Internet Explorer 7.0

[saffleur]

Originally published at The Sanction. You can comment here or there.


Well Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 7.0 for Windows users. It’s a whole new interface to playwith. New features, More web standards compliant and more secure. That is until someone shows that it isn’t as secure as it is proclaimed. When will that be? Who knows but there’s never a perfect program. Microsoft however does try. They have integrity to protect. Well I’ll tell you about how I felt experiencing the new browser.

In order to use the new browser Microsoft requires a few things for install.

• Computer/Processor
  • Computer with a 233MHz processor or higher (Pentium processor recommended)
• Operating System
  • Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)
  • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
  • Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• Memory
  For Internet Explorer 7:
  
  • Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) - 87 MB
  • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition - 168 MB
  • Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) - 87 MB
  • Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 ia64 - 218 MB
• Drive
  • CD-ROM drive (if installation is done from a CD-ROM)
• Display
  • Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor with 256 colors
• Peripherals
  • Modem or Internet connection; Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouse, or compatible pointing device.

Now if you can satisfy that. Which most can then time for some fun.

IE7 has alot of features now that it was lacking when it came to the browser field. I myself use Firefox and then Internet Explorer as a backup[ or if I need to check multiple browser capability when designing websites etc.

You will find that the new IE7 has tabs, tab groups, plugins, Active-X controller Opt-In and a better pop-up blocker.

The tabs are a great addition. Finally. I had no trouble using the tab feature infact it works just like Firefox. The tab groups is a nice feature as well. Allowing easy anvigation through a family of tabs.

The plugins are a good addition. It now is going to allow developers to port infamous plugins from Firefox and other browsers over to IE7. There are users who only know of IE so this will probably seem like a new toy for the less tech savvy folk. Seasoned vets will appreciate this as well since It helps especially when checking how sites look in different browsers. The Web industry as a whole caters to many users with many preferences and if one doesn’t strive to do so they find their site not getting the traffic it deserves.

The Active-X Opt-in is another beneficial feature. No longer does Microsoft enable these automatically thus making your browser and system insecure. This is not saying that Active-X controllers are insecure but previous IE would enable them automatically. Now if you go to some shady site and enable something you know you shouldn’t you can go cry elsewhere. It is your own fault.

The pop-up blocker seems to be more efficient at stopping those lecherous pop-ups we all hate. I purposely went to sites with heavy pop-ups in an assault on the new browser and surprisingly it withstood the barrage. Of course my computer was going wacky with Dings! and such as each was blocked but atleast it worked well. Now if only I can get something like that for my sister’s cooking I might live another 20 years.

The only true problems I have with IE 7 is that it firstly uses more RAM on some pages versus other browsers. Not that I have RAM problems, it’s just a preference to use the lowest demanding and most efficient browser possible.

My only other problem is I don’t like the interface. The initial one until you drag things about. I’d prefer they’d have kept the menu bar showing the address bar at the bottom just like in previous versions. Aesthetically it is a pleasing browser. Utilization at first can be a pain in the tush but it’s easy to grasp and move past.

That’s it! All I got to say. Try it out and you won’t be disappointed. However I’ll stick to my fox. It’s such a pretty thing!
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