IE 7 Beta 2 Review | PSU News May 2006

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Windows IE 7 Beta 2 Quick Review David Miller, Marketing Manager, PSU IT Voice and Data Ltd.

First off, let me say that is is not meant to be an exhaustive review of this yet to be launched product. It is meant more as an 'at a glance' snapshot of the most useable features. I won't look at any of the security improvements or improvements in coding. I think IE has come a long way since the stratospheric overhaul from IE2 to IE3 to stop Netscape shooting off into the distance, but that was many years ago. IE7 is not as greater leap as that, but it has addressed most of the useability issues that saw me installing Firefox a few months ago. It is also easy to see how it will complement the look and feel of Vista.

The best enhancements I've found so far:

Clutter Free GUI - A much simplified top bar still giving you all the buttons you need. Favourites can be accessed by clicking the 'star'. RSS button lights when it detects a news feed on that page.

Tabbed Browsing - This was one of the reasons I started to use Firefox. IE 7 now benefits from tabs allowing you to open multiple pages under different tabs, then click easily between them. You only have button open in the tray.

Multi Tabs on Launch - A great feature that Firefox also gave me. In IE 7 you can set multiple pages to load in tabs when you launch the program. Great for getting yourself started faster in the morning. Firefox has an excellent (if not good practise) username and password tool that auto-populates login fields enabling and even faster boost of efficiency at 9.00am. I haven't found that in IE 7 yet.

Quick Tabs Viewer - Just to the left of the tabs there is a button that launches a very useful quick tabs screen that displays each tabs content across one screen. This content is live and allows you to see everything that's open at a glance. You can then select full screen by clicking on one of the pages.

Shrink Page to Fit when printing - The bain of web designers and users alike has now been alleviated by the ability to 'shrink a page to fit' allowing web sites to be printed as they were designed. There are additional size formats set by percentage but the 'shrink to fit' is definitely the most useful.

Zoom Tool - Part of the improved accessibility feature set allowing users to view at their preferred zoom setting. Presets range from 50% to 400% plus a custom setting.

Anti-Phishing Tool - I haven't really played with this tool yet however I welcome the knowledge that's it's there and enabled. Maybe I'll just add it to my collection of running applications such as Adaware, Spy Bot and Microsoft Defender.

Built-in Google Search Box in Toolbar - I shouldn't really call it a Google serach box as you can choose you're preferred search engine from a list on the Microsoft site. There seems to be new search engines being added every day which you can select to install. You can then default your favourite and choose from the drop down list dependent on what you're searching for, ie chairs on e bay, or Black Eyed Peas on MTV.

RSS Newsreader showing site feeds - A welcome feature allowing you to subscribe to RSS news feeds and view/read them in your browser. It does away with the need for a separate reader.

As you can see this is by no means an exhaustive survey but more of a frequent users view of the good bits. In conclusion, I like it and it certainly seems more solid than the previous preview version I tested a month ago. On the whole the only thing I miss is the Firefox password program that auto poulates logins, meaning that I'll keep Firefox for regularly visited pages that require login supplimented by IE 7 for daily browsing. No great shakes.