Anyone tried IE7 beta yet?

[ddadmin]

So I downloaded IE7 beta 2 PR this weekend, just because I was bored. About the only thing I think Firefox is missing versus IE7 right now is the "Quick Tabs" feature that lets you view your tab sites as thumbnails for easy selection. Other than that, the buttons are too small, and page loading feels slowly than Firefox.

Oh yes, having installed IE7, I don't notice an easy way to uninstall it, and it overwrites your IE6. I'd install this on a test computer if I were you.

[jscheuer1]

I'm going to wait until the full release comes out. I've heard hints that many of the workarounds that have become second nature to many of us will either no longer be needed or may actually cause problems in the new version. Hopefully the full release will be fully backwards compatible. If not, I've already worked out the use of conditional comments in some situations to shield the new browser from its older cousin's hacks.

[mwinter]

About the only thing I think Firefox is missing versus IE7 right now is the "Quick Tabs" feature that lets you view your tab sites as thumbnails for easy selection.

Firefox would never include that as a base feature; it's supposed to be a light browser. However, someone can always write an extension to reproduce a similar behaviour, and perhaps someone already has:

• Tab Sidebar
• Firefox Showcase
• Fox Pager
• Ctrl Tab Preview
• Tab Catalog
• Viamatic foXpose
• Viamatic Tabnail

You'll have to tell me if you consider any of those to be useful.

Oh yes, having installed IE7, I don't notice an easy way to uninstall it, and it overwrites your IE6.

There's always a standalone version of IE 6 (courtesy of the evolt.org browser archive). You might want to test that first though, too (but at least you won't need a separate machine to do it ).

Mike

[ddadmin]

I think the Quick Tabs feature works best if you have a smaller screen, and your tabs quickly fill up your horizontal space.

BTW, I took a quick screenshot of Quick Tabs in IE7 right now.

[sleipner]

I plan on waiting at least a year before I even download IE 7 - IE 5 was out quite a while and took a few years to get to a decent usability with 5.5, and then v6 came out and took quite a while to become usable - so I very much expect v7 to be the same way

btw: yes I use Windows machines (kinda hard to switch after 10 years of being a windows guy), but that doesnt mean I cant acknowledge M$'s non-existent business ethics and flawed programs - check out my slashdot sig - "I'll switch back to IE when M$ makes Windows open-source"

[djr33]

It's funny. I need to reformat my PC.
spyware and such has made IE unusuable... it freezes when it opens, and, if it ever does start working, it takes forever to do anything and then my screen is filled with popups.
I use mozilla and I'm never going back.
I do need to reformat my PC, though... just never felt like backing everything up to the point of being able to do so without losing too much.

Anyone know if all the security holes are fixed? Or is it just as bad as before?

[ddadmin]

I don't think IE7 beta2 contains any new security fixes that IE6 does not. It'd be foolish for Microsoft to not sync the two browsers when it comes to security at least. The only thing I know IE7 beta2 has now that IE6 lacks is the anti phishing feature. But then again, do people who know their way around the net really need such a feature?

[sleipner]

djr33 - have you tried anti spyware scans with MS Defender/"Anti Spyware beta", spybot, and antivirus scans (personally I use Avast, and both those antispyware packages)

it may be the obvious answer of yes, otherwise, if you haven't try that before a full reformat...

[jscheuer1]

It's funny. I need to reformat my PC.
spyware and such has made IE unusuable... it freezes when it opens, and, if it ever does start working, it takes forever to do anything and then my screen is filled with popups.
I use mozilla and I'm never going back.
I do need to reformat my PC, though... just never felt like backing everything up to the point of being able to do so without losing too much.

djr33 - have you tried anti spyware scans with MS Defender/"Anti Spyware beta", spybot, and antivirus scans (personally I use Avast, and both those antispyware packages)

it may be the obvious answer of yes, otherwise, if you haven't try that before a full reformat...

All good ideas. Also, 'innocent' third party addons like Google Toolbar can sometimes cause some of these problems, especially if you also have third party utilities integrated into your windows explorer (the thing that looks at the files on your computer) as it uses much of the code from IE. Making sure you have all the windows updates including the monthly 'malicious software removal utility' that are a part of MS Automatic Update program is also a good idea.

[djr33]

I'ved used spybot plenty... it seems beyond repair. Really, I just need to reformat, but no time yet. It's not a big deal.. just kinda annoying.

Hmm... installation/use of gmail notifier was right around that time... maybe it's related... weird.