Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 Review

I remember Microsoft's first iteration of Internet Explorer released in the mid-1990's; the interface was clunky, slow, ugly, and not very user friendly. That earlier release was based upon the Mosaic web browser developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications' (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Late last year Microsoft released the newest version of its (free) Internet browser, Internet Explorer (I.E.) 7.0 after almost a year of Beta testing.  This new version, which has been released for Windows XP (SP2), Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, and Windows 2003 (SP1) and Windows Vista, is far and away a better browser then the one it is replacing: IE 6.0.  With IE 7.0 finally comes tabbed browsing and word processor like printing. 

My Viewpoint

I had been Beta testing I.E. 7.0 since Microsoft released the Beta 2 code to certain business customers in the spring of 2006.  That initial release was, well, buggy, but far less so then the full release of I.E. 6.0.  I have to admit that I almost immediately took to the new browser; mainly because of tabbed browsing (yes it far past time I.E. included tabbed browsing).  I.E. 7.0 now looks and feels like Windows Vista with its Aero desktop motif, rounded edges, and glass-like appearance. 

My one gripe is favorites; somehow Microsoft managed to ruin (make worst) the functionality of favorites.  Adding to your favorites is not a simple affair; the process is unnecessarily cumbersome; e.g. by default all of links are expanded with no way to collapse them.  This can become old quickly, if you like me, has a large list of favorites and you want to add another quickly.  It seems to me like old ways were better; why fix what's not broken.    

On an up note I.E. 7.0 uses the same amount of resources no matter how many tabs are open-that is if it is behaving.  And they are contained within the core I.E. 7.0 application; there is no need to open up multiple instances of Internet Explorer.  This is a vast improvement over past versions of the browser. 

Printing has also improved greatly; I.E. 7.0 allows the user to control the look and size of the printed output; no more wasted pages!  That feature in and of itself is worth an upgrade.  By default the page is set to "Shrink to Fit," but it can be enlarged to as much as 200% or reduced to as little as 30% or its original size.  You can also toggle on and off the page headers and footers, as well as change the page orientation; it is very frustrating to have to continually waste paper on meaningless footer information when printing most web pages.         

Conclusion

I like this new version of Microsoft's newest browser, version 7.0.  No doubt if you get regular Microsoft updates you have downloaded and possible installed I.E. 7.0.  With its updated interface, tabbed browsing, and improved use of system resources this version of Microsoft's free browser is worth a look.