internet explorer 7 beta available for download!

[Omar]

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Internet-Explorer-7-Download-25028.html

Nice to see that windows update can be accessed in tools at the top of the browser.

The checking web sites for suspicious behaviour is a nice feature!

Pehaps microsoft have finally woken up and really do take security seriously

[Spyros]

Now all those bored hackers have finally found a new summer hobby 
    

[DavidR]

This is a beta that can have a direct impact on your system security, not to mention it is difficult to get back to IE6 if you experience problems.

This is not for the faint hearted and really should prepare yourself for the worst case scenario and have some form of partition/HDD image backup strategy. Or run it in either a virtual environment or better still on a system that is not critical and you don't mind formatting and starting again.

I for one with only one system (with a good imaging backup strategy) won't be playing with this until a little after it has been released to Gold code (final public non-beta release).

This is not to say I think it is flawed, just let someone else be the MS guinea pigs.

[essexboy]

There's allways one dummy and I'm it.  Running now on IE7  scarrrrrrrrrrrry

[DavidR]

You may well have no problems at, but this is a very early beta and I don't have that much confidence in MS getting something like this right first time round.

If you do experience any problems I hope that you have a recovery strategy. There is supposed to be a way to get back to IE6 but it is likely to be buried in the MS Knowledge Base area.

I did a pre-emptive google search on 'revert to IE6 from IE7 beta' which returns lots of hits, so you should have a way out if need be.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=revert+to+IE6+from+IE7+beta

[essexboy]

Yep I do have a recovery image available  and a spare partition

[thedon57]

Hi just come from microsoft site and downloaded writeup on IE7 beta it is certainly going to be an inprovement on IE6.
The whole report runs to 27 pages, which makes some interesting reading at least microsoft are trying to get it write, and i look forward to reading some more on it.

[DavidR]

I would much rather get my information/feedback on IE7 from independent reviewers/sources rather than the marketing hype, MS said similar things about IE6, everything from improving your internet experience to contributing to world peace (well perhaps not that).

At this moment in time I don't believe that this early even MS know exactly what will be in gold release version of IE7, they may well have plans to include lots of functions, but it wouldn't be the first time things have been dropped as deadlines slip. Longhorn/vista was meant to include a new file system to replace NTFS but this has been dropped.

There will no doubt in the next few months be many independent reports on the functions currently in IE7 beta1 and how they acquit themselves, that is where I will be looking.

We will ultimately have to install the final release of IE7 as it too will be an integral part of the OS, but I will be in no rush even when it goes gold. As for using it, that is a whole different ball of wax, I will probably stick with firefox.

[Omar]

I took your advice David, i had installed the beta but was a bit worried with what you said.

So I used system restore to get back to internet explorer 6 and it worked fine!

[essexboy]

5 hours and no crash.  Tabbed browsing uses the same mouse actions as FF.  No refresh button on the browser. Activex warnings no longer appear at the top of the browser but on the page where the activex will be activated.  The anti-phishing appears to be working but I have yet to find a bad site to try it on.  Does not work with web mail on BTYahoo, classified as an unrecognised browser.  But I only use web mail for spam anyway.  There is the facility to clear cache and cookies from the tools menu. Appears to resolve web pages faster than IE6, maybe a tad faster than FF.  Tab elements on the top bar need refining as it leaves markers when tabs are closed.  The saga continues

[DavidR]

I took your advice David, i had installed the beta but was a bit worried with what you said.

So I used system restore to get back to internet explorer 6 and it worked fine!

I think that was a wise decision, however I'm not sure how successful it will have been just using system restore to roll back, rather than some form of restoring IE6 in one of the google search hits. There might be some residual stuff left behind taking up HDD space and any potential conflict with a wrong version of an IE dll file, etc.

IE7 isn't just a browser beta but an integral part of the OS, so using a beta that has potential to compromise your OS and if you aren't able to easily set your system up again.

I would love it if IE wasn't an integral part of the OS so if your browser is compromised it doesn't automatically mean your system too is compromised. This is one of the major security points of firefox, also no BHOs and no activeX, period.

[Lisandro]

But I have yet to find a bad site to try it on.

Living dangerously  

[DavidR]

I think the best site test will come soon, on the next patch Tuesday at windows update

[neal62]

I don't know if any of you have heard of the browser called "Deepnet". It's an I.E. based browser. I have been testing it the past week or so. It does have a Phishing Alarm that can be set at any of 3 detection levels. The browser also has other nice features. I don't know whether I.E. 7 Beta will have a better Phishing alarm feature or not. Might want to check this one out.

[YLAP]

There's allways one dummy and I'm it.  Running now on IE7  scarrrrrrrrrrrry

I think I'm not going to download this "thing" until it will be final version. As all possible unknown security holes scares me too. Besides, I'm happy with stability of my system so I don't want to ruin it.