IE 7 beta 2 out

I've got to thank Martin McKeay for the use of his iriver recorder and 'pipe' looking microphone. He's just as much a part of it as I am!

You can find all our podcasts at podcastroundtable.com

Party's are fun and all, but what do you think of the product? Seriously. I have tried it and so far am not impressed. Firefox will still be my browser of choice for the near future. I am also not against microsoft products as I'm a huge OneNote user, definately the best app of the Office Suite.

-Jeff
http://blog.zemote.com

Google is popping up messages in IE7 to make Google the default search engine. Chk out the link for screen shots. Its just too irritating! What do you think about googles strategy? on this one?

Shree: I won't comment on Google, but in my book things that piss off users are evil. :-)

Jeff, I like it a lot. It renders standards-based sites better than IE 6, is far safer than IE 6, has tabs, and warns me when I'm being Phished.

I like Firefox too, mostly for extensions that help me blog.

IE 7 is gonna be the browser I load on most "normal people's" machines.

Jeff

I'm going to download it soon, and give it a whirl. I've played with it at some conferences, but now i'll download it on my PC.

I'll be doing more of a review later.

So you've said its better than IE 6. Big deal. Everything is better than IE 6. Is it better than Firefox? Doesn't seem to be. And still beta? So what's not done?

Looks like a non-starter to me.

I won't comment on Google, but in my book things that piss off users are evil.

Customers choose google over MSN search by a factor of 6 to 1, and MSN search marketshare is declining.

Microsoft would be doing its customers a favor by using google as a default search tool in IE 7 - and doing its shareholders a favor by ceasing to leverage the Windows monopoly to gain a distributional advantage for MSN search in violation of antitrust law.

"...things that piss off users are evil."

Would you include "Windows Messenger" in that category?. Talk about annoying. That is one impossible to get rid off - in your face - program.

:-p

Hash

I had problems with my McAfeeSuite last time I installed 7. But I didn't have any trouble uninstalling it - I think I used system restore.

Anon:
I agree with your view that people are choosing google over MSN (I am one of them!). Why? Just because Google rocks. But i am very surprised that the same is encouraging intruding pop ups that are totally against there ethics and principles. Which is indeed monopoly...trying to influence a user. Dont you agree? Especially when IE7 already had them as the default search engine (Kudos to MS!)..MS atleast moved away from monopoly to some extent.

I'm always baffled as to why MS dev teams have parties to celebrate shipping a beta. Isn't that just part of the steps towards shipping real code? Sort of like a pilot celebrating lowering the landing gear. It's great IE7 is closer to shipping, but the self congratulations is wierd. I'm reminded of a Chris Rock routine:

"***** always want credit for some shit they're supposed to do. They'll brag about stuff a normal man just does. They'll say something like, “Yeah, well I take care of my kids.” You're supposed to, you dumb *****. “I ain't never been to jail.” Whaddya want? A cookie? You're not supposed to go to jail, you low-expectation-having *****!"

I'm glad to hear you're interviewing the WLMail team again. I'm always excited to hear what's coming down the pipeline.

I hope you asked them about performance issues, user reaction to advertising (negative), and finally firefox and alternative browser support.

Samuel: in fact we talked about all three! Good things ahead on all three of those fronts.

"but in my book things that piss off users are evil. :-)"

Well, then, Robert... :) What pisses me off about IE 7 is that when displaying an RSS feed, IE automatically tramples upon any existing XML stylesheet and replaces it with its own.

I'm 100% in favor of the new RSS support included in IE 7. Make that 110%. But I think this trampling needs to be reserved for raw feeds.

The main reason I use FeedBurner to host my feed is the nice user-friendly style sheets that help the new user locate the aggregator *of their choice*. By removing the FeedBurner style sheet and replacing it with the MS one, IE7 is in effect eliminating choice.

I have a number of suggestions for Internet Explorer. Take it or leave it. I can't use the feedback site because it is down.

1. Remove the text "about:blank" from the web site address. This is really odd text. It's arcane. It's confusing. (Why do you need to know about the blankness?)

2. Change the tab caption to not flash as often. Sometimes it first shows "Blank Page" then switches to "Loading..." and then switches back to "Blank Page" and then finally switches to the title of the target page. It shouldn't be showing the "Blank Page" title after it shows "Loading..."

3. Add an "ad block" feature. Firefox has an extension for blocking ads, which is the main reason that I am going to stick with Firefox.

4. The find dialog still does not work properly. If I press Ctrl+F and start typing immediately, not everything I type will always appear in the find dialog.

5. Opening a new tab is slow--it takes half a second. Firefox, by comparison, is instant.

What’s the earliest Operating System that IE7 will be compatible with? I’d hate to see all those Win98 users left high and dry.
-----------------
DRMPro.net: http://www.drmpro.net
-----------------

> I’m always baffled as to why MS dev teams have
> parties to celebrate shipping a beta.

I think Eric Meyer put it best:

"Think about it. Would you work on a project that was the legal and administrative equivalent of a toxic cloud? Internet Explorer is the focal point of dozens of lawsuits, antitrust litigation, and more. It’s a project straitjacketed by its own success (however rightly or wrongly that success was achieved). I don’t have any direct knowledge of this, but the IE team has probably become the Marie Celeste of Microsoft, a doomed wanderer of the bureaucratic seas, staffed by a few trapped souls and the subject of whispered tales of horror among the engineers."

http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2005/03/21/

Given this, I think the IE7 team really do, in Beta2, have something to celebrate.

I'm not at all interested in IE 7.0 aka known as Firefox 0.9 redux. As some others have already noted, these now ubiquitous features were long overdue. Methinks it took the upswell of the Mozilla Project to antagonize the Redmond wooly mammoth ;)