Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Microsoft
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Microsoft offers Internet Explorer 7 Public Beta 3

The latest version is more secure than earlier releases

June 29, 2006 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Microsoft today posted a mildly revised and more secure Beta 3 version of Internet Explorer 7 free for public download.

New features and functionality in the Beta 3 release include:

  • All security updates for IE7 released through June.
  • The ability to drag-and-drop reorder browser tabs in the tabbed-browsing bar.
  • The reappearance of the optional read e-mail button for the customizable "Command" bar, or main toolbar.
  • The Web page zoom-in scaling feature adds a horizontal scroll bar automatically.
  • A global RSS feed settings dialog.
  • A global RSS "refresh now" function.
  • Additional work carried out since the Beta 2 release aimed at improving Web-site compatibility.
 
Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3, showing drag-and-drop tabs
(Click image to see larger view)

Missing from the what's new list, and perhaps the most significant change since the Beta 2 release, is Microsoft's publicly stated commitment -- first articulated by Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates on May 24 at Microsoft's WinHEC conference in Seattle -- that IE is being placed back on a fast, 18-month development cycle after IE7 ships.

"If it takes longer than 18 months to ship the next version of Internet Explorer, then we're not doing our jobs right," said Gary Schare, Microsoft's General Manager of Internet Explorer.

In response to a question about why IE7 isn't expanding features and functionality more aggressively, Schare acknowledged that the goal of IE7 wasn't to win back market share from Mozilla, but merely to update IE7 to currently expected levels of browser functionality. The shorter development track could mean that browser users will see a far more advanced IE some time in 2008.

Computerworld obtained a late "preview" version of IE7 Beta 3, which did not have all the bug fixes and refinements Microsoft projected would be evident in the version now available for public download. The added usability tweaks are welcome, but the preview code did exhibit some minor performance and reliability issues.

The preview of Beta 3 takes up 12.8MB of hard drive space. IE7 requires Windows XP Service Pack 2. It's important to uninstall any previous version of IE7 before installing this one. Installation of beta software is not recommended in production environments.

IE7 does install some operating system components; it may be uninstalled from Add or Remove Programs.

For more information on IE7 Beta 3, see Microsoft's IE7 Beta 3 checklists, release notes and add-ons page.

Read more about windows in Computerworld's Windows Knowledge Center.



Jump to comments

Microsoft

Additional Resources

EFD vs. HDD - What You Need to Know
WHITE PAPER
Enterprise flash drives provide a new Tier 0 storage layer capable of delivering high I/O performance at a very low latency. Proper use of EFDs in an Oracle environment can deliver increased performance compared to fibre channel drives. Read the recommendations for identification of the best DB components for EFDs.
Gartner Research Report: Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers, 2009
WHITE PAPER
The market for products to improve the delivery of application software over networks remains dynamic and innovative. Vendors focused on solving enterprises' most-pressing application problems have become the top players.
Eight Criteria for Server Load Balancing
WHITE PAPER
Server load balancers are a simple yet highly effective means to scale an application environment while ensuring its availability. Today's solutions should also address application performance and security. Read about the top eight criteria you should consider when choosing a server load balancer and how Citrix NetScaler meets those requirements.

White Papers & Webcasts

The Workday User Experience Video
Watch Workday's Creative Director, Scott Lietzke, discuss the business-centered design philosophy at Workday.

Business Process Framework Demo
Learn about Configurable Business Processes and Calculated Fields. Watch Now!

Manager Experience Demo
Go beyond self-service solutions to perform more effectively. Watch Now.


IT Jobs