It is long time since Microsoft has given a true update to Internet Explorer. There has been update to Internet Explorer constantly, significantly from version 4 to version 5 then to version 6 and now version 6 sp2.
There has been lot of security fixes in these version rather than any UI improvements or rather features improvement.
IE 7 has included number of feature improvements, UI improvements and of course improved security etc.
UI improvements include tabbed browsing support, in built search bar (just like firefox), RSS support.
IE 7 can also be loaded without add-on so that it can run well even if your add-on has been infected. Another feature is that it has Anti Phishing Technology which ensures that the data reaches to the correct destination without being hacked.
There are many hick ups when I started using the beta 1 version of Internet explorer. First was it was not compatible with YAHOO MAIL or rather YAHOO MAIL does not support IE 7. So the look and feel goes back like old version of YAHOO mail. I suffered because I changed the setting to old setting in yahoo and cannot bring it back. Until a day yahoo mail had the old look and now it is reset back to current yahoo look and feel.
Second big head ache comes here, VIRTUAL MACHINE FOR JAVA. Huh I cannot believe Microsoft goes ding dong ding dong with JVM support. Earlier browsers had Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java which enables java applet to load on internet explorer. From Windows XP that comes with IE 6, Microsoft stopped providing Microsoft Virtual machine for Java and now if you want to view a site that contains java applet, the java virtual machine for windows has to be downloaded and installed. This made big problem for the users who have limited internet connection or dial-up connection. Java Virtual machine was approximately 10 Meg. In IE 7 Microsoft again brought back Microsoft virtual machine for Java. But the big problem is it clashes with existing java virtual machine existing on the system (if you are upgrading from machine installed with IE 6 and JVM). So now you have uninstalled all the Java Virtual machines so that the browser will load virtual machine correctly. Otherwise there is big problem in loading many sites. I cannot understand the company stands here. Every time the users want to upgrade something they cannot simply upgrade but have to go behind the upgrade which is it is not a simple update but update after update.
So there is no support for all contents that are currently on web and you have to work on the machine to ensure that browser works as it worked before.
There are still more, Microsoft IE 7 has tabbed browsing this time. Tabbed browsing is there from Opera 5 or earlier (I started using from Opera 5). Also now firefox has tabbed browsing. When we compare the SOFTWARE Giant’s browser with a open source BROWSER features are still lagging. Firefox provides more stability, security. Tabbed browsing experience though is good is not great. It takes approximate 8 seconds to load a new tab when I click Ctrl + T (My system running with 2.6 Ghz processor + 512 RAM – High end system). I changed the advanced option to show the tab immediately after creating. Even then it took around 8 second to load a new tab (which is same as current MSN TOOLBAR ADDON TABBED BROWSING). I am not using MSN toolbar’s tabbed browsing feature because of slow in loading the tabs and instability. When comparing to Firefox or Opera whose loading of tab is spontaneous (<= 1 sec) I feel real tabbed browsing experience there.
I Love Microsoft technologies but I am here to say that I am disappointed with Internet explorer 7. I would like to stress that “I AM DISAPPOINTED”. I was expecting Microsoft to deliver a product that would outperform others in the market. Though I find very nice to use Internet explorer 7, I don’t find it as a great browser still. I am still using IE 6 and Firefox. I am still having big hopes because it is just in beta stages (BETA 1) and there will be lot of improvements after this beta testing.
Until Full version comes out, if you are not a enthusiasts (like me) please stick to your current browser. Happy browsing..
Cheers
Barath
There has been lot of security fixes in these version rather than any UI improvements or rather features improvement.
IE 7 has included number of feature improvements, UI improvements and of course improved security etc.
UI improvements include tabbed browsing support, in built search bar (just like firefox), RSS support.
IE 7 can also be loaded without add-on so that it can run well even if your add-on has been infected. Another feature is that it has Anti Phishing Technology which ensures that the data reaches to the correct destination without being hacked.
There are many hick ups when I started using the beta 1 version of Internet explorer. First was it was not compatible with YAHOO MAIL or rather YAHOO MAIL does not support IE 7. So the look and feel goes back like old version of YAHOO mail. I suffered because I changed the setting to old setting in yahoo and cannot bring it back. Until a day yahoo mail had the old look and now it is reset back to current yahoo look and feel.
Second big head ache comes here, VIRTUAL MACHINE FOR JAVA. Huh I cannot believe Microsoft goes ding dong ding dong with JVM support. Earlier browsers had Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java which enables java applet to load on internet explorer. From Windows XP that comes with IE 6, Microsoft stopped providing Microsoft Virtual machine for Java and now if you want to view a site that contains java applet, the java virtual machine for windows has to be downloaded and installed. This made big problem for the users who have limited internet connection or dial-up connection. Java Virtual machine was approximately 10 Meg. In IE 7 Microsoft again brought back Microsoft virtual machine for Java. But the big problem is it clashes with existing java virtual machine existing on the system (if you are upgrading from machine installed with IE 6 and JVM). So now you have uninstalled all the Java Virtual machines so that the browser will load virtual machine correctly. Otherwise there is big problem in loading many sites. I cannot understand the company stands here. Every time the users want to upgrade something they cannot simply upgrade but have to go behind the upgrade which is it is not a simple update but update after update.
So there is no support for all contents that are currently on web and you have to work on the machine to ensure that browser works as it worked before.
There are still more, Microsoft IE 7 has tabbed browsing this time. Tabbed browsing is there from Opera 5 or earlier (I started using from Opera 5). Also now firefox has tabbed browsing. When we compare the SOFTWARE Giant’s browser with a open source BROWSER features are still lagging. Firefox provides more stability, security. Tabbed browsing experience though is good is not great. It takes approximate 8 seconds to load a new tab when I click Ctrl + T (My system running with 2.6 Ghz processor + 512 RAM – High end system). I changed the advanced option to show the tab immediately after creating. Even then it took around 8 second to load a new tab (which is same as current MSN TOOLBAR ADDON TABBED BROWSING). I am not using MSN toolbar’s tabbed browsing feature because of slow in loading the tabs and instability. When comparing to Firefox or Opera whose loading of tab is spontaneous (<= 1 sec) I feel real tabbed browsing experience there.
I Love Microsoft technologies but I am here to say that I am disappointed with Internet explorer 7. I would like to stress that “I AM DISAPPOINTED”. I was expecting Microsoft to deliver a product that would outperform others in the market. Though I find very nice to use Internet explorer 7, I don’t find it as a great browser still. I am still using IE 6 and Firefox. I am still having big hopes because it is just in beta stages (BETA 1) and there will be lot of improvements after this beta testing.
Until Full version comes out, if you are not a enthusiasts (like me) please stick to your current browser. Happy browsing..
Cheers
Barath