# Internet Explorer 7



## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

I've recently learned that after 4 years of no new advancements, the Internet Explorer team will release Internet Explorer 7 later this year. Unfortunately, it won't be compliant with current web standards.:-x 

This is unacceptable. As someone who enjoys creating websites, I encourage all of you to test out Firefox or Opera browsers. If we don't stop using Internet Explorer, Microsoft will never change their ways.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Ah, yet another EI version that does not adhere to the w3c rules. I am not shocked. They will lose in the end.

jB


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

I think they took the position that they won the browser wars and didn't need to put any more resources on IE. Then along came FireFox and took 25% market share almost overnight. As a response, Microsoft unlinked IE7 from their new operating system LongWait..oh, I mean LongHorn (or what they call it now, Vista) and will be releasing it early.

Anyway, 25% of our members already use something other than Internet Explorer. I hope the rest will follow suit.


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## kimbm04r (Apr 22, 2005)

Can you tell us a little more about these programs? Which one do you prefer/recommend? Do you use the email features in them? What are the differences between them? How are they compared to IE?


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

The issue will be that IE 7 will probably be an auto update for most people and they will just start using it without really realizing they are. Other then the fact it look different. Many will be confused by this. As a person that writes help type documents this ensures me of plenty of work modifying documents to suit both IE 6 and IE 7.


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

I like FireFox personally. Here's a good article on the various browsers: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3118_7-6226062-1.html .

Gnat, I understand IE7 will only be available to those running XP SP2. The rest will need to wait for Vista.


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## kimbm04r (Apr 22, 2005)

That's interesting. I run XP Pro at home. Thanks, I will have to look at the link later *time to hit the road*. My husband really has a thing against MS. Maybe he would never notice if I switched the browser over. ](*,)


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

> Gnat, I understand IE7 will only be available to those running XP SP2. The rest will need to wait for Vista.


Yes, but for our own stats here 76.9% use XP and of that I'd hazard to guess in the upper 90% are at SP2. From what I see at work too, is better then 90% of our customers are running XP SP2, but this is a skewed group as we mostly support high end video games that require XP SP2.


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

Judging from the release info on Vista, MS is trying to re-write the rules for everyone (ie, create a new standard). Take it as you will.

For gamers (like me), this is great, as it's a much needed refinement--I was wondering when the "revolution" would happen. For the casual computer user, it will make no difference, and they will certainly be able to choose the software they wish to use, such as browsers.

Keep in mind, just because IE7 will be released, doesn't mean you must to upgrade. Sometimes not fixing what ain't broken is the best way to go. I still use Service Pack 1, and have no intention of upgrading to SP 2.


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

gnatster said:


> From what I see at work too, is better then 90% of our customers are running XP SP2, but this is a skewed group as we mostly support high end video games that require XP SP2.


I know of no games that require SP2. I play D3, HL2, BF2, etc. without problems with SP1. Didn't know there were any other high end games...


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

> I still use Service Pack 1, and have no intention of upgrading to SP 2.


The avg user is going to have the autoupdate turned on however and get all the latest updates and drivers seemingly seamlessly installed. Those are the ones that will endup with IE7. I look forward to it myself as one that does computer repair and maint on the side.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

It what ways would it affect us? (the user)


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Avalon said:


> I know of no games that require SP2. I play D3, HL2, BF2, etc. without problems with SP1. Didn't know there were any other high end games...


 Those aren't the only games out there that are "high end". Some aren't always considered games by all. One example is some of the Flight Simulator programs out there (An oddly huge following, too). With some of the newer video cards, people are seeing 50% increases in video refresh rate by upgrading to SP2.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I hate MS and really hate IE. I'll never use it again. Firefox all the way!


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I've had nothing but problems with IE and switched to Firefox last year. No more naughty words coming from my mouth now that I don't have to deal with all of the annoying little IE quirks.  

I still have IE6 on the computer, and it's completely functional, but I rarely use it.

One of the big things I noticed with the change to FF was the almost non-existent spyware compared to what IE used to drag in.

I do still use Outlook or Outlook express for my e-mail, though.


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## An t-iasg (Jun 3, 2005)

I have been using Firefox for awhile now too. I especially like the Google search box in the toolbar. JanS, I use Mozilla Thunderbird for e-mail. I can look in my bookmarks for the link (I'm at my husband's computer right now, so I don't have my bookmarks handy) or you could just do a search. I like the "mostly crystal" theme with the cute penguin! I downloaded the e-mail program and then found a list of themes, although I don't think you need to add a theme - you can just take the default.


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## omega (Apr 1, 2004)

*Download Firefox*
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

*Install Adblock Plus*
http://mcmblog.homedns.org/firefox/Adblock_Plus_dev.xpi
To install, simply open this file using your Firefox browser.

These two applications alone will make your life SO MUCH EASIER. I am a die-hard Microsoft loyalist but this Firefox browser is simply too awesome for me to ignore. Trust me. I'm computer illiterate so if I can use this browser, then the rest of you can too. 

I have yet to find an e-mail program that rivals Microsoft Outlook. I was fooled into installing Thunderbird and was EXTREMELY dissatisfied. When used with Google's free gmail POP3 access account, MS Outlook is about the most awesome e-mail program out there. I love it to death. Thunderbird needs many many more revisions before I will switch to it again. For right now, I gladly pay for Microsoft Outlook. It's worth every single cent as far as I am concerned.

I also have *Googlebar for Firefox*. Really improves my web browsing experience.
http://googlebar.mozdev.org/installation.html

_I hate geeks-who-hate-Microsoft as much as anybody else; but folks, Firefox really is a great program. Those geeks may be right about this thing so go get yourself this browser. IT'S FREE._


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Omega and others, 
There are also different variants to adblock that significantly improve its success rate.

--Mike


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## New 2 Fish (Dec 31, 2004)

I started using a browser called Maxthon in the last few weeks, and just uninstalled IE altogether. I've been enjoying Maxthon - no problems yet. I learned about it on a tech forum where one of the posters said there was less hacking into it since it's not used a lot ...yet. It seems to block ads really well, too, without all of the little add-ons that I had to install in Firefox when I tried it quite awhile ago.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

JanS, try out Mozilla Thunderbird for email. It works great and is way better than MS Outlook or OE.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

New 2 Fish said:


> I started using a browser called Maxthon in the last few weeks, and just uninstalled IE altogether. I've been enjoying Maxthon - no problems yet. I learned about it on a tech forum where one of the posters said there was less hacking into it since it's not used a lot ...yet. It seems to block ads really well, too, without all of the little add-ons that I had to install in Firefox when I tried it quite awhile ago.


 I've only got one small problem with your comment. Specifically, Maxthon used to be MyIE2...and it is actually a front end for the IE engine. You can't have Maxthon without IE.



www.maxthon.com said:


> Maxthon *Internet Browser software* is a powerful *tabbed browser* with a highly customizable interface. It is based on the Internet Explorer *browser* engine (your most likely current *web browser*) which means that what works in the IE *browser* will work the same in Maxthon *tabbed browser* but with many additional efficient features like...


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

I am still useing sp1, sp2 froze the computer partway through installing. 5 hours later I finally had the computer back to usable and to where it started befor install was attempted. I have such an old motherboard that it isn't the most stable with the newer components we've upgraded to.

Where could I obtain firefox or opera browsers? is it a program I have to go purchase or can I just download it from somewhere?


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

http://getfirefox.com


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## Mnemia (Nov 23, 2004)

I've read (on the IE development team blog at MS) that a large part of the claimed reason they aren't fixing some of the standards compliance in IE is "backwards compatibility". MS doesn't want all the poorly coded websites that currently work in IE to break under a standards compliant IE7. This mainly includes many, many corporate intranets, since the majority of public websites are at least forced to acknowledge Firefox users now. This is beneficial to Microsoft because it makes it difficult for these big companies to ever switch to something other than IE without a huge investment in retooling their internal websites and web applications. MS fears that if they can switch to Firefox easily then they might start to move all their internal applications to the web and later might question the need for Windows altogether.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

OK...just started playing with the latest version of adblock on the extensions mirror site (Adblock Plus). If you add @@htttp://aquaratings.com to the filter list (Right click and choose preferences), it will allow you to see the banners on APC. This is good because maybe you see something you like and the click helps APC.

--Mike


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