings from the old IE 6 into this one.

So obviously the first thing I did was open up the browser and start surfing. The first thing I noticed is the lack of a stop button and the refresh button is missing too... this seemed a little bit odd. I went to customise toolbars and they were not their either. So I set the icons to small (I hate the big ones, they ruin the layout).

Anyway, the other main thing that you notice is the Address bar is up the very top of the page and there is a google search next to it. It looks very much like the firefox setup IMO! Then below this is the section for the tabs (tabbed browsing is enabled by default) and then below this is ur common "File", "Edit", etc buttons. Overall its a simple layout and well... its not very appealing on the eyes. (not like opera anyway).

So i delved into the settings (or Internet Options as its called) and had a quick look to see what options there are. Let me say, if you have seen the IE Internet Options screen, then this is no different. Just having a quick look, I noticed that the search is set up so that the nearest match will be displayed (Like "feeling lucky" on google) but this can be changed to a list format (which I did straight away.)

So time to browse!

The first page I went to, a pop-up was displayed stating how the browser can check some database of micro$oft to counteract phishing of sites. If you use spoof stick, then you dont really need to worry too much about this, and I really didn't want micro$oft to know every step I make on the internet, so I clicked "No".

Tabbed browsing works the same way as opera/firefox so if you have used either, then this will be no different. Um... not much to say at the moment, I have only just put it on. If anyone wants me to do anything specific, then let me know. I will put some screenshots up too, just so you can see how it looks (Although, I have already changed some things.. I might change them back, who knows.).

On last thing I do have to say, this browser failed the Acid 2 test. For those of you who don't know, when acid 1 came out, all the browsers (even Micro$oft's IE 6) were reprogrammed to be able to pass the test. And now that Acid 2 is out, it was assumed that ie7 would pass the test. Well, I just checked it and it failed miserably. I'll get a screenshot of that too. I tested the acid 2 page with opera and firefox the other day and they weren't too bad... ie7 was the worst by far!

Here is the link to that test:

http://www.webstandards.org/files/acid2/test.html

Any questions?

[WeaponX 0]

Where did you get the download for IE7? Or is it only available for selected beta testers? If you can, give me the link (or PM it to me) to the download. I want to give this a spin also.I'm a devoted Firefox fan, but if IE7 did change dramatically for the better, I might start using it again.

[optykal 0]

Well, its only open for beta testing (Developers and IT Professionals) Same as the beta 1.3 of Windows Vista, which I should also have soon. Anyway, I have a screenshot here of IE 7.0 trying to render the acid test, if you check the link that I gave above, you can see what it is supposed to look like. Anyway, here is the link for the screenshots:

http://ww2.optykal.com/rg-erdr.php?_rpo=t

if you click on the link, it should bring up a few screenshots which shows the toolbars and what not. Have fun!

[jcguy 0]

Hmmn... IE 7 sounds much improved. I wonder how long would it be before us general users get a copy of it via Windows Update? Regardless of the improvements IE7 may have made, I doubt that I'll switch over from my Fireforx anytime soon.

[optykal 0]

Regardless of the improvements IE7 may have made, I doubt that I'll switch over from my Fireforx anytime soon.

Thats exactly it. I've already jumped back to FireFox. Its a lot faster than this beta 1 version of IE 7. Also I like the add-ins that FireFox has, including the 'sage' for rss feeds. I have had more of a play with this new internet explorer, and the more I look at it, the more it dissappoints me. It hasn't really offered me anything new or improved over what I was getting from FireFox. The phishing protection is of no use to me and the pop up filter doesn't mean anything to me either. So unfortunately, I'm not going to be making the switch to IE as default browser. I guess that given this is a testing beta, they may make the final look nicer, or at least make it possible to skin it. At least I can hope! I'll still have to use the damn thing for windows updates... !

[jipman 0]

Looks exactly like FireFox, to be more exact, it's just a Firefox rip-off. Also, did you hang a packetsniffer on the browser while testing? I have a hunch that they probably send (anonymous) statistics or something, it might sound like m$ bashing to you but I want to remind you that microsoft tried pulling such trick before with media player

[Logan Deathbringer 0]

I agree with jipman...packet sniff it. I also think that they might try to the "anonymous stats" thing with the new IE.

[spacewaste1405241471 0]

That's why it's Called Beta
I woke up this morning to find countless emails and IMs pouring into my accounts asking me about the IE 7 beta.

Some developers are expressing relief at seeing some of the bug fixes and improvements, but of course as I've been expressing all along, this is a process with which we have to be patient. Expecting full bug fixes and implementation in any beta software is ridiculous, as is expecting that WaSP / Microsoft Task Force can perform retroactive miracles.

IE7 is in beta. Not only that, but it's early days yet. So it's a little bit premature to start complaining that things don't work. I mean, why have a beta, much less one that's made it out first to developers and press if not precisely to get their feedback pronto? Brian Goldfarb, Product Manager for the Web Tools Team and Microsoftâs liaison to WaSP pointed this out in a conversation we had today while trying to address developer concerns as they've been pouring in.

Quoted from the Acid Test site...In which I had thought you read considering you posted the link. Also, my FF failed the test, but back onto the subject.

Like the quote said, IE7 is still in the VERY early stages of beta.

Things like missing buttons=Beta issues, that SHOULD be reported so they may be solved.

Microsoft is working hard to advance itself (as you can see with Vista), so I'd recommend that if you have the BETA of either of those...You report the bugs instead of complaining about the bugs.

Beucase frankly, I thought BETA versions were only given out to people who would do well with giving the companies feedback and the new version/its problems.

[Trekkie101 0]

I believe Microsoft were fully removing the refresh and stop buttons, the stop button because more than half the world have high speed access and usually load things fast enough that a stop button wouldnt help too much.The refresh button I have no clue, but I do remember reading that it wasnt going to be there.

[WeaponX 0]

I believe Microsoft were fully removing the refresh and stop buttons, the stop button because more than half the world have high speed access and usually load things fast enough that a stop button wouldnt help too much.
The refresh button I have no clue, but I do remember reading that it wasnt going to be there.

I was wondering about that after seeing this post also.

Would the Esc key and F5 key, stop and refresh the webpage, respectively? I usually don't use buttons anyway. Love those shortcuts. LOL.

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

I'm not overly excited about this one. Sure it'll be good for the few things I use IE for, but I'll be sticking with my non-IE browsers until I have a solid reason to switch back to IE

[optykal 0]

Ok, for a start, I never intended for this to be a "lets complain about Internet Explorer 7 beta" thread. I thought that since this is a technically based forum and the fact that quite a few people were interested in how the new internet explorer was shaping up, I might be able to give some people a brief insight. I obviously sent out some wrong messages. You could say that maybe I am a little biased towards other alternatives (im not going to deny that I prefer firefox to any other browser) I am also well aware of the fact that it is a beta version and that it is still only intended for testing purposes. Maybe I should have made this clear in my post? I'm sure that Microsoft will take whatever testers have to say on board, and the final release may differ a lot from this one. Anyway, the main point I was trying to make was, that even at this barebones stage, it doesn't look much different from other browsers such as say opera or firefox. In my opinion it didnt really seem to offer any major advantages over each of these browsers. On the other hand, I do feel that the phishing protection that has been incorporated into IE7 is a good idea. When you think about how many people are using their computers and the internet to do banking, make online purchases, etc... its scary to think that most of these people wouldn't even know what the word phishing means. So its good to see them doing something about this and the included pop-up blocker is also good. When you think about it, even though it looks like it may be in some ways emulating firefox or opera, it is clearly a vast improvement over the current Internet Explorer 6. For the average user, the benefits of this upgrade are well worth it. I clearly overlooked this aspect when I first posted this thread so I thought I might as well point it out now. Thank you.

[bill1405241506 0]

ie 7 already? well i hope u can use it on win 98 and a 733mhz computer, the tabbed option might be a bit handy, but i think ie6 will do the work for me

[solankyno1 0]

it doesn't look much different from other browsers such as say opera or firefox. In my opinion it didnt really seem to offer any major advantages over each of these browsers.

You may be correct that it is not differenct with the other browsers. But even if it is same as others I will switch to it from firefox because firefox takes very large amout of RAM and it is a problem for me because I have only 128 MB Ram. If the IE7 renders the page as fast as firefox and it is as secure as firefox than there is no advantge to use firefox. Let's see what the result came in final product.

[overture 0]

still no CSS2 support.