Microsoft Retorts with New IE 7

Techtree News Staff, Apr 27, 2006 1405 hrs IST

Microsoft has launched a new version of Internet Explorer (IE) 7, retorting to allegations regarding vulnerability of the earlier version...

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Microsoft has launched a refurbished version of Internet Explorer (IE) 7, retorting to the various allegations regarding the earlier version's vulnerability to malicious programs like viruses and worms, and to other nasty tactics of hackers.

According to reports, the vulnerability of IE 7 has been the main cause behind users shifted loyalties to alternative browsers.
Dean Hachamovitch, general manager - Internet Explorer development, Microsoft, said that the new beta available for free download to English-language customers includes fixes for problems that were causing Internet Explorer 7 to stop working.

IE 7 Beta 2, which Microsoft will release both as a stand-alone browser and as an integrated component of Windows Vista, includes a number of new features and functionalities including tabbed browsing, advanced printing, integrated RSS feed support, anti-phishing, and other security-focused enhancements, as also more standards-adherent CSS support.

Other new features include the ability to automatically open several frequently-used Web sites at once and print Web pages so the content doesn't get cut-off on the right side. The new browser allows users to tailor search functions, aggregating searches from various sources.

The new improved IE 7 can magnify pages, enlarging fonts and making them easier to read. It includes improved security and a tabbed browsing feature, long available in Firefox and Opera, which allows users to open more than one Web page in each window of the browser.
The latest version will also provide color-coded warnings when a user tries to access a Web site that is suspicious or known as fraudulent.
IE 7 Beta 2 installs atop IE6, but users can remove the test release and revert back if necessary. It is available for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 in both 32-bit and 64-bit variants.

The test version of IE 7 is backed by free telephone support to consumers in North America, Germany, and Japan. A final version of the browser is expected to release later in 2006.

USER COMMENTS

the IE 7 sucks. too many vulnerabilities to viruses especially the IEFRAME.dll file. It just got deleted by the antivirus and no one can help not even Microsoft? They do not know how to fix the problem and I am stuck

by Joshi, Mumbai, on May 11, 2006 05:54 PM, Report abuse Reply

For all those who think IE7 is grt, Faster and beau and all that bullshit, i have one question for u. does it run on linux? Just think MS has the most resources to make a state of the art browser that can put any one to shame...unfortunalty they are not able to.....bottom line, they don't have the skill (talent/capability) to come up with something new than to just copy from others (opera/Firefox). M$ is nuthing but a bunch of people who are like those guys who used to copy form your paper in school. I am sure that who so ever said they liked IE7 and are switching to it will be comming back and kissing the feet of firefox once the bugs in IE7 come out. SmD IE users.

by defmer, Hyderabad, on May 05, 2006 03:31 PM, Report abuse Reply

Too little too late, Microsoft has lost the browser war

by Adam, Perth, on Apr 27, 2006 06:19 PM, Report abuse Reply

Lost the Browser War?! Ha... Netscape lost the browser war... which was strong with ver 3.x. Now Microsoft HAS over 90% + of all users. This is based in facts- looking at web stats on everyone of my sites.

by Dave, Toledo, on Apr 28, 2006 01:38 AM, Report abuse

"Lost the Browser War?! Ha... Netscape lost the browser war... which was strong with ver 3.x. Now Microsoft HAS over 90% + of all users. This is based in facts- looking at web stats on everyone of my sites." - Deduct me from that fake "90% users" stats. Many of the webdevelopers sold to M$ use tricks to force their website users to "Use Only IE". This is why your website shows 90% IE users. Otherwise MSIE is no where close to the Opera/Firefox features. With IE7 M$ is trying to copy the features available in these two browsers(Just like M$ did in .Net case, directly copied from Java). Ever heard off OS/2 and why it failed??? M$ is very smart. And plz dont try to tell me the truth(!???). I am using Internet since 1999, and I know how Netscape Navigator got killed.

by Ashish, Lucknow, on May 04, 2006 06:41 PM, Report abuse

You need IE, period. There are a whole lot of idiots posing as web designers who blindly create web sites compatible with IE only, and this includes sites for Banks. What do you do if you need to go to these sites.

by Pradip Shah, Mumbai, on Apr 28, 2006 07:35 AM, Report abuse Reply

Yes. you are right. BSNL's Dataone account checking website is created by such kinda webdesigner. If I go to account checking page using Opera and the browser is Identified as Opera/Mozzila, a message is shown "Sorry IE is needed". And if I change the Identification, I can go thru pages using the same Opera.

by OperaUser, OperaFanClub, on May 04, 2006 06:08 PM, Report abuse

Please send the IE 7 package in this Email address.

by Shahid Ahmed, Ambur, on Apr 30, 2006 10:36 AM, Report abuse Reply

what happpened to my email? It no longer exists!!!!!

by Fred, Palm Springs, on Apr 29, 2006 07:11 PM, Report abuse Reply

Linux is worth for a try!!

by Jack, JackVille, on Apr 27, 2006 03:31 PM, Report abuse Reply

peche lelo linux

by chimpu chirkut, kyon bataoon, on Apr 29, 2006 08:30 AM, Report abuse

Nothing is better than Firefox, definitely. It is available both on Windows and GNU/Linux platforms and is much more secure than IE.

by Asix, Paracin, on Apr 27, 2006 05:22 PM, Report abuse Reply

I love firefox, it is awesome and opensource. I am using IE7 right now though, it is faster, and firefox is a little buggy at times. yeah the cross platform thing will continue to make firefox 'special'.

by Jason, Jasonville, on Apr 28, 2006 11:07 PM, Report abuse

After I download my system will not install it. What's wrong

by Gary, Mechanicburg, on Apr 28, 2006 07:17 PM, Report abuse Reply

For all u people opera has also launched the beta of the latest version 9.0 which is 500% better than IE7 . it has a phishing filter , great popup blocker , voice commands , WIDGETS and a built in torrent downloader

by Smriti, Delhi, on Apr 28, 2006 04:04 PM, Report abuse Reply

AA Shani chal wantas ki goli le...Opera wale ke sath tera chakkar chal raha hai kya...

by Navneet Vasnat, Nagpur, on Apr 28, 2006 06:59 PM, Report abuse

IE7 will suck, IE8 will suck, IE9 will suck, IEn will suck. Stop it okay, IE is dead, and the browser wars are over. So now Micropee can move on to some of their other inferior products that need attention.

by bblar, sdf, on Apr 28, 2006 01:27 AM, Report abuse Reply

We don't know what they will be like at all. We need to wait and see.

by Daniel, HI, on Apr 28, 2006 07:06 AM, Report abuse

I tried IE7 and is works much better then opera or firefox.... and I run it on 1gHz 128Ram computer. It is compatible, safe(because of low use I'm sure), easy to use and fast

by Roelof, Koekange, on Apr 28, 2006 03:22 PM, Report abuse

I am switching back to IE7 from using FireFox for over a year. IE7 is a very nice upgrade to teh old IE6. I like the fact that compared to FireFox it is very fast. I like teh way it handles RSS feeds a lot better also. I like FireFoxs option to open many feeds from a single source at once. But all in all IE7 does a better job with key sites I use often. I wish there was a nice ad blocker for IE7 but by diddling with the hosts file I am able to block many obnoxious ads found on the internet even in IE7 so it isn't so bad. The zoom feature of IE7 seems to be better than the extensions avaiable in FireFox. managing FAVORITES is way easier in IE7 that in dealing with FireFox's bookmarks.

by Victor Healey, Marietta, GA, on Apr 28, 2006 07:09 AM, Report abuse Reply

I agree and thanks to Microsoft for their updates. Keep up the excellent work and keep us inform of new technologies.

by JGR, Gatineau, on Apr 28, 2006 03:10 PM, Report abuse

So once IE 7 is released, how long do you think it will be before another update? 6 or 7 years? That is how long M$ let IE stagnate, meaning NO innovation! M$ mo is crush the competition at the cost of the consumer. They don't give a damn about anything except your dollars and what little they have to do to get it. I hope IE 7 fails. Firefox is a much better browser and much more secure browser than IE ever was. Besides Firefox is innovating all the time. Everyone who uses it can create a plug-in or theme for it if they want. Firefox adheres to the w3c standards. It is past time for a market shift. It is time as consumers to say enough medocrity and crap that the M$ machine spews. It is time to take control of your PC. Windows has become a liability, it is time for a change. Right now I will settle for killing IE off and separating the browser from the OS.

by AstralNavigator, 4, on Apr 28, 2006 01:36 AM, Report abuse Reply

Bro Firefox also copied many things from Opera and recently phishing filter for Firefox 2 was copied from IE7 !!!! The only browser that is constantly innovative is Opera. It is also more secure. Firefox is the worst program in terms of memory leak. Its like a mammoth eating away ur RAM !!!

by Tomal, Dhaka, on Apr 28, 2006 11:32 AM, Report abuse

This is good when i read that microsoft has launched its new version.microsoft operating system are using is all over the world but microsoft can not compete with the sun,linux,unix,because microsoft has not ability to control users on server side.More information should be given by the microsoft to the students because they are the marketing manager for the microsoft.

by Aitzaz Abid Far, Lahore(Pakistan), on Apr 28, 2006 11:28 AM, Report abuse Reply

it's only meant for WinXP service pack 2...what about the SP1 users??

by amit, mumbai, on Apr 28, 2006 10:55 AM, Report abuse Reply

People don't give up on IE. It gets better. Microsoft is not any more Bill Gates or Steve Balmer's or 60 employess of Microsoft any more. It's ours and we are all own the company, regardless of like or dislike. Let us support Microsoft's effort to bring quality products on our table.

by Vidyasagar Madd, Seattle, Washington, on Apr 28, 2006 01:48 AM, Report abuse Reply

Make sure to take deep breaths of air when you gulp that much cool aid!

by Boss Hogg, calico, on Apr 28, 2006 02:18 AM, Report abuse

Absolutely true. We must not forget that it was Windows and IE that started the computer revolution. The ease-of-use in Microsoft's product is remarkable. Though, I must concede that Opera is very, very fast. But I son't know why it has all the Java - related problems even on very popular sites. IE does have the advantage of wider compatibility.

by Rohit Mishra, Patna, on Apr 28, 2006 10:38 AM, Report abuse

I do agree MS has lost the browser war. I have a website and when I look at the statistics of the visiting user its almost like a 55:45 ration for IE and Firefox. Sooner or later its going to be 40:60 or even better 20:80.

by Anonymous, Chennai, on Apr 28, 2006 07:50 AM, Report abuse Reply

It never listens to me at all.

by Daniel, Hilo, HI, on Apr 28, 2006 07:01 AM, Report abuse Reply

Google is now backing Firefox. M$ is finished. Do you think that Google will fire Bill and Steve when that buy the remnants of M$ in a couple of years? I have been Winbloze free since 2003. Fedora Core 5 is the best Linux OS yet!

by Fedora User, Saratoga Springs, on Apr 28, 2006 03:21 AM, Report abuse Reply

it would not download any file, wav., adobe, or excel

by Anonymous, long beach, on Apr 28, 2006 03:11 AM, Report abuse Reply

gsfsdfgsdfgsdfgsdfg

by sdfgsdf, gsdfg, on Apr 28, 2006 03:09 AM, Report abuse Reply

i think i'll jump off a bridge because everyone else is doing it and others are telling me to do it.

by kenrod, independence, on Apr 28, 2006 02:12 AM, Report abuse Reply

Installed it on my pavilion notebook... IE crashed every single time i opened... Just kept getting the send error report msg every 2 mins and cudnt even open 1 page!!! Opened a ticket with MS...got a reply saying thanks for the bug :)

by shachin, pune, on Apr 28, 2006 12:46 AM, Report abuse Reply

wow........a whole six comments against MS. Must mean the whole world is against them. MS is the number ONE market share. no dispute............thats the sole reason there are problems with it, because sooo many people have it. If a FORD FOCUS was the only car on the road, then all fatalities would be attributed to the ford FOCUS and people would demand more selection. gimme a break. 99% of all vunerabilities are becuase people dont take steps to protect themselves. its teh USERS' responsibility to protect tehmselves.....PERIOD. if you set up wireless with a linksys router, dont put a key on it, and someone jacks your connection, it isnt LINKSYS's fault.

by tckl-tme, eureka, on Apr 27, 2006 11:02 PM, Report abuse Reply

But what happens when you put in the key & all security drills are done but still you are jacked 'coz there was a hole in the internal system functioning of the Linksys. Who should be blamed the user who used the product or the company which cornered billions of dollers but didn't provided a secure system!! By the way Microsoft products are widely used 'coz there was no alternative interest in people for OS's Linux is good but without proper backing they are limited in this market. Lastly what about the people who actually buy these softwares & end up getting a compromised system

by Ravi Kumar, Jalandhar, on Apr 27, 2006 11:52 PM, Report abuse

You can call it "copying" older browsers ideas, but I choose to think of it as Microsoft listening to their users- they wanted tabbed browsing, so they got it- despite what firefox has. So stop complaining that IE7 does what Firefox is doing.

by Michael, Chicago, on Apr 27, 2006 11:46 PM, Report abuse Reply

So, basically, IE7 is doing what Firefox is already doing... I wonder if M$ could maybe integrate IE7 into an OS where licensing cost are reasonable. Nahhhhh, why bother...

by flipknob, Superior, on Apr 27, 2006 11:39 PM, Report abuse Reply

It doesn't work on many machines. I was able to load it on my laptop, but not on any of six Dell computers at work and home.

by ppac, Hadley, on Apr 27, 2006 04:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hmmm . . . IE7 beta 2 loaded and works very well on my Dell Dimension and Dell laptop. Maybe a cockpit problem? :P

by Chas, Portland, on Apr 27, 2006 11:25 PM, Report abuse

Some please develop an alternative to microsoft OSes. The time is right now.

by Ashish, thane, on Apr 27, 2006 03:13 PM, Report abuse Reply

Use Mac OS X

by vijay, Mumbai, on Apr 27, 2006 05:17 PM, Report abuse