IE7: The Beginning
Microsoft recently released Internet Explorer 7, which it will be pushing to the masses come November 1st, 2006. I finally decided to install it, after listening to TWiT’s Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott (whom I no longer dislike, now that I am able to hear the man discuss and debate without reading his SuperSite for Windows).Both Leo and Paul went through the typical list of problems against and reasons for downloading IE7, such as the new difficulties with designing for IE6 and IE7 at the same time as well as the security advancements that are prevalent all over IE7. I’ve spoken with a few friends on it, and while we are unhappy with the fact that we cannot run IE6 side-by-side with IE7, I believe a (stable) standalone version of IE6 is bound to come out in the next few weeks that will allow me to design for both environments. And, I love security, so hopefully IE7 is actually safer. Of course, in a world of a 5MB Mozilla Firefox alternative, I’m not sure how safe this larger and invasive program can really be. I’ll cross my fingers.One thing I feel that I should point out is that the Installer for IE7 is simply one of the worst installer for Windows. Once you consent to the install, you are given no way to cancel, no way to pause, or anything similar. In addition, there is no progress bar, just a simple sliding bar that constantly slides through where the progress bar should be. It’s slightly prettier than other typical installers, but I’d have been much happier if it was black text on a white background, but was actually friendly to the user. Oh, and of course, you have to restart once you finish the install.I’ve just finished installing, so I’ll be restarting: I’ll pray it hasn’t destroyed anything valuable. See you on the other side!