Internet Explorer 7: Now in beta testing for developers
The first stage of the beta process for Internet Explorer 7 has begun—developer testing! The latest version of the IE Web browser has been released for technical evaluation, feedback, and testing by software and Web site developers.
Beta 1 offers a preview of some of the benefits that Internet Explorer 7 will offer including:
Dynamic security protection through a simplified architecture that defends against malware, and new dynamic ways to protect against personal data theft from fraudulent Web sites (a practice known as “phishing”).
Improved design to make everyday tasks easier and faster, with better navigation through tabbed browsing; inline search right from the toolbar; shrink-to-fit Web page printing; and a streamlined, redesigned user interface (currently in its early stages in Beta 1).
New tools to take you directly to the information you want through support for Web feeds (RSS) that includes automatic discovery of web feeds (RSS) on Web pages, basic Web Feed (RSS) reading capabilities, and basic support for saving Web feeds (RSS) as a new kind of favorite.
Platform enhancements for developers to improve compatibility and manageability, including improved support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) as well as transparent PNG support.
Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 is available now in two versions: a standalone version for Windows XP Service Pack 2, and an enhanced version that is built into Beta 1 of Microsoft Windows Vista—formerly Windows code-named “Longhorn”—to take advantage of new features of the Windows Vista platform.
To learn more about Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 download the technical overview.
Can you believe it's ten years since the birth of the browser? When I said browser ten years ago I got the same dumbfound look I get today at the mere mention of the word blog…
We have come a long way, a browser is as essential today to a computer as a impute device.
Standards and CSS in IE
I’m very happy that we’ve shipped IE 7 beta 1. I wanted to make it clear that we know Beta 1 makes little progress for web developers in improving our standards support, particularly in our CSS implementation. I feel badly about this, but we have been focused on how to get the most done overall for IE7, so due to our lead time for locking down beta releases and ramping up our team, we could not get a whole lot done in the platform in beta 1. However, I know this will be better in Beta 2 – and I want to share how we are placing our priorities in IE.