Internet Explorer 7: Beta 2 Preview
Doth my eyes decieve me? After months of speculation and additions and subtractions, a public beta has surfaced from Redmond. Will I install it for review? At work, probably, since it requires SP2 to download and install (boo!). Is it better than IE6? Definitely, from what people are reporting it's capable of. Better at least than what the Average Joe has by default on his system, but hardly at FF's or Opera's level. Here are some facts reported by the people over at Digg who've taken the plunge: it overwrites IE6 on XP, but can be removed; it has decent CSS support (better at least than before), but fails the same on the Acid2 test; the browser layout uses the menuless system MS is promoting for Office 12 and Vista (not for everyone, but they can still be turned on); the Quick Tabs feature is useful (shows thumbnails of all open tabs), and is also available on FF via the Foxpose extension; the print preview looks streamlined and more customizable. At the end of the day, however, what's important is that the problems of IE6 are addressed and is as easy as possible for regular users to upgrade to a more contemporary and secure browsing experience. Full review to follow once I'm able to test it thoroughly.
[edit: Testing it right now and actually liking it so far.]
A taste of things to come? [Microsoft]
Beta 2 Preview images [Windows Connected]