Microsoft IE 7 beta release Review

So far the test computer has not exploded, but after 4 years of nothing but
amazing promises, the update for IE is fairly bland, and in some cases, confusing.

In the install I was asked if I wanted the Automatic Updater and the Malicious
Software Remover to also be installed. Nothing sends shivers down my spine faster
than Microsoft automatically updating my computer. I still remember several
updates that were far worse than the problems they solved. I like my updates
to be looked at by the Internet community for awhile and tested in the real
world before my laptop and other computers are subjected to them. That's just
me, your mileage may vary. On a Beta? I'm not doing it... and you can't make
me.

The Malicious Software Remover caught my attention, and I went ahead and installed
that (after all we are on a test machine here). After some pondering on what
Microsoft might consider a Malicious program while the computer rebooted to
weld the installation in place so I can never use this machine again for anything
else but IE 7 (why are they the only browser that requires a reboot on install?)
I tried to find the settings or some documentation on this Malicious Software
Remover. I can't find any. I may be looking in the wrong places, but I can't
find any write-ups on the package either.

I am aware of the Microsoft
Anti-spyware utility, which maybe what they are talking about, and why I
don't see anything "new" floating around on the computer. If you are
running a Microsoft OS system, then I highly recommend the Anti Spyware program.
It is in BETA, but I've been running it for over a year now, and have never
had a problem, nor has anyone told me of any problems with the software (other
than the general gripes about it being from Microsoft). Personally I don't care
who makes it, as long as it works, and this one does.

Now that I'm looking at the browser and visiting pages with it, I'm not impressed.
After four years you would think that something, anything would step up and
say "Hey, look at this innovative feature!" but so far, nothing has.
The address bar is welded to the top, above the menu. I suppose that is for
protection against malicious software that tries to replace that area with their
own code. Take some getting use to, and seems lacking somehow. Was that really
the only answer?

There are tabs now. I guess everyone knew that but me. After using Firefox
for so long I hit Ctrl-T out of habit and was surprised to see the new tab open
up. So I started looking around to see what else they had in here from other
browsers.

Not much. The basic design is some how cleaner and yet more cumbersome than
any other browser. For example, the search field in the Google Bar shrinks down
in size when the focus leaves it, giving room for the other features of the
bar to be displayed. But this cuts off the search terms, so I can't read them,
without giving focus back to the field. Cleaner, yet more cumbersome. I've looked
for some place to turn that off, and can't seem to find that either.

Making the font size of the pages larger, makes the page wider, so I have to
scroll to the side to see the whole page. This even happens with the Google
search page, which is quite odd. I've heard reports from others that there are
problems rendering a few pages, most of which can be explained by the JavaScript
(or other scripts) not acknowledging the IE7 (and who can blame them, we never
really thought it would come out either). The font size thing is enough for
me to never use it though.

News Feeds

A big hype, along with the IE finally getting tabs was a news fee reader, which
lets you discover, preview, and subscribe to online news feeds. When you surf
to a new site, you can browse a list of available feeds simply by selecting
the Feed Discovery option on the browser's Tools menu or clicking a button on
the toolbar. (This button changes color when new feeds are discovered.). Quite
nice, but Firefox has that, and has had that with many more options for quite
some time, so I wasn't impressed, but for those coming up from IE 6 it will
probably be one of the nicer new features.

Privacy and History

On IE 6, erasing your history (all those knitting sites you've been reading
on company time) was a several step process, in IE 7, a single click takes care
of that for you. The Delete Browsing History tool instantly erases your browsing
history, all your cookies, and passwords, along with any web form data, and
temporary files that may have been downloaded. Not sure how I feel about that.
Since it takes out everything, I probably won't use it as often. Some of the
cookies and passwords I want to remain. Firefox is much cleaner in this area,
allowing you to set some information as "gaurded" and then allowing
for automatic deletion of everything else.

This led me to look for Add-ons; and that led to the part which was a bit confusing.
When I think of Browser Add-ons, I think of software modules that "add-on"
to the "browser". However, when going to the IE7 page for Browser
Add-ons I found a list of extra software packages that I could buy and install,
separately. What I expected to find, if truth be told, was a blank page, because
the Beta was just released... how could they have any add-ons yet. But I didn't
find any real Add-ons, or any instructions, API's or notes on how add-ons might
be created for the IE7 browser (which would have shocked me to death if I had
found that).

Over all, ... eh </shrug>

I don't see why you should, and I don't see why you shouldn't. Unless your
company really needs to use the functionality of ActiveX, I would use a different
browser. I know this is supposed to be the "secure" version, but I've
heard that way too many times over the last decade. I just nod my head and keep
putting the storm windows on.