Internet Explorer 7 Beta Preview 2 (en francais)

For those that like to play with new toys:

Microsoft releases IE 7 pre-Beta 2
Microsoft has publicly released what it is calling a Pre-Beta 2 version of Internet Explorer 7. Although dubbed a 'pre-Beta' it seems very stable and usable for the great majority of casual users.

The first thing that strikes you about IE 7 is that the interface is considerably slicker than IE 6 and sports the kind of interface we can expect from Windows Vista later this year.

Not only is the program interface changed, the graphics - and particularly the font rendering - appear vastly improved.

One feature that Firefox users will want to know is, what about the tabbed browsing? The tabs are there. New tabs can be accessed via a small blank tab or, as with Firefox, via Ctrl/T.

One dramatic new feature is 'quick tabs', which displays all the open windows as thumbnails in a separate window. Similarly there is a zoom tool that enables a user to see a page at between 10 per cent and 1,000 per cent, which is nice for those with big monitors able to view a whole page without a scroll. Similarly you can now shrink a web page so that if fits properly on a printer without cutting off the edges.

The new IE has its own search box built in, which is probably designed to make the popular toolbars redundant. To its credit, though, IE 7 did honour the fact that my default search engine is Google although it popped MSN search underneath just in case I felt like an alternative.

Another trumpeted feature is 'instant RSS feeds'. If a site offers an RSS feed, you simply click on the RSS button (design courtesy of Firefox) to display the feed from the site you are on.

Given the headaches that have accompanied IE 6, Microsoft has gone to some pains to improve the security of IE 7.

I don't think I'll be dumping Firefox anytime soon, but it's still worth a look. Warning: The Beta replaces IE 6 and you must have a valid copy of Windows to install. (the install package includes a Windows Validation check).

Probably one of the best places for info is on the IEBlog

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