As everybody knows, Windows Vista is going to be released in January 2007 (Crossing my fingers and hope for the best). Besides a brand new operating system, Microsoft actually is putting a lot work in the Internet Explorer 7. We can see that Microsoft is facing stiff competitions from competitors likes Linux, Mac OS of Apple, FireFox and definitely Google.

To date, Firefox has increased its market share to about 25% and meanwhile Microsoft Internet Explorer (Combined version 5 and 6) has dropped from about 90% market share to now about 65%. Hence, the release of Windows Vista is not just a counter attack of Microsoft towards Linux, Mac OS and other operating systems; the bundled Internet Explorer in Windows Vista also will create a new war in browser market.

Microsoft has promised to make IE7 more secured and definitely more features to help users browsing the ever expanding Internet. So, let’s see whether Internet Explorer 7 is that promising or not by reviewing the Beta version.

First, you can see the interface of Internet Explorer 7 has changed a lot. I would say that the interface looks like Flock ( A new web browser which is going to be released very soon) and also Firefox. Microsoft named the design as streamlined interface and promised to gives us more of what we need and less of what we don’t. I personally think that this design is not creative nor innovative as Flock and Firefox already has implement this so called streamlined interface

The next two features are the RSS feed and Tab browsing. These two features are the distinctive features of Firefox which get a lot of praises from users. Now, Internet Explorer 7 will have these two features too. So, you might ask why you should change back from Firefox to IE7. The answer is, you don’t have to.

The only great feature that I see is the printing feature which makes printing webpages a lot easier as Internet Explorer 7 automatically shrinks text for improved printing , so all webpage content fits on your final printed page. Print options also include adjustable margins, customizable page layouts, removable headers and footers, and changeable print space.

Talking about security of IE7, Microsoft promises that IE7 is robustly architecutred which prevent malicious codes from executing and keep your personal data safe from fraudulent websites and online phishing scams.

So, what is your experience with Internet Explorer 7 ? Discuss at Vista Forum

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7, IE7

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