Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

jessicabrown reviewed v8.0 on Aug 24, 2011

It's works good but still not the best.

swiggy reviewed v8.0 on Dec 30, 2010

Why not using Avant browser which based on IE?It's fast and easy to use,of course I choose it instead of IE due to its stability and compatibility.

elfsun reviewed v8.0 on Nov 15, 2010

If you like Trident Engine ,I suggest use the Avant browser.The download is relatively small, the interface is extremely stable, mouse gestures and dockable tabs. Pop-up and ad blocking are excellent. The ability to block ActiveX, images, Java, and more "on the fly" is superb.

CyberDoc999 reviewed v8.0 on Sep 16, 2010

worst browser ever made

sslvp1 reviewed v8.0 on Jul 4, 2009

IE 8 opinion

Quoting Lakotaelf:

"Many of these reviews here are of no value at all for all they do is slam and give no details, wow, even a dope can do that."

Read your own review LakotElf and you will perhaps see that all it does is praise and gives no details, wow, even a dope can do that!! At the end of the day a browser needs to be user friendly not geek friendly and Firefox and Google Chrome both do that (alhough Googles customer support is not the greatest). In my experience IE 8 is a crock of "something less than good" and I actually prefer IE7. No details..rather like YOUR review. But then I don't claim or infer that I'm an expert, just a user. Personally I have uninstalled IE8 and will rely on Firefox, Chrome and IE7 (mostly Chrome). To go a little further than you did in your less than informative post, I would simply say that the Customer Support experience after installing IE 8 left one hell of a lot to be desired, and customer service was something I required rather a lot of given the endless problems experienced with IE8. Yes it may have been my configuration, but I sure as hell didn't receive any good information that would have led to me making an informed decision on that!

jeck reviewed v8.0 on Mar 30, 2009

It was so good of "Banquo" to let us know that this browser is no longer called Internet Explorer. I do, however, find it interesting that he failed to tell us what it is now called.
Well, he is right, someone needs to get with the program, and perhaps it is Microsoft themselves. I just visited the Microsoft website and someone has failed to mention to them the fact that it's no longer called Internet Explorer because that's what they're calling it.
I gave it a very generous 4 because of it's increased start up time and speed in general, but other than that it's still Internet Explorer and Microsoft in fact does need to get with the program if IE is to compete with the likes of Firefox, Maxthon, Opera, and others. It's still IE just a bit faster which is a step in the right direction but not the total solution.

marsovac reviewed v8.0 on Mar 26, 2009

OK by now everyone should be familiar that some antispyware programs (Spybot Search & Destroy / Spyware Blaster) are NOT COMPATIBLE with IE8 (RTW). So if your system became very slow, or you get often 100% CPU usage, all you need to do is to switch the immunization off in above mentioned:
- Spybot Search & Destroy / Immunize / UNDO
- Spyware Blaster / Disable all protection

And voila everything is back to normal, IE8 (and all other applications) are fast as they were supposed to be!

jr5280 reviewed v8.0 on Mar 20, 2009

Updating from IE7 to IE8 went smoothly, and IE8 has so far shown itself to be much faster and smoother in operation than IE7; in fact, it's nearly as fast as Opera and K-Meleon on my computer. Start-up time, too, is much faster than before. As far as I can tell, the update has been all for the good, with all pluses and no minuses -- a rare accomplishment for Microsoft in my experience. (I'm just Joe Average browser user, not a power user, so there may well be some minuses that I simply haven't encountered.)

IE8, like all of its IE predecessors, is a spyware-cookie magnet, and the user interface, like that of IE7, is terribly clunky & inelegant and short on useful conveniences and customization options. Fortunately, the admirable Maxthon Classic shell/interface works well with IE8's inner workings.

Using IE8 with the poorly designed Microsoft interface is an inconvenient and somewhat frustrating experience despite the browser's newfound speed. Using IE8 with the Maxthon interface is a much more tolerable experience altogether. I like Opera's user interface better still, but Opera is let down by its much-noted inability to properly handle certain Web pages.

I dislike the Microsoft interface so much that I can only give IE8 a 3-star rating at best. I'd give an IE8-Maxthon partnership a solid 4 stars, however.

Banquo reviewed v8.0 on Mar 20, 2009

I installed it just for the security updates, I still use Firefox though. I can't believe they didn't fix the UI. Everyone hated the new interface in IE7 but Microsoft thinks they know better than their customers. It's faster than IE7 at least.

By the way, it's not called Microsoft Internet Explorer anymore and hasn't been for several years. Come on Betanews, get with the program.

LakotaElf reviewed v8.0 on Mar 20, 2009

Have installed this browser V8 final and it installed just fine, noticed no problems at all or no slowdown at least on my computer. It is fast, faster than Firefox and again, at least on my machine. I have never seen IE load this fast before. I am pleased with it as it seems to not slow down anything at all and works as it should.

For those of you having problems, it probably is your machine or configuration. For those of you who dislike Microsoft, then do not use it. Many give bad reports here and they have not the slightest idea what they are talking about. Many dislike Microsoft for it seems to be the fashion for some to hate everything that they do not understand.

THIS BROWSER is fine and it works correctly and is fast. If you do not know how to work with software then get help, stop slamming something you do not understand. Many of these reviews here are of no value at all for all they do is slam and give no details, wow, even a dope can do that.

Nighted reviewed v8.0 on Mar 20, 2009

lol! Is this even IE 8? The installer is labeled as 8. I installed it on my virtual machine and it says it's version 7. Anyway, I was just curious. This is such a crappy browser anyway. ;)

Zoroaster reviewed v8.0 on Mar 20, 2009

We have big problems here with IE 8.0.6001.18702 Final. The whole OS seems affected (IE remains octopus), explorer.exe eating cpu like hell, some programs are very very slow to start (including IE8 itself). No idea what the problem is, but one thing is sure : Internet Explorer remains more than ever extremely tied up with the OS, it is not normal that an entire system gets affected by a sole browser. Restored IE7, happy with Firefox.

Bonobi reviewed v8.0 on Mar 19, 2009

It's fast; haven't noticed anything different from release candidate 1 yet, but it runs really well. I'm happy to see it perform so well.

Seeing it come so far from earlier versions, till now, is amazing, and happy to've been a part of the evolution. Excellent!

Yes, those're the right numbers, craigun. =]

craigun reviewed v8.0 on Mar 19, 2009

Just want to make sure I have the correct version number for IE 8 Final.

8.0.6001.18702

Is that right? Thanks!

johnk119 reviewed v8.0 on Mar 19, 2009

because it takes advantage of operating system files it starts faster, at least that's what I believe. and I have observed it starting must faster than other browsers

arossetti reviewed v8.0 on Mar 19, 2009

Nice job, but can't get Betanews to display in IE8 under Windows 7 or Windows XP. Firefox is fine on the same machines, so it's not a firewall issue... For that alone, IE8 gets a star deducted...

Paul Skinner reviewed v8.0 on Mar 19, 2009

Easily the best browser that Microsoft have made thus far.
Still quite a long way behind Chrome, Opera and Firefox in terms of performance, but excellent from a web designers viewpoint.
Thank you, Microsoft.

Sven123456789 reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 29, 2009

Still not a fan of IE7 or IE8. I prefer other browsers. But of the IE7-8 series, This is the best. Previous IE8 test versions always gave me probs. This is the first one that is stable enough that you can use it as your primary browser. Its ok. Some nice features.

anonswgeek reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 27, 2009

i have an 8 year old PC running a pentium 350MHz overclocked to run at 450. install whilst not as quick as mozilla or opera was quick. around 2 minutes max. it does require a reboot after install. i dont get it. all you suckers with super fast PCs taking 30 minutes to install. LMAO.

condorloco reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 27, 2009

One word: SLOW

no_one reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 27, 2009

Okay..I have tried this RC1, and so far it is seamless...to the point of even accepting all of those wee little items that I added into IE7 myself.
It took just on 15 minutes to completely install onto my three year old computer...this also includes the scan for nasties.

To the nay-sayers....piss off and peddle your muck elsewhere.

To Microsoft (and I seriously never thought I would be saying this !)...Thank you...well done.

Daddy_Spank reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 26, 2009

Downloaded the package, installed, reboot, thats it. I think the installation took a bit long, like 7-8 mins in total, but this is more than a web browser, its a whole platform for Windows so I guess its ok.

tattootom reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 26, 2009

Installed quickly and without difficulty. Did require reboot but so what, many installs require reboot. Seems to play nice with other programs. Installed on a dog of a computer, HP Pavilion a742x, running XP with SP3 and 2 GB ram. Tons of stuff on this computer. I use IE, Firefox and Chrome. Needed IE 8 to check websites for compatibility. Seems to be much faster than IE7. I'm not a partisan for any browser. So far so good with IE 8. I'm glad I installed it.

sturgess reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 26, 2009

Using XP. Pro. SP 3, and all went smoothly. Took about thirty minutes to fully install, Opera takes about 30 secs and Firefox takes 40 secs. so what, it only happens a couple of times a year. Always a bit of an adventure watching, and hoping that when all is done it'll work. Well mine does, and very nicely at the moment thank you, so I'll give it a 5, however should it break my machine I'll be back.

LakotaElf reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 26, 2009

Excellent, they have come a long way, and in fact, on my computer at least, this is faster to open than Firefox. Did not use to be that way and I have had no errors or problems with this RC1 edition at all. So I have to give this a 5 star rating. To those who do not know how to configure or install software, let alone take care of a computer, learn before you make reports about a company on line. There is nothing worse than a person making a report on something he either has not used or has no idea how too. This software is excellent and works very well. I am pleased with this edition.

Now as to what "kindbud1" is saying is somewhat silly as I did not have to do that at all. Mine installed and started as all my software does and I had no more trouble with it than I did Firefox. I had no additional software or downloads to install, or no reboot or anything, I installed it and it worked. If your computer is working correctly to begin with, then you should have no problems with this software. So Kindbud1, either you do not understand installs or your computer is corrupted in some way, I have no idea, but if you had all this trouble then it is not the software, but either you or your computer.

toasale reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 26, 2009

Don't blame M-Soft for your inadequacies of computer use.

kindbud1 reviewed v8.0 RC1 on Jan 26, 2009

This install process for this POS is unbelievable.

First you have to download nearly 20mb, uninstall, install, and reboot. This, in and of itself, is ridiculous compared to Firefox.

But then upon restart, you have to run something else... which downloads another mystery package... and puts you through a 2nd install process (during which you cannot do anything else with your machine)... and then it automatically reboots a 2nd time!

Oh, and of course you have to completely reconfigure the thing the first time you try to run it.

This browser must die.

bittermann reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Dec 8, 2008

Much better choices out there in my opinion. FireFox, Opera and Chrome run circles around this dog.

mmatheny reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Sep 5, 2008

I've got to run it in compatibility mode for BetaNews - if I don't, it seems to drop all text in a span tag!! For example the text about McCain and technology, after the first paragraph about hurdles to overcome, it jumps into the comments section - I didn't even know there was other text until I sent the link to a coworker running FireFox and it showed the huge amount of text it didn't display!

Steve1209 reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Sep 1, 2008

I installed IE8 beta 2 on my window's XP PRO SP3 and it failed. When I installed it, I got a VBS error, I couldn't open IE8. I had to un-install it, I was able to install IE8 Beta 1 when it came out but it was very buggy!! This release is NOT ready for "prime time" at least on my computer. Has anyone with SP3 installed got this one to work or is it me???

Thanks,
Steve

Ian C. reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 30, 2008

Huge improvement over beta 1. So far everything I've tried works great, where as beta 1 I found almost nothing that worked correctly. Major performance increases over previous versions. After so many years I think MS is finally back on the right track with their browser. And the web developer tools are very nice, although still needs a lot of polishing to be as good as firebug.

DoHickey reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 29, 2008

I have Windows XP SP-3 with all updates but the Windows Search. Microsoft.Net framework 1 and 2, Microsoft Silverlight, MSXML 4.0 SP-2, Media player 11. MS Office 2000 pro.

The download was quick & the install went well. After re-starting the computer I started using the browser after going through the settings on first run thing.
It seems to be a fast loading browser, the look of the XP version isn't much different from IE-7 and IE-8 Beta 1. If it is different, it's not noticeable enough to catch my eye, but I'm a Maxthon browser user & trust me, I wouldn't notice the IE change of how it looks. Speaking of Maxthon-2, it won't work with the Beta IE-8-#2.
(update) The Maxthon 2.1.4.443 works but it freezes after a while with IE-8 beta 2.

The only real trouble I had was opening a new tab & then trying to close it by clicking the X on the tab. The browser would freeze up & I had to use control, Alt, Delete to close the browser.
That's the only real problem I had. I'll be glad when it's released from Beta.
The uninstall WAS listed in add/remove programs & I had no trouble with the uninstall. I suspect that the people who didn't have it listed to uninstall were Vista users or they just didn't restart the computer after the install.
Not all computers and users are created equal. The problem could have been anything from a long list of stuff.

craigun reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 29, 2008

Worse then Beta 1

wyldmn reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 29, 2008

Installed IE8 beta 2 and it killed Betanews, blank screened after taking the porn mode off. Ran fast on some other sites. But as the 21 on the acid test makes this another non standard MS product. Why can't M$ use the web standards like everyone else? But I will continue to use it, for testing purposes.

Terumo reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 28, 2008

Ser bra ut, og virker rask og grei på min data.

Kommer nok til å ha denne beta versjonen på maskinen til den ferdige versjonen er klar.

The MAZZTer reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 28, 2008

Thanks to competition from Firefox, this version of IE looks like it is shaping up nicely. They even managed to innovate a little instead of just plain ripping off Firefox, I like the little things like being able to delete autocomplete items from within IE's location bar drop down with one click. They also have a very nice search autocomplete (try wikipedia's search engine in it).

The colored tabs are neat, but I've had colored tabs in Firefox 2 and 3 for much longer, thanks to Firefox's ChromaTabs extension (Firefox 3 users need ChromaTabs Plus). ChromaTabs one-ups IE's implementation by coloring tabs based on the favicon, which looks nicer.

I also had some minor glitches probably caused by IE7Pro that will probably be addressed in an update to it (Single Window mode prevents InPrivate from working correctly, Menu Bar can't be repositioned).

IE still suffers from performance problems. The first time I ran it it locked up my computer after the post-install setup finished. Ah the wonders of a browser tightly integrated with the OS. Although to be fair it could have been the PicLens popup that was urging me to update at the time of the freeze.

The browser itself appears surprisingly quickly, probably due to the aforementioned integration. However then it proceeds to immediately freeze for the next minute while it REALLY loads. Quite annoying. I also had a weird hang in the browser while fiddling with different settings and I had to kill the processes.

I find it odd Compatibility Mode is forced for network pages by default. Probably to make businesses happy. I turn it off.

some guy reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 28, 2008

lol the installation is a joke.
first 15 megs just to hook up to the internet to download more. Then Microsoft wants to scan my computer lol.
oh I want to stop their is no cancel button lol

after the install I came back to beta news and the page is blank

chaswill reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 28, 2008

The browser looks good, but it messed up my Office 2003. HTML mail font display in Outlook is suddenly tiny and can't be enlarged, and all the Office program dialog boxes are also reduced in size by about 50%.

This isn't the first time I've had one MS product mess up another one. Their own programs should at least get along with one another.

Will wait for further releases and try again.

Bonobi reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 28, 2008

Wow, what a huge update. Microsoft rules. This browser has come so far and has had a lot of tough criticism. So many new features and counters to problems; really great.

I've used Firefox a few times when I had problems on some sites, but always default back to Internet Explorer.

Awesome browser.

paulm reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 28, 2008

Using XP 32 bit version on XP Home Laptop I have to use the compatibility tab to view BetaNews website.
Perhaps BetaNews need to check their compatibility!
It is still a beta so I'm not going to give it a bad mark.

I'll be interested to see if the popup blocker has been improved and if it also blocks popunder rubbish as well.

mahaseo reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 28, 2008

I am using both firefox and IE but when i downloaded the IE8 my browser responding me very slow. Can anybody tell me why?

Thanks in advance.
Mark
http://blogforinternetusers.blogspot.com

shaj911 reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 27, 2008

Very good browser, faster than any IE
good improvement over the ie8 beta 1
a few bugs becuase its still in beta.
by the final release its gonna be the best one.
Excellent browser

ModderXManiac reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 27, 2008

It looks promising, the interface has been cleaned up, offers more customizing now, which is a very nice move. Memory usage is incredibly conservative, very impressive for any browser.

It passes Acid2, has a long way to go before it can pass 3, in the least rendering is tons faster, the interface is cleaner...It's a huge step up from the joke that IE7 was, I hope they get the bugs ironed out and get this to the masses soon.

I'm still sticking with Firefox, but it's good to see computer ignorants/illiterates getting a better browser...This actually gains my approval...thankyou for listening to the community, Microsoft.

Sven123456789 reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 27, 2008

Well i originally gave this a 3. Well i have to make it a 1 now. Tried to stay with IE8 but it has allot of bugs. Not unexpected for a beta. But going back to IE7 has been a disaster. Can't get IE7 to run normal no matter what. Never has probs when fooling around with other newer browsers than removing them. Leave it it Microsoft to make IE a pain the the arse. So at all cost, don't experiment with this new version.

TH3ROOKIE reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 27, 2008

I had no problem with Microsoft Update(Not Windows Update) update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate
I didn't have to switch to compatibility mode.

I have problems with the "Page, Safety and Tools" menu, nothing appears. I have WindowBlinds installed... probably an issue.

To be able to navigate through betanews I had to switch to compatibility mode.

Would be nice to change the window color à la Windows Live Messenger. Tired of that happy baby blue.

sturgess reviewed v8.0 Beta 2 on Aug 27, 2008

Well having used it for the last hour or so I can tell you this is very, very good. Some of the security now available is impressive. Pages load quickly, every bit as fast on my machine as Opera or Firefox. Lots of stuff to play with, and it's loads of fun. I am at the moment using the "InPrivate" mode, not only does it stop stuff being stored it stops other sites finding out where you've been, nice. I'll use this as my default and if all goes well will be able to dump the other two browsers over the side. Looking forward to reading a few well thought out comments from the Firefox and Opera gang, but remember lads you've got to download it before you can review it, you do know that don't you ?
Update on my comments above, IE8 beta 2 has crashed a dozen or so times and I spend more time sending error reports than browsing, my 5 star rating is now a 1 star, it's rubbish.

Psychocrusha reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 25, 2008

No need to install this on a pc; a lot better of with IE6 or 7. Can't even use windows updates unless you use the IE7 emulator, which then you have to restart the browser every time you fool with it.

Maybe the final version will be less buggy and problems cleared up.

sqstultz reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 8, 2008

Major rendering problems and instability with our enterprise library card cataloging web-based application (which is W3C-compliant). More like an alpha build, due to the behavior that we experienced.

The only plus is that we were able to uninstall it and easily move back to IE7.

Ian C. reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 8, 2008

Don't install this if you use IE as your primary browser. The rendering engine is very buggy, and sites that use javascript rarely work. The IE 7 and 5.5 compatibility modes that it has, don't seem to function anything like you would expect. Definately not on par with the kind of beta releases you see from Firefox and Opera, not even on par with their alpha releases. On the upside, it's very fast.

Ryusennin reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 7, 2008

Icing on the cake: IE8 is not even compatible with Microsoft Update (unless you switch to IE7 mode, which defeats the purpose of this "new" browser).

psycros reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 7, 2008

You know their worried when IE8 imports Firefox bookmarks with no corruption (more than I can say for the reverse operation!). The Bookmarks Toolbar Folder is still not copied to the Favorites bar (sigh), which is bizarre since their identical features. One of IE's strengths has always been the Favorites system which, for several versions now, has been far easier to work with than Mozilla's clumsy Bookmarks. The way they've implemented their sidebar is interesting: having an unpinned option is kinda neat. RSS feed handling is not quite as simple as with Firefox but at least you get dynamic width on feeds viewed as drop-downs (yay!). It does seem to be more like a beta of "IE 7.5" than of a truly new version. Its a little faster, more full-featured, and theres a button to switch back to IE7 mode (which they highlight upon first execution). It did not automatically dump an IE icon on the desktop, thank you. This is, however, most definitely a beta. A number of interface quirks keep it from being a potential FF killer. No matter how you resize or customize the thing, a couple bar buttons are only available via a pop-out menu on the right side - why? If you open a feed as a drop-down menu you have to click to close it, then click to open another one. In FF mousing between feeds will will open and close them automatically (like most Windows menus, including the menu bar in IE8). And there are bugs, such as UI refresh problems when rearranging things and occasionally slow rendering. Some ActiveX pages are clearly not ready for this browser. I'm still putting it through its paces and have yet to hit any serious web forms or similar challenges. Overall, a promising glimpse at what might be.

Curlytopz reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2008

Installed it on my laptop np with XP SP3 but won't go on my desktop

asif2bd reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2008

Its even taking long time to start install. I hav tried all way.

Aker reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2008

This beta has a lot of bugs, but those aside, IE8 has a huge amount of potential. Perhaps others have had different experiences, but IE8 is very fast for me. As far as browser cold start speed, I've never seen one load more quickly, it opens nearly instantly. I always thought Opera loaded fast. Not anymore. Pages also seem to render rapidly, though some struggle a bit, most likely due to rendering bugs.

The issues I have with the browser, besides the beta bugs, lie within the interface itself. I would much prefer the old IE6 interface to IE7's. I rate this a 4 due to the potential it has. Subsequent betas should shape up and fix most of these bugs. If not, I will return and offer a lower rating based on Microsoft not following through and turning this into a great browser.

marks1976 reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2008

I don't notice many real differences between IE7 and IE8 with the exception of pages seem to be loading slower on IE8 and some sites seem to hang up a bit. Also some pages don't display properly with IE8 so I think maybe when all the bugs are worked out it may be a better browser.

astovidiu reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2008

I have tried it but on opening some pages it crashes. Also there's a problem accessing some sites which require IE7 or Firefox (IE8 is not recognized as a valid browser and I find it inconvenient to click IE7 mode button when that happends). Personally I think Microsoft did a good job but there's a lot of work still to be done.
I use IE7 and I think it's the one of the best browsers (you need IE7Pro to make it a good browser). I've tested a lot of browsers on a slower machine and IE7 was the one that perfomed best.

jgra reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2008

so far, so good... only problem is two windows opens up when it starts... freezes at time after clicking restore previous windows... but smoother UI... let me find out microsoft got something right...

notomat reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2008

@DakotaSunRunner:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949787#
Click "Removal information." Seems like it installs over IE6 or 7, but there's an uninstall that will take you back.

@hariskar:
How exactly do you ask a question or post information here WITHOUT rating the product?
Since we are forced to choose a rating, many of us will choose the number closest to the current reported average, so as not to skew the results.

Thought you'd like to know.

hariskar reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 6, 2008

DakotaSunRunner
How exactly do you rate IE8, if you say you have not tried it??

@notomat
I think this is not a place to ask questions. Here we try a product and review it.
There are forums to ask questions.

DakotaSunRunner reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

hariskar:

I am sorry that I offended you, but I am sure your not the forum moderator nor should you complain so much. I asked a question of which I think one has a right too, after all the software is here. I like Microsoft software, although not perfect, neither is anyone else. So I rated it a 3 to be fair and so I could ask a question, now you need to go and get a life somewhere. Too many of you on here try to be overly witty and smart of which your not.

tenebrusmke79 reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

I have tried the browser with some of my most favorite sites, and there's not been any issue.

This is a promising step for IE8.

Paul Skinner reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

It's slow at the moment and has an inactive horizonal scrollbar at almost all times (unless specifically told not to in CSS as far as I can tell).

It's rendering of CSS is very, very slow, but however, these are the bad points.

The good points:

It passes Acid2
It has some interesting new features
It makes my life as a web designer that little bit easier

ray56_32223 reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

I tried to load it, said I have to have an update, tried to update it, said I have it already????? So no load. There is always something. IE7 works great on mine anyway.

Winkler reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

eh? windows update does not work anymore.... (i have legal xp)

ModderXManiac reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

Speed improvements over IE7 were noticed almost immediately, is alot more compatible than I expected, but I really wish they would do more with the interface, I just can't stand it, however, this is early and I will be fair.

Bookmarks handling is still crap, tabs handling needs work...I don't see anything compelling for an upgrade but improved rendering speed.

*edit* It's very resource hungry right now, and has two executables running, and am having issues with text entry as we speak, keep note this is a beta, don't use if you're a shy user.

Dave \o/ reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

I dont get it, honestly, I find this very difficult to navigate compared to Firefox. I perfer Firefoxs method of Rss bookmarks, as its easier to read with out leaving a page your on.

I just dont get this way of browsing at all.

nils9000 reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

My first impressions...Just checked Acid 2, didn't completely pass, but a lot better than IE7. Looks pretty much the same as IE7, so no major change there. IE8 doesn't break as many sites as I thought it would initially do, but it does break some. Also, I like the idea of the button to change back & forth from IE7 functionality, but I wish I could just move the button, no option to move it. So far so good though.

madmike007 reviewed v8.0 Beta 1 on Mar 5, 2008

Installed and works very well, first impressions are faster and more steady. So far so good

alphatrigon reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Dec 19, 2007

works and works great
most all negative complaints are from clueless individuals who blame software for their inadequacies or people who simple hate anything Microsoft.

xanderzone365 reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Nov 14, 2007

Crashes at certain times.

Slow speeds.

Sure there's fraud protection, but other than that, NOT GOOD.

For sites that require Internet Explorer, I'd recommend using Maxthon 2.0 or Avant Browser, whatever's good for you.

abansal75 reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 15, 2007

Ever since i load IE7 this is what i am geeting on Reboot "The Procedure Entry Point GetProcessImageFileName could not be loacated in the dynamic link library PSAPI.dll" and IE fails to START...on googling i came across that PSAPI.dll is located in c:\windows\system32 & i should rename ANY pre-existing PSAPI.dll to something like PSAPIOLD.dll and REBOOT...On reboot i am only getting Blue Screen...F*&#@$$ ...IE7 [Any wonder from where i posting this review...simple answer is Cafe.]

Terumo reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 6, 2007

Jeg liker IE7 og bruker den på begge maskinene.
Har brukt FF og Opera men kom tilbake til IE7 ganske askt. Har heller ikke opplevd noen problemer av noen slag.
I like IE7 and I use it on both my maskin.
Have use FF and Opera but I turn back to IE7.

So I stick to IE7.

brusco reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 5, 2007

As a web developer I can say that IE IS NOT standards compliant despite what their nauseating PR dept. would have you believe.

Until they make a GENUINE effort at adhering to standards it is just a dying piece of software, and on the way to legacy status. The Microsoft rot has set in.

Methsrine reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 5, 2007

Vista users don't need this update. This ain't that kinda "Update".

streryan reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 5, 2007

Well I like it, so stop talking

bigmama reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 5, 2007

Better than firefox
Worse than opera but with a better engine

I like it, 4/5 from me! :-)

ingram091 reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 5, 2007

Not a fan if IE, but the new MSI does allow IE 7 to be installed on Windows 2000 now with use of orca...

Though I would rather plug the IE hole in security by removing it entirely from the OS, at least now I can update 2000 and XP with IE 7 and then continue to use Firefox without as much fear of security leaks from the IE hole.

I have done so on XP pro already obviously... but this distro will make things a little nicer in that it can stream the update through our networks instead of only via web connection or SP releases.

smarterthanyou reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 5, 2007

Removing the WGA check is a very bad idea. People using non genuine versions of Windows XP don't have the right to be using optional enhancements like Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player 11 or Windows Defender. If you want to use these extras, shell out the money for a legit version of Windows XP.

periklo reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 5, 2007

Thumbs up Microsoft! ;)

SineWave reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 5, 2007

Yea right. Internet Explorer, right. They still make it?

menting reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

well if FF3 final is anything like FF3 alpha 3 then it'll suck. Dont say something unreleased is better than something thats available already. If you can see the future you'd be the richest person on earth right now

medosa reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

Firefox Still more Better and when FF3 release it will destroy Internet Explorer Totally

Sven123456789 reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

Terrible browser. Compared to Opera, Seamonkey and Firefox, this is a total joke. Anyone giving this higher that a 2 hasn't used these other browsers. Let newb nation continue using IE, the rest of us are with the program.

JEdwardP reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

I applaud the removal of WGA, but the interface is still virtually unusable to me when contasted to both IE 6 and Firefox. For that matter, even the default interface of Opera, which I don't care for, is far better.

OblivionStalker reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

It is nice that MS updated IE this way. I recommend that every Windows user updates to this version even if he uses Firefox, as there are new security updates available. Continue using FF, but update IE to this version.

DoHickey reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

So far so good. No problems with the install.
The settings walk through was simple.
This version IE7 is running nice and quick.
It was nice not to see the WGA check.
If you don't like this browser then don't use it.
Save us all from reading your rants.
Nothing makes the internet 100 percent safe, so get over it.

improvelence reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

What a crap a** browser, you would think that instead of trying to ripoff FF, M$ could have come up with something innovative...

jk, we all know M$ would never come up with something innovative...

one more thing, this is WAY better than the previous versions of IE...

SteveJohnSteele reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

"Get free downloads for Internet Explorer 7, including recommended updates as they become available..."

wow !
is this a sign of MS backing down from WGA ?

Still prefer Firefox + NoScript + AdBlockPlus + Geasemonkey ... ;-)

xapaox reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

More than 1 year using IE 7 without problems, everything is fine, GUI is the best of all browsers out there: clean and simple and I don't miss the menu bar, hide is the right state to me :)
I recommend you to install IE7Pro to get better functionality (just try the mouse gestures, nice stuff).
WGA removed? best thing ms can do :P

BlackAle reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

A big improvement over IE6 engine wise, though the user interface is simply awful.

Project51 reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

Haha, WGA removed. Everybody is cheering like the war is over... the war is over....

mjm01010101 reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

Wow. they removed WGA?

It must be because so many non-genuine XP SP2 boxes have IE6 and Microsoft wants to stop supporting IE6 as it's expensive to them?

Very strange!

deda reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

Simply the best!

JeremyGNJ reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

Wow, I cant believe the people who "honestly" post such negative reviews on IE7.

It's really a great browser, and has a very well refined user interface. Though the hidden Menu Bar seemed to irk people, i honestly don't ever use it.

The printing functionality is just EXCELLENT. For years we've had to deal with great difficulty in printing Web pages, and Microsoft finally made it easy and flexible.

Some may say it lacks features, but I dont think it does compared to Firefox. There's a couple ad-ons for that such as IE7 Pro, that make it just as good as "Firefox with add-ons".

Paul Skinner reviewed v7.0.5730.13 on Oct 4, 2007

Yes! The WGA was removed!

I am a web developer and the one thing I would like most of all is for people to update to IE7 (it would be nice if it was Firefox/Opera, but it's not really going to happen) even if they've got a fake copy of Windows. There's so many CSS advantages to IE7 (and PNG Alpha support).

I'm also very glad the menu bar is on by default; it was silly without it.

garland897 reviewed v7.0 Final on Sep 29, 2007

I love this browser. It has tabs... finally, added security and it's fast. I love this browser.

Sven123456789 reviewed v7.0 Final on Apr 15, 2007

I've never been a IE fan, but on the other hand i'm not one of those IE bashers either. Well Microsoft had what- 5 years or so to upgrade to the next version and this is what they came up with. This should be version 1, not 7. IE 5 is the earliest version i ever used and this by far is the worse. Forget the fact they added the extra security and tab feature- which is the most overated feature in browsing history. Whats with this simple interface. Its far less cust. than ie 6. I expected dozens more buttons for the menu bars and more options like cust. the context menus and having add on features like Firefox or Opera. Since this isn't open source software, what Microsoft should of done is created a forum for people to write in and ask for features for the new version. Is it so much to ask for this? I know theres ie based browsers out there like Maxthon and Advant that bring more features like in ie 6, but why can't microsoft be the browser with the most features. I guess Firefox doesn't have to worry about IE catching up any time soon.

TC17 reviewed v7.0 Final on Jan 10, 2007

This thing is much WORSE than IE6. There isn't even a dang refresh button or stop button. It has the worst user interface I think I have ever seen.

And I'd be willing to bet I can't switch back to IE6 either. How convieniant for Microsoft.

Thankfully I use Firefox most of the time, but other family members use IE, and I'm the one that has to fix their computer. The interface on this will make it almost impossible for them to figure out how to use.

polysius reviewed v7.0 Final on Jan 8, 2007

Much better than IE6, but much worse than Firefox or other browsers available for free.

Outlook 2003/Outlook Express will also not print email headers properly on a lot of emails, so it will not show "From:" and "To:" at the top of some printed emails.

In short: it breaks quite a few things and with the userbase IE6/7 has, this is unacceptable. The fixes are very slow at making their way to users (if at all) given that the userbase is millions of people.

It also lacks the community, addons and themes that Firefox has. Every 'new' feature IE7 might have is already available as a Firefox addon... if you really must use IE7 features (some aren't for the best).

Mastertech reviewed v7.0 Final on Dec 8, 2006

Faster than Firefox 2.0, compatible with the most webpages next to IE6 and adds a ton of necessary features: Tabs, Integrated Search, RSS Support and a much needed Phishing Filter. Pop-up blocking was added with XP SP2 and now used in IE7. Simply the best IE ever!

Stephen Bungert reviewed v7.0 Final on Nov 28, 2006

Makes the internet almost unusable. It's awfully sllooowwww..... disabling tabs seems to speed it up a bit but still opeing new tabs or windows should grind your machine and the screen refreshing to a halt. Takes over a minute to open my local webserver (localhost), all other browsers (including IE6) can open it in less than a second.

Not great, but necessary.

On the plus side, the Favourites Centre is great, not interested in RSS or tabbed browsing but the interface is much better than IE6

yanike reviewed v7.0 Final on Nov 23, 2006

This software is not ready yet.
Stick with IE6 and use Maxthon.

I wish people would stop telling IE6 users to use Firefox. It's nothing like IE and it's not better than IE6 if you install Maxthon. Plus! If you use the MSN Premium browser you wouldn't even bother with IE7 yet. It optimizes IE6 faster than 7, gives it great security and extra features. So does Maxthon :) Please maxthon has excellent skins and plugins.

Cweb reviewed v7.0 Final on Nov 10, 2006

This software is still not ready for primetime.
It crashes with OWA.
stick with Firefox 1.5

GimieGimieGimie reviewed v7.0 Final on Nov 5, 2006

Installation went without a hitch and i've been successfully running IE 7.0 for a few days now without a single crash and whilst i am not what i would call a IE 7.0 expert yet, i do feel i needed to write my first impressions on the browser so far.

Being a devote Opera user for the last year, my comparisons will be based on the differences between the browsers as Opera was and still is one of the best browsing experiences i've ever had with the exception of the commonly known huge lack of compatibility support from many websites which does still give the Opera browser a big disadvantage till this day and the sole reason why i wanted to try the new IE 7.0 when it was finalised.

After a few days of playing about with IE 7.0, i find it a HUGE improvement over its 6.0 predecessor when it comes to security and tabbed browsing which i find to be the fastest and most organised way of browsing multiple websites at once.

Now that's been said, i will say that 7.0's new interface is horrible compared to all major browsers such as Opera, Firefox and even IE 6.0 and is certainly a big step backwards for the browser. Very little can be customised and the bars are stuck exactly where they are with no ability (i've found so far) to move them to where i want them to go which is a really big shame and is the biggest and single most let down i can note for 7.0.

Onto the tabbed browsing, i find 7.0's tabbed browsing very similar if not identical to Opera's tab browsing (with the close button on the tabs it's self and the ability to click a button to create a new tab instead of using a second click context menu on the mouse etc) which i find to be the fastest and most efficient way of doing things when compared to Firefox and is also why i prefer Opera over Firefox any day despite the fact that Firefox offers higher compatibility with websites which is high up there in the requirements for a great browser.

The start up speed of IE 7.0 is on fast as ever with no slow downs despite the new code over IE 6.0 and the website loading speed is on par with Opera's speed as far as i can perceive, although it does use more memory compared to Opera (and you can feel this while you browse and generally move around the browsers interface but this isn't enough to put me off the browser from claiming the top spot in my browsing experience).

Going back onto the con's of 7.0, there is a lack of customisation when it comes to opening new tabs which Opera offers a lot more options in its preferences section.

The biggest let down i can find in IE 7.0 so far is the lack of support of "Sessions" and a "Start up dialog screen" which Opera so wonderfully offers. Although IE 7.0 finally offers the ability to open multiple home pages when you first open the browser which IE calls "Home page tabs", it doesn't offer the ability to save a "Session" of open websites to a single click file instead of having to save each page as a favourite which Opera allowed you to do, so i really miss that feature.

On the plus side, the browser does allow for add-ons which i believe people will use to code for the lack of features i just described as time goes by making IE 7.0 a more complete browsing experience but i doubt a add-on can be made to make the tools bars and interface more customisable as so many of us like to have and has been one of the biggest reasons for people to switch over to Firefox and Opera these past couple of years, i think MS really missed out on this point and for a multi-billion pound organisation with an immeasurable workforce, i find it very sloppy work indeed, specially since it's been 5 years since IE 6.0 was released, that was more than enough time for a company as big as Microsoft to create an at least on par product with the competition which they have still failed to do in my opinion.

At the moment, i'm in the middle of juggling both IE 7.0 and Opera 9.1 as my main browser. IE finally offers similar security to Opera in terms of protection against Spyware and such whilst offering maximum compatibility with all the websites i visit which is the most appealing reason for me to use IE again after all these years but Opera offers a more complete and customisable browsing experience with it's offering of Session browsing and extra options for tabbed browsing.

Overall a decent effort from Microsoft, but i feel they could of done a LOT better with all the money, time and resources they have at their disposable, it's as if they simply have a bunch of slackers throwing pencils at the ceiling most the day while spending only the occasional 5 minutes to program.

A big shame really.

lhdal reviewed v7.0 Final on Nov 3, 2006

Will Microsoft ever release a decent software?

It is becoming a huge struggle to install an MS program.

It gave an access denied error. I've followed an MS article on editing the registry to give access. Then I've come up with the same problem again.

The fun part is the recreational restarts with unexplained causes.

Avoid this. Indeed avoid Microsoft.

Don Juan reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 27, 2006

Well getting it to install was a huge hassle, and definitely wasn't worth the trouble. The interface is horrible, the settings are still as confusing and unorganized as in IE6. Too little too late, but at least it's no longer in the dark ages.

Zee333 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 26, 2006

FANTASTIC! i been using it since the first Alpha's came out and never had a problem, it is only getting better!!!!! WAYYY BETTER then Firefox!

Ian C. reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 26, 2006

Install aborts about half way through. Leaving my system with no IE whatsoever. Oh well, I never planned to use it anyway.

CyberDoc999 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 22, 2006

you can install the slim browser after you install
IE7. Because it uses the IE7 engine, it is
the only way I will touch IE7
http://www.flashpeak.com/sbrowser/

VelvetElvis reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 21, 2006

Good - Tabbed browsing. Slimmer (in appearance only) interface
Bad - Bloated download. Still doesn't have intelligent URL handling. Type "cnn" or "wikipedia" into FireFox, and that's where it goes. Not IE. It opens a Google search.

For some reason, installation even altered my default desktop folder views.
Thanks, but I'll stick with FireFox.

Kendude42 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 21, 2006

Could not get it to run. CPU stayed at 100% after rebooting. Had to do a system restore. CPU still ran at 100% CPU. Good thing I had SystemSuite 7 Professional installed. Had to use the restorecheckpoint function to get everything back to normal. Gonna stay away from this as long as possible...

Buggle reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 21, 2006

Contains a wonderfully worked out version of tabbed browsing. To be honest; it's better than the one in Firefox. Also, I think the layout has been worked on very nicely; it's very intuitive, and theres more space in the window.
Still, Firefox remains my main browser, because it is tighter, more basic; doesn't hurt the eye as much as this new IE7 and Opera.

Joe Dirt reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 20, 2006

I think it's a good browser. If I could find an ad-blocker add-on for IE7 I may switch.

I'm glad they fixed the problem with Java and DSView as I use that at work for our IP KVM switches all the time.

I give it a 5 because I think that Microsoft did a good job listening to what people wanted in a browser. Either that or they were just scared by Firefox. Regardless, the browser is now better so I like it.

Competition is always good. :)

anarkhy reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 20, 2006

Its a good upgrade from ie6, but miss advanced features.

A good lame browser for lame people ;)

war593122 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 20, 2006

Loves to eat 100% CPU 24/7. Always has since pre beta 1. Starts slow as heck, always says "connecting...", even when opening a new tab. Informational text looks like crap if you don't use clear text. Would just stick with IE 6 if I where you. But I am use IE 7, have to for work and have to at home since I'm a developer.

benyahuda reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

lzvk25. There is a tool available from Microsoft called "Microsoft IE7 BlockerToolkit" which is supposed to stop Windows Update's attempting to auto-install IE 7.

This is primarily meant for Enterprise customers but it works just as well for users like me who don't want IE 7 for whatever reason.

I find that IE 7 works just fine. But Opera and Firefox still beat it.

MichaelDHam reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Microsoft does it again! I have been using all the versions of IE 7 and it works pretty slick. Loads fast, looks great. I am a IE fan anyways and may be partial, but why change to something else, when the one and only IE works so well and has all the features that the competition has. Stick with an original and you can't go wrong in my book. No matter what anyone else thinks. We all have different opinions and preferences and that is what makes the world tick and so interesting, right? IE 7 is MY CHOICE!

simko reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Like it a lot but not sure if i will change to this one ,like all the nifty things in firefox ,problem is its very slow imo..

lzvk25 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

OMG!! I am just wondering, when are they going to force this awful thing into our machines thru the 'Automatic Updates' ? :P

DACWILSOL reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Excellent browser. I actually use IE and do not experience any extreme problems. I have tried various browsers (Netscape 8.1.2, FF, Seamonkey, Opera and Maxthon). Despite them being good browsers, they are not perfect, nor can they really claim to say that they are more secure than IE. Each browser is a variant for the windows platform. FF is a good browser, but when I have to install an extension (IE Tab) to open a page I would have normally opened in IE, it just doesn't make sense to call it a more secure browser. IE is my browser of choice.

BogdanSHA reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

http://news.softpedia.co...lnerability-38323.shtml

Infidelus reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

For Floske Tuf

"The menu bar has gone (a pity) but can be forced to appear by means of the alt-key on the keyboard."

You can have it there permanently too. Right click on the toolbar and enable the cunningly named 'Menu Bar'

Et voila!

burles07 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

i like this version alot better than IE6. i like the UI and the new features that it has. good job microsoft. i hope wmp 11 is just as good as this! =)

FmlyRnn reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Whoa!!! I was spoiled by the Beta version! Although, I admit I am a "HardCore" User of Opera. The Beta of IE7 and now the IE7 Final has me using IE a lot more. Furthermore, it seems to Load faster.

Floske Tuf reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

I am an MS-addict and I used MS stuff whenever possible since Windows 3.0. Yes indeed.

With IE7 things might come to a turn however !

The menu bar has gone (a pity) but can be forced to appear by means of the alt-key on the keyboard.
That's great, only it comes in on the wrong place : underneath the address bar instead of on top of it, where it belongs according to the GUI rules within MS-software.
A lot of people have voiced there objections against this way of doing - MS was stubborn !

The address & search bar are fixed, not customizible w.r.t. place and dimensions.
Again, A lot of people have voiced there objections against this way of doing - MS was stubborn again !

Well I hate obstinate people who on top of that dare to write on their web-site : We heard you !
They most probably heard us, but they did not listen to what we were saying.

Because of the above, IE7 will be the first MS software that I will not be using - I hope that the people of FireFox are better listeners.

Regards

The_Zeroorez reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

First of all, I have to say Firefox still is my primary browser..

But, I think IE7 is way better than IE6.. I'm glad Microsoft has built a nicer browser after all. I don't really like the teletubbie-vista style, but that should be fixable.

Oh, and please don't whine it's been copied from FF and Opera, as those two have been developed over the past 5 years, and IE6 was already about 6 years old. It's like saying Vista is a big copy of Mac OS/Linux.. It's quite logical that it looks like that, as the older product is almost antiquity!

clifton reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Alright that installed with no problems. I like it. But I still think Firefox will be my primary. But I won't worry so much about adware if I have to use it.

Floodland reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Another fat product from the wrong company.
Infected with WGA, it already has 0 day vulnerabilities. M$ had 5 years to make a secure browser and the first day it's released, it already has security vulnerabilities? Terrible.
The interface was copied from Opera/Firefox so nothing new there. Note: Copied AND not improved...
Maybe it complies with more standards that IE6, but that's no big deal, since we're comparing with a terrible product.
I've seen worse products from Microsoft, so, 2 is a good score for it.

roj reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

This is the poor man's Maxthon which isn't surprising since the folks who build Maxthon are aparrently a MS partner.

If you're a Mathon user, you'll definitely want to stick with it.

If you're an IE user, get Maxthon.

I changed the default search to Google and typed "remove IE7 uninstall" in the URL bar. The browser promptly crashed.

TWO stars for a definite improvement over IE6 that is (based on the above experience) doing the typical MS let-me-use-customers-as-beta-testers thing. WGA is similarly a retroactive abortion. A crash at this point is inexcusable. The only reason I don't give it one star is that it has potential.

Wait for 7.01.

hurzx reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

It screwed up my PC. I am still evaluating consequences. The first noticeable damage is that Quick Launch bar has disappeared... Thank you MS. Now I hope I'll be able to uninstall it properly.

alanpalmer reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

A large step up from IE6, but it needed one! I suppose it is ideal for the surfing requirements of many users, but the more Internet-savvy users (which includes more or less by definition most of those who frequent this site) will want a more customisable browser such as Opera or Firefox. The UI is nice and shiny; although the menu-less toolbar is in my view a stupid mistake (as it is in the new version of Office).

Meth reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

The new security features are GREAT. The css support is greatly improved but still lags behind the competition a bit. The "Find on this page" stinks as does the lack of a download manager (but that you can get by with 3rd party tools). The worst thing though it the HORRIBLE UI. I've been using IE7 since beta 1 and it most certainly has NOT grown on me. Whoever designed the UI should be fired. It is THE WORST UI design I've ever seen on a professionally developed app by a large commercial entity. I wouldn't mind so much if you could at least customize the default layout more but there is very little customization options available. One of the main "features" of Firefox over the Mozilla suite was customizable toolbars, seems Microsoft didn't learn that lesson.

jbaltz69 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Very nice. A must have if using IE 6.

SteveJohnSteele reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

I wonder how many people will NOT install IE 7 because the installation process forces them into the 'Windows Genuine Advantage'

So... we end up with lots of 'not as secure as could be' PCs out there.

When it comes to security / updates - Microsoft should scrap the WGA - for everyones sake, since more secure PCs, mean less zombie networks (PCs that have been taken over and are now controllled by hackers).

viveksj reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

I don't think it is the worse browser on earth actually I like the interface its better then IE6, but without a doubt Firefox is way better then any IE version in all dimensions. Yes, the worse thing about IE7 is it takes more memory then probably more then any browser out there.

bourgeoisdude reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

I will ask that readers distinguish between "agenda" reviews and objective reviews here.

Comparing to IE7 RC1: For those who have tested this since the betas, IE7 has come a long way as far as the installation process. Finally, it seems all of the "install" problems have gone away with this new release. I'm sure that there will be some that have problems, between incompatible HP/Sony/Dell software to older antivirus versions conflicting etc., just READ THE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS, and follow them and you'll be fine.

From IE6 SP2 to IE7: For those who are new to IE7 completely, I must warn that the interface has changed considerably, and may take "a little getting used to", but for me it didn't take very long. The big change, of course, is tabbed browsing. IE fan or not, you must give MS credit for that, though by many they have waited too long to add that.

Security: Definately the biggest improvement IMHO to IE7 is the security. BY DEFAULT, the security is set to Medium-High for the internet zone, and CANNOT be set to low security (maybe there's a sneakey way, but not an easy way). Also, the Intranet Zone is set to Medium-Low instead of Low security as well. This in and of itself could potentially save thousands of users who are simply ignorant or lazy. ActiveX is disabled by default WHEN INSTALLED WITH WINDOWS, although most of the installs are on existing Windows PCs so if ActiveX was enabled it will remain that way.

So...is the security perfect? Far from it--I will even speculate that before the end of the year, there will be at least 26 security patches for this. Why? Because it's going to be specifically targeted by hackers now. Nonetheless, the underlying security is still much much better than that of previous versions. Any objective person will find this to be true. Sure, there will be those who are anti-IE who bash the interface/etc., but if nothing else, the security is much better.

Interface: The interface is easier to navigate through once you get used to it. I will admit it took me about a month toappreciate it myself, but in all honesty, looking in retrospect, it drastically needed a big change. The address bar being towards the right is the hardest thing to get used to for me at least, and the "favorites" menu is a small icon on the far left, while personally I have always used the Favorites menu on the menu bar with previous versions rather than the toolbar button. All in all, I can navigate faster, more efficiently, and new tabs don't require near the amount of memory that new windows would.

All in all, I did have to "grow into" IE7's interface, but after I did, I began having trouble going back. I use IE7 primarily on all my PCs now, but here at work for the time at least we are still using IE6 SP2. It is actually less "familiar" now than the IE7 I'm used to, and for me, that's a huge surprise. I never thought initially that I would like the new interface, but it has grown on me.

So--all good and no bad? Eh, there's still the fact that HP Directer gets broken when using IE7--although that is actually an HP issue. Some websites that "detect" your browser will claim it is not a compatible browser for their website still, but that should change soon as IE7 is now RTM. More incompatibilities will be found, I'm sure, so if something breaks, before blaming IE7, ensure the thing that breaks has the latest updates--HP has unofficially claimed it is working on the HP Director issue and should "have a fix available very soon."

[Ely] reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

awesome piece of software, works like a charm here, very nice layout and streamlined interface, let alone all the improvements security wise, loving it.

ubergeek2004 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Where should I start with this piece of crap final release. So far it has crashed 7 times sending an error report, my wheel mouse does not work on websites now to scroll. WTF is Micro$oft thinking?

Cure110 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Great piece of software!

On the negative side, it appears to always attract those annoying and complaining firefox-lobbyists. You know, like a firefox-geek-magnet.

Browser12 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Where to begin. Lets just say, this is a horrible browser. I like allot of bells and whistles and options in my software and this provides nothing. Its a major step back. That interface is terrible. By far the worse of any browser i've tried. Instead of shrinking the main toolbar and buttons (I guess for 2 year olds), i want more options and buttons. How about extensions like firefox or Opera. What about letting the user decide what to see when you enter the context menu when u right click. Or if i want the buttons small, medium or any size? With that terrible version of WMP that also came out its obvious that Microsoft is going backwards with these releases. With IE7 comming preset with Vista i can tell you now, I won't be upgrading to that crap either.

sn0wflake reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Hmmm... can't say I'm impressed. The new MSIE7 looks and feels like Firefox. One thing I missed was the ability to add plugins. That's possible now, but plugins costs money *LOL* Another thing about MSIE7 plugins is the size. 9 MB for a plugin is just insane.

Can anybody please write a comment on why I should switch away from Firefox?

I'm glad I didn't install this piece of s*** on my own PC.

dolcesculacciare reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Indeed... IE7... what a pathetic result for all the hype and work... the engine's mostly stable... The interface and features... utterly third class...

Intstall this and see what a real browser can do... http://www.maxthon.com

ZenWarrior reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

First, I have always tended to like and support Internet Explorer. That said...

It's apparent that all the talk about listening to customers' needs was a bunch of bull. As only one example, how much did everyone yell for completely customizable toolbars? Answer: Loudly!!! However, is the toolbar imminently customizable? Answer: No. You're going to do it the Microsoft way or no way at all. (I prefer no way at all--that is Maxthon, or now any other browser in addition, including FF.)

Once again, it's very obvious Microsoft really doesn't give a hoot about those irritating little things called users and customers. (And this one still has't forgotten a Microsoft sales reps cheated him 10 years ago. Yes Micro$uck, I hold grudges. And, such is why you're rated "not trusted" by your customers.)

Thank goodness for Maxthon. It's the browser IE7 might one day grow up to be--and what I'm now using after using IE7 for a few months.

Final Release (as defined by Microsoft) = We're tired. We quit.

1uk3 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Loads better than IE 6 - a huge step forward.

Still, it's not tempting me away from Firefox though.

QBgreen reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

So what? At this point it's kind of anti-climactic. Secunia has already found vulnerabilities! I give them a "3" for being smacked awake by Firefox and Opera.

clawso1 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

I think IE 7 is a GREAT improvement over it's previous version! And I believe MS will continue to add more improvements. One thing is for sure it's certainly faster than version 6!!!

dejavu reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

My default browser is Firefox (not radical - I use Opera too). IE7 is a good upgrade to insecure IE6!

plumlipstick reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

IE is sort of like vanilla ice cream. It's fine if you like vanilla, and it does allow people to surf the web. This is a fairly major upgrade, but that doesn't mean it's worth daily use. For me, a browser must meet 2 requirements. It must be highly responsive, and it must operate without nagging me about things like downloading files. The information bar in IE drives me to distraction, and the fishing filter complains about so many legitimate sites that it's practically worthless. Start up time with IE 7 is very slow, and the browser doesn't handle having more than 4 tabs open very well. So if you're a computer novice or are clueless about the internet, I suppose IE will keep you mostly safe. For anyone who has real work to do online, Firefox or Opera are a much better, more flexible choice.

ravemanson reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

My question is if this Final version has the same problem with identifying itself as IE as the betas did, not making Online free virus scans possible and not even have support to modify it's own e-mail service (Live) with "This browser is not supported! Please download the latest version of Internet Explorer!"...sigh..

NikMan reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

I was using Netscape 4,5 and then switched to IE 4 becouse it was better. Now I am using FF and it is way better experience wit it than IE 7.

I recommend Firefox to all home users.

www.mozilla.com

sarrik reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

A nice solid browser, I suppose. But still just not my kind of thing.
I like the tabbed browsing, but that's been around for ages in others. New security is nice but long overdue.
Didn't much like the UI, although it's a step up from IE 6 and that's generally what I think of it on the whole. It's still not a scratch on other browsers, and with Firefox 2.0 coming soon I don't believe it'll make me swap my default browser.

Diam0nd reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Guys, give me a friggin break please. We are not rating a usual browser here. We are rating a BUILT-IN, STANDARD one. And for such a browser IE 7 is GREAT. I mean, I don't use it at all virtually, but sometimes I do and I really DO think v7 IS a HUGE improvement over ALL versions before. Again, dont compare a built-in solution with avant, opera, ff or any other browser, ie is a standard solution and nobody promised it ll be a great browser. By the way, you only need IE once, to download an alternative, right? ;)

MS, *THUMBS UP*!

brusco reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Not a nice browsing experience but much improved from V6. Does not have the crispness of FF or opera in appearance or usage. Not as easily extendable as FF (from a developers point of view or a users).

As this is essentially version 1.0 of a brand new browser (it was rewritten from the ground up) I think this early version of IE7 will be mercilessly exploited by hackers to spread malware, which exposes the biggest problem with IE, it sits too close to the OS, allowing many system component vulnerabilities to be exploited by simply crafting malicious html pages.

This browser is for the uneducated masses who just don't know that there a better browsers out there.

joeshmoe7 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Its pretty and shiny and loads fast and has some cool features. Not as customizable as firefox though. Won't stop using FF ever, but this is a fine simple browser. - I'll give it a 5 for being just that.

Mark Gillespie reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Vast improvement over IE6, and a recommended upgrade. However, I see nothing to make me want to move from Opera 9..

TheTOM_SK reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

At last the skilled users get Final version and the average users should be safe as well with default settings unlike in IE6. The begginers should keep using Firefox, since IE can seem to be too complicated for them. So far, there is only Opera, which looks better to me than IE7. I wish, that IE8 would be able block referrers as it block all cookies except allowed and also a few minor things. But as the overall rating, IE7 is the second fastest browser and it is as safe as others, in fact a bit more after proper settings, so I give it High.

c4p0ne reviewed voptimized for Yahoo! 7.0.5730.11 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Too little, too late. Why even use this when you've got a perfectly superior browser already in use? I keep it around for nostalgia and basically for pages that are purposefully coded WRONG to be compatible with the lopsided non-standard conforming IE (which is why some pages don't load "correctly" in FF which does things the RIGHT way) since it's on the majority of desktops. This however, is rapidly changing and soon won't be a problem anymore anyway, thus allowing the complete freedom to finally sh*t on IE once and for all.

peterj1978 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

It's a lot better than Internet Explorer 6 that i must say, and i like the look of it too.
One thing that i was pondering about is why it uses more memory than Firefox even with 3 addons installed in FF.

Anyhow it will be a nice upgrade for the people using IE6 now and hopefully alot less of Virus/Spyware exploiting it.

BoNeLeSS reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Just 2 years late... but hey :)

Treize reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

While I'm a Firefox user, anyone who uses Windows XP needs this browser, due to Microsoft's design. This is a great improvement over IE 6.0.

Dreimanis reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

just what an average user needs.

Comit reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

couldn't agree more, constust. I have a widescreen monitor so I was able to get everything packed into just 1 little bar. Now you have to at least have 3, and for me, those 3 are hardly even being used. Clunky :\

aashay reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Just what a browser should be like. This is what an average user needs for surfing the internet. Plain & Simple. Explore the Internet!

uberfly reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Could be more customizable, but dang, I really like it, and I was prepared not to for some reason. They obviously geared it to be extreemely simple and usable by only inlcluding on the immediate gui the functionality you'd use 99% of the time.

Power users will still obviously prefer Opera or Firefox.

crashoverride reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

IE7 is an improvement over IE6, no doubt. There are still no reasons for me to switch from Firefox,especially with Firefox 2 coming out soon. The level of customization in IE7 is laughable to say the least. So I'll be generous and give it a 2.

dzjepp reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Don't see how this release can be bad at all. There are hundreds of millions of people still clinging to this browser for their daily use, and finally they have a release that is secure and feature packed. Maybe mallware numbers will finally go down when everyone that stays with ie adopts to ie7.

constust reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 19, 2006

Did the person that designed the toolbar area and available customization even make it out of pre-school?
It's gotta be a joke! In Firefox AND IE 6, I have one bar that holds my toolbar, address bar, menu and a second one that holds my quick links. Less than an inch on my screen. The rest is real estate for webpages.
Did this concept even enter their minds?

DarkRats reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Gets low marks for customization. All through the development of this browser MS was aware of the large segment of IE users who wanted to be able to change the look, but they ignored them. Even in this final version, if you remove icons from the command bar, they are back again when you restart the browser.

There's a registry fix to move the menu bar to the top of the browser, and you can use gpedit.msc in XP Pro to remove the search window.
Hope someone comes up with a way to completely remove the command bar.

Shadowkahn reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

A really nice change - something that took way too long to be truthful. I too like the new quicktabs, of IE7. However, to me, it still needs some more work on the web standards. Opera passes the Acid test, Firefox hasn't really progressed any further from previous builds in this regard - but IE7 really garbles on the Acid test, a little disappointing.

A nice new version of IE7 is nothing to sneeze at. It does need some work. Overall, it is a nice step in the right direction. All the browsers seem to be adding new needed features in their next releases, let's hope that IE7 keeps evolving, unlike it's IE6 ancestor.

JEdwardP reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

It seems to run smoothly, but I can't stand the new interface, and very little customizing can be done with it.

I'm sure this puts me in a tiny minority around here, but I never use my browsers for searching, so the first thing I tried to get rid of was the search box, only to find that it can't be removed.

I switched to Firefox as my primary browser about three years ago, and last year began using Maxthon when an IE-based browser is required (work purposes). Nothing I see in IE 7 will change that setup.

I'd give it three stars for finally adding tabbed browsing, but Maxthon and several other front ends had already accomplished that, so this only gets a two-star rating.

cvegter reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Nice! love the quicktabs feature....

utomo reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

It is good that we have IE 7.
But it is Not as good as what it should be.

Microsoft can just buy Maxthon and use it as base to develop IE 7.1.
It is much better than IE 7

They need to support the standard better, such as CSS, and better HTML standard too.

and also need to improve the optimizations too.

actually I wish it also work with older windows such as windows 2000, and win 98 (maybe difficult)

mfaccone reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Works flawless for me... has worked flawless for the past two betas plus RC1. Firefox users who jump at any chance to bash MS don't know what they are talking about here.

chronon reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Microsoft just made IE7 because of firefox, they simply didn't care about the users for years, and now they should this sudden interest because they are losing marketshare.

Microsoft tries to make things better, but they simply can't! Firefox is far more customizable, is it fully compatible with the web standards, which microsoft is member but I can't understand why.

Other two reasons:
PortableFirefox : take your customized firefox with you wherever you go.
TorPark : anonymous browsing using the Tor network based on firefox.

Don't need to say anything else...

bsf reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Not bad.
Not good either lol.
1. CSS support is still just absurd. Why have a IE standard considering more and more people's been using Firefox, and a lot more sites are optimized for Firefox? (Although a LOT of Japanese sites here I've seen detects non-IE browsers, and simply blocks the user, and I mean sites with few million visitors per day).
2. still a bit awkward, and it seems slower than 5.5 or 6.0. Rather look like a IE4.0 update. Hope a new version would come out that's significantly lighter than this. (it's not my comp's slow, but opening 50+ tabs is just .. slow)
3. Couldn't Microsoft come up with something more original? The browser ain't bad I agree, but nothing new..

gkar reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

What am I getting here thats 3 times the size of Firefox without all the customizing ability? A new target for the virus and trojan boys...Pass

gfotion reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

I'm too chicken to try it yet. When I tried the latest beta, it prevented my HP Director (scanning software) from working. Many people reported this glitch to the MS people and the last comment I read from the beta site was basically, "tough crap, go back and use IE6.0 if you need to use your scanner software". That's not really a quote, but I'm paraphrasing the attitude correctly. If anyone is using HP Director and IE7.0 final, then I would be interested in hearing how it works. Oh, one more thing ... when I rolled (or tried to roll) back to IE6.0, my system got hosed. Thank goodness for a just created disk image!!!

Heero reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Tabs keeps crashing the browser... aside from that seems to be working on. Maybe I'm missing something, O si'll check.

Lebowski reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Goodbye Opera and Firefox

no more annoyances. Everything just works

snakes200 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

i gave it a three cause i use firefox now as my main browser. i won't upgrade to this til they force me to through windows update.

philosopher_dog reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

I'd wait for the dust to settle. There's going to be no end of conflicts with everything and anything. This update has taken so long that Firefox has become my main browser. The main reason I like it is that the zoom feature (cntrl+scroll bar) works much better on those pesky sites (they're everywhere now) with 8 pitch grey fonts. IE can't even handle zoom properly. Also all those extensions! Give me extensions!

Cris3 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

The final version seems to be more responsive than the previous release. I like knowing that it has a phishing filter. If you are running IE ae well as Firefox, you might want to update to this IE7 release before it becomes an automatic Windows update.

digiturtle reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Funny, think some of the sites that required IE 6 to run properly are not running now on 7. I've been playing with it under XP Pro SP2 and Vista. Well I'm sure the would run fine but their browser detect tells me to update my browser. Hmmm for now I'll stick to Firefox 2.0 and update to 7.0 when it has had some time to mature.

Works well though so it gets 3 out of 5 due to some quirks.

lilmegz reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

I like this version of Internet Explorer, although I dont really like the fact that you have to have a genuine copy of WindowsXP just to install it... kinda pointless especially if they want ALL people to upgrade to it eventually!

datdeejay reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Far better than IE6 but if you install it then it messes up with a lot of windows components and some programs might not run correctly. When I installed IE 7 (Beta 2) it didnt let me play on the network STEAM (http://www.steampowered.com). Representatives from Steam told me IE 7 was causing problems.

batham reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

Looks like microsoft is back in the game with a decent browser.

It's fast, it has tabs, phishing filter, it has Add-Ons (Extensions) Sure they don't have tons of it but at least they are getting there.

http://www.ieaddons.com/...spx?cid=home&scid=0

I wouldn't be suprised if Firefox ratings will go down soon.

xrayspex reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

smooth as silk here :)

menting reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

receive a bad score because it's not open source? what kind of logic is that?
almost a majority of programs will be rated bad by you huh?

mjm01010101 reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

I don't use nearly as much as Firefox, but I'm glad that I now have a decent option again from Microsoft, as well as my users do.

The internet is better off with this browser than without, it's that simple.

hondaman reviewed v7.0 Final on Oct 18, 2006

No extensions. Not open source. No way can it earn higher than 3 or 4 because of that.

Chsoriano reviewed voptimized for Yahoo! 7.0.5730.11 Final on Oct 18, 2006

First of all, the IE7 setup is included inside the yahoo mail install, why, I don't know. You can just extract the executable using WinRar.

Secondly, those of you who use the "Firefox is the best, I wouldn't even try IE7" excuse... grow up.

Those with open minds travel farther.

Finally, IE7 is a great browser, I've been using it everyday for about a year alongside other browsers such as Opera and Firefox. It's all a matter of preference, but in order to prefer, you must have something to compare it to.

zapatero reviewed voptimized for Yahoo! 7.0.5730.11 Final on Oct 18, 2006

FF 2 RC 3 is really very very good. I won´t touch IE 7.

Lebowski reviewed voptimized for Yahoo! 7.0.5730.11 Final on Oct 18, 2006

just extract IE7 and your yahoo bloatware free

terminalx reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Sep 23, 2006

it would be nice if people could stop speculating and actually test it...I've uninstalled IE 7 3 times now with NO problems (had to uninstall it to see if it was causing an error with something else which it was not) used it via add/rem programs...it is much faster then the previous ie 6 my only complaint is the way it saves passwords its not as good as opera or firefox yet...

Murphmeister reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

Another great release, this is much better than Beta 3.

QBgreen reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

Good old MS. Competition is a great motivator, and we can thank Firefox and Opera for getting the IE team off of their duffs, and back to programming. Whether you like IE or not, this is an absolute improvement.

yanike reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

Great Release!

lol to the users below,
It just released so how do you know if it's secure enough or not. I wonder what sights y'all go to. So far, I see no issues like the last release that gave me 50 viruses(which I think wasn't IE's fault. Maybe someone that was using my PC that day).

Zee333 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

Better then Beta 3, a lot more stable and some nice new features in this one, i really love the improvements from IE6>7 Microsoft have really worked hard on this one, beter then Firefox :)

midnighter_9999 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

Still not secure enough.......Firefox Is wayyyyyyyy better!!

Anjin771 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

Sorry Steve but it doesn't make a sense to switch to IE7.
* Look at the installation package size Vs. the competition.... might this hint application load and performance?
* look at the features available at the competitive product for months now - does it make sense to switch? don't think so
* Look at stability and number of security patches competition receives Vs. those constantly flowing into IE6....

Let's keep things at perspective.

aashay reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

Very very impressive. Stable as it could get. The best part is that it automatically uninstalls my previous beta of IE7 and upgrades itself. Using it as my default browser. No doubt about it.

bakura reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

This release is leaps and bounds better than previous beta releases. I am now comfortable with leaving it on my machine as my primary browser.

saadsaleem reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

The browser is less bloated than beta versions and I think microsoft is now working on real issues now.

rcadams reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 25, 2006

Test bed, was three different machines. One upgrade and two clean installs. Everything went perfect. No problems with installation and everything working fine. Tested all my websites that I currently use all performed correctly. So far I'm very impressed and will continue to test.

scrantic reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Not to happy here first install of any of the beta/rc's and i get an exception error
AppName: iexplore.exe AppVer: 7.0.5700.6 ModName: mshtml.dll
ModVer: 7.0.5700.6 Offset: 000ea166

KSzostek reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

I think Microsoft has done a great job, I agree MS is back in the browser business.

Browser12 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

As a user of Mozilla and now Seamonkey, I am partial to those browsers. But i'm not an anti IE buff either. 6.0 IE is fine. But this new version is pretty bad. I like the bells and whistles with all the buttons and toolbars. They really think the public wants a simple forward and back button interface. Plus security, well thats what windows update is for with IE 6. Plus i think the tab think is overated. Thats why i don't like Opera. If i want to open a tab, than i will open it with the mouse. Opera and now this version of IE force it to your main interface. If this is the direction Microsoft is going in, than i will never upgrade to 7 as long as i have Windows XP.

dolcesculacciare reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

The engine's OK... the GUI itself is a pitiful excuse for a tabbed browser... it may be more secure for the average idiot, but for seasoned users it's more than a nuisance... all the competitors are better now... Opera, Maxthon, Firefox, etc... what a disappoinment...

The MAZZTer reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Updating from Beta 3 is supposedly supported. However in reality, attempting an upgrade breaks both Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer, including the removal of the taskbar and desktop. Then uninstalling IE7RC1 followed by IE7B3 has no effect. Instead, you should run System Restore immediately after if you find yourself in this predicament. Unless you already tried to uninstall IE7B3, because System Restore will just screw that up, and you're probably going to have to reinstall Windows (I almost had to).

4/5, only because once it's working it's quite a good upgrade considering what we had before (IE6). Never mind all the features are ripped off of other browsers.

What the hell, subtract one point for still using unsandboxed ActiveX, a serious security concern to me. 3/5

[Edit: Drop two points for breaking explorer.exe again, as well as breaking WebControls in all non-MS apps (the programs crash)]

ZenWarrior reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

What does the placement of the bars have to do with combating phishing? In fact, that's the only major problem I have with IE7 now.

With all the negative feedback Microsoft has received regarding them, you still cannot customize the toolbars. That's ridiculous. It's like IBM long ago telling customers what they could and could not do with the computers they'd "leased."

(And come to think of it, we are witnessing some interesting and historical parallels between it and present-day Microsoft. IBM had leasing; Microsoft has EULAs. Both rose to the top before....)

Via everything from WGA to toolbars which cannot be customized, Microsoft is doggedly determined to take the "personal" out of "personal computer."

statm1 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

IE7's toolbars are supposed to be in the positions that they are in to combat phishing websites.

As for IE7 RC1, IE7 is finally becoming a rival to all its competitors (opera, FF, etc). CSS, speed, security all upgraded. MS is back in the browser business.. Its great to see!

Floske Tuf reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Address/Search part of the tool-bars are still not configurable !
Menu-bar still comes in the wrong place (underneath the Address/Search bar) !

I give up (in spite of the fact that I am one of the so called "MS-lovers".

DACWILSOL reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Definitely the browser of my choice. Great job MS!

alanpalmer reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

I downloaded Betas 2 and 3 but they wouldn't install on my machine, giving different error messages. (I would never download a M$ beta 1!) At least this one installed successfully. The installation routine takes far too long, though. You'd have thought an entire OS was being installed. Cool colours in the installation dialogs, though!

The interface looks pretty good and it hasn't crashed (yet!). I don't think I'll give up Opera as my default, though.

DarkRats reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Got this Error on restart:

"Explorer.EXE - Unable to Locate Component

This application has failed to start because Normaliz.dll was not found.

Re-installing the application may fix this problem."

Couldn't even get my desktop. Had to ghost back my entire C drive to get back up and running.

Anyone know about this error and how to avoid it?

castiglione reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Rating this a 2 because I can't get the browser to work at all.. I have been using IE7 for awhile, but it's still extremely buggy. It takes nearly 10 minutes (if ever) to get a page up and running.

It's interesting that rolling back to Beta 3 is faster than having a crappy Release Candidate 1. MS should work on this problem and totally fix the problem that I (not only my particular problem but others as well) and others are having with the program

Skyfrog reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Working great so far, the annoying Favorites bug has been fixed. Looks like Microsoft is finally getting things right. Not perfect, but not bad at all.

sophist_dreams, this is not a shell sitting on IE6 by the way, that is complete nonsense. This REPLACES IE6, it does not run on top of it. The IE6 files are backed up and restored if you uninstall IE7. Since you spoke of IE6 being removed it's obvious you used some third party hack to remove it (since you can't uninstall IE6 in XP). Don't give something a bad review because you screwed up your system. If you are going to bash something it helps a lot to know what you are talking about; you obviously have no clue. Calling people dipwads doesn't make you look any more knowledgeable either, it just makes you look like a troll.

DJInsomniac reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

You guys are only rating this a 'one' because you use another browser. Rate the product itself, not because you want to push it down.

I use Firefox currently, but only because I can't install IE7 currently. Beta versions of IE break Microsoft Money's update utility.

belthurgp reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

I was using FF for two years. For the last two months I have been on IE7 and am very happy. I am glad to be back on MS Software.

Time to say goooodbye to FF. RIP.

Matb_TePe3a reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

IE7 is the best.
Other browsers must be cut with Occam's razor.

sparkf1 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

I think IE is better than better now.

kazzi reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

But let us not forget, this is only a beta RC1 so there is bound to be issues. Unless a beta tester my advice is - leave well alone until the final version is released.
As I 'must' give a rating I have to give a one 'cos I always use a different browser.

PicAFlic reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Firefox all the way baby!!!!!!!

Todd 13 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

This is HORRIBLE!

kindbud1 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

what an infuriating piece-of-sh*t!

after spending so much time applying "hacks" to get my site to render acceptably in ie6, ie7 comes along and totally butchers the navigational menus.

i'm not even using any javascript - just simple roll-overs created from fully validated xhtml and css.

i'll see you in hell M$!

Jordanr05 reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Finally I get a download bar at the following WMF Exploit test site:

http://infosec.ufl.edu/wmf/test/

It no longer just downloads the bloody file.

For that i'm finally impressed with IE7 as this was the one last thing in the betas that dissapointed me.

bourgeoisdude reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Been using IE7 since public Beta 2, it has definately progressed. Everything I wanted it to have is now part of it, and this new RC is now much "safer" to install than the betas.

I have tried the 64-bit version for Windows XP 64-bit edition, but since my nic does not have compatable drivers yet, I couldn't really do much. The 32-bit version is very good, although I only have one complaint--with this version as well as the beta 3, the "Phishing filter" lags my connection quite a bit at home. It's partially my isp, of course, but it still takes much longer to load a site than if it is disabled.

Other than that, IE7 works perfectly fine for me--all the websites pull up fine, no "weird" allignment issues like beta 2 had, no incompatibilities, no install problems. Just read the instructions before installing it and the install (and uninstall) work problem-free.

(PS: Daddy_Spank: If you want to write a review to promote a company, try to make it a little less obvious :)

b0mmel reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

luv it!

Daddy_Spank reviewed v7.0.5700.6 RC1 on Aug 24, 2006

Right now it doesnt look good for IE7.... i hope for Microsoft's part that its going to be cleaned up a bit... it ruined one of mys sytems already. Now I Opera and it works a lot better!

jkamenetz reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jul 31, 2006

It was very difficult to install and I had to change some the permissions on my registry.
There are a lot of new features like anti-phishing that function very well. My belief is that this could be an excellent default browser.

zeeZee reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jul 26, 2006

installed it xp pro sp2. clean format. freeze ups. has some glitches yet. i'll stop back on beta 4. the button layout is garbage. even to toss it in a beta, is crappy. can't move the buttons. rss feed sidebar is shabby. it always goes to "newest", then i have to double click it to "display all". tab bars should have adjustable size. 20 tabs open, they're all tiny. really, the maxthon layout is the most mint layout of any browser ever made, super drag n drop, auto adjust tabs etc.

BetaChap reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jul 20, 2006

~Browser runs smoother than IE6.
~About time tabbed browsing was included.
~Have come across a few URL's that won't always load correctly - www.cnet.com.au being one of them.
~The drop down favourites/feeds/history window is a great idea but, I find that sometimes I click on a favourite & it loads a link on the web page I am already on, which is directly behind the favourite. So, for some reason the favourites window disappears before I have executed the link.
~The beta 2 version didn't allow Hotmail webmail to empty trash - not sure if this has been fixed yet.

Conclusively, even with all the bugs, it looks like a good browser :-)

wat0114 reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jul 8, 2006

Not a bad browser except for a few issues: The Menu bar can't be moved, even with the toolbars unlocked, my home page (Google.ca) takes excessively long to launch, a few rendering issues and there is no way to exclude individually chosen sites from the phising filter check. Not only that, IE7 may just have the smallest achievable viewing area of all browsers, because of the toolbars and tab placement. On a positive note I like the added security features, browsing speed and low system resource use.

On a sidenote, I must say I'm nonplussed by Metshrine's review. He writes a few short sentences and awards IE7 a stellar 5 when it clearly - especially by his discerning standards - does not merit it, but, conversely, writes a near-epic novel on Opera 9, critiquiting every conceivable component, whether good or bad, and awards it a mediocre 3, this after stating it's his default browser...perplexing!

Please don't take offense to this Metshrine. I respect your obvious technical knowledge and your well-researched and extremely detailed :) reviews. I'm just puzzled by such contrasting review methods and standards between this and your Opera reviews.

mjm01010101 reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jul 6, 2006

Lovely: Beta 2 is refusing to uninstall on my test laptop, so this also refuses to install. sigh.

Metshrine reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jul 1, 2006

IE7 Beta 3 is much nicer, faster and uses alot less memory. I love the way this browser is going. All I need now is roboform to update to support this and I will be totally happy with it but again, that is not a fault of IE7. Good job MS

EDIT - 09JUL2006

Wat, in a quick reply to you, I havent had enough time to do as thorough of a review on IE7 as I have with opera. I have not installed IE7 beta until this one. Expect this to be edited in the near future. I have found several glaring things that I will address. On that note, post rating edited to what I will be rating it on my next edit.

c4p0ne reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jul 1, 2006

People, please hold tight. Don't let MS do to mozilla corporation what they did to Netscape. No matter how "good" the browser becomes. Don't use it. Stick with FF or another browser that you like. Try to stay away from microsoft sh*t as much as possible. The whole key here that people don't seem to grasp is that if MS stays "king" in the browser department, things will NEVER change for the better.

MS creates their own laws and does not follow rules. They are rule-breakers. They give a sh*t about conforming with web protocols and often "take their own route" whenever it suits them and subsiquently, because of strong influence, force programmers and web-designers to BREAK those laws so that their programs and web-pages will "look right" in crap-a$$ IE. All the while defacating on all other browsers that actually follow rules.

And now for the review: Loads faster, memory improving, still sucks compared to FF in all other respects.

yanike reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 30, 2006

Goodbye Firefox :) IE is back!!!

c4p0ne,
What the h#ll are you talking about. MS doesn't own Netscape, AOL does. IE7 is way better than firefox. If you prefer a plugin browser, Maxthon is a great IE alternative with plugins and very nice skins. Maxthon 2 is on the way and it's awesome. It will be the best alternative for IE7 that's have skins and plugins. Avant 11 is on the way as well. Plus! IE7 is still in BETA and it's already one of the best browsers.

arvind reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 30, 2006

i never thought i'd go back to IE.. but man, i really like IE7.. and this beta is very stable, much faster and loads pages quickly too.. really neat and simple.

cltx99 reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 30, 2006

It's OK, but slow. I'll use it as my secondary browser and stick with Seamonkey as my main browser. I can find nothing earth-shaking concerning IE7.

VictorAnderson reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

I like it...simple, clean interface and has tabbed browsing.

nordlicht reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

Much nicer than I thought. Could it be that MS understands the sence of "more is not better"? ;) Good work this far!

vfxi reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

I have used all 3 browsers from Firefox and Opera to Internet Explorer. While IE has a LOT to catch up on, it's making decent head-way. Opera has it's down sides. The problem when you make a web browser more feature rich is that when the more elaborate you make the browser, the more exploits that may be possible. IE is probably (going off what i think) the #1 targeted browser for exploits and therefor when MS goes to add features, it has to make sure in leave little room for error. This is not to say that there are not exploits to Opera and Firefox; I am simply saying that you don't see as many for other brosers as you do for IE. Therefore, I could see why MS is kind of behind on features. If you have read this far in this post, then my hats off to you as I probably would have stopped after the first 2 lines. Thats my 2 cents anyway.

AntiochMedia reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

MellonCollie: Internet Explorer DOES have amazing plugins like Firefox - however, they are in the form of alternate browser interfaces such as Maxthon.

Opera doesn't have either option. IE is a reasonable browser. I prefer Firefox.

eclipsingdivinity reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

Opera sparked nothing Johnny. Don't put Firefox and Opera in the same boat. In fact, Firefox showed Opera that it's pointless to pay for a browser especially when it can't render pages properly :-P.

Anyways, Internet Explorer 7 is a good browser, but after spending a lot of time with it I can officially say that i'm never going to use it daily. The tabs aren't very responsive, and despite claims that IE7 has faster page rendering it also seems slow on that. The only reason why I give it a 4 is because compared to version 6, 7 is the coming of jesus or something. Security-wise, it's going to be a treat for the average jo who sends his computer in for malware removal every month.

Bagobie reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

I hate to say I both love & hate MS.
I like to see them on top & love how other companies are making them work. It should stay that way... we know from experience that if they have no competition they get lazy and don't do jack s*** to improve their products. And omg? Once Firefox and Opera start taking over all of a sudden MS is working their a** off to improve their old decripit browser (which IMO probably would have small or no changes in Vista if there was no competition...)

Anyways, IE7b3 works very well for me.

AlexBR1974 reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

Who cares if MS is playing "catch-up" with other companies like this stupid guy said. Take a look at IE 7, Office 2007 and Windows Vista. What MS does, it does a thousand times better than others. MS haters, keep playing with Linux and leave the rest of the world alone! MS rocks!

MellonCollie reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

It's still playing catch-up to both Opera and Firefox in terms of features and UI.

MichaelDHam reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

Internet Explorer IS and ALWAYS be Browser 1 no matter that what the others produce as it is by far the best browser there is. Want to know why the (J) letter is now next to the FEEDS button in BETA 3. This does run better..a bunch slicker and easier to control. I recommend to any IE user.

b0mmel reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

Very cool browser. Things I noticed in this new release are that I can drag'n'drop the tabs, the bugs in Gmail are gone, it's much faster than beta 2, the interface looks cleaner and fresher than in beta 2.

I used Opera and FF for 4 years or so. This new beta seals my bond with IE7. IE7 is all I need. It's neatly integrated. It looks and feels cool. It's fast. It's the first browser in which I actually read feeds. Last but not least I don't feel like an activist if I use it.

Microsoft rocks!

Joe Dirt reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

I've lost all confidence in Microsoft. I go to uninstall IE7 Beta 2 and it hangs at "Updating Registry" and my proc usage goes to 99%.

Can't even get Beta 3 Installed.

What great code. :)

Pixelsmack reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

Does it have a download manager yet? The main reason I don't use IE is because of this! And I hate 3rd party bloatware ones.

"He Who Is Tired Of Having To Redownload A File Because IE's Stealing Focus Causes The Download Requestor To Hit Cancel If It Pops Up While You May Be Typing. Even If You Use Powertoys To Stop Apps From Stealing Focus."

adarsh reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

IE 7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 : Not any new major changes from the previous Beta . Only minor design changes.Still Microsoft are trying

coover reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

I realize that IE 7 Beta 3 doesn't pass the "Acid" test for compliance to some obscure browser code rule while (at least) one other browser does (I checked with Opera). But does it matter? If IE 7 remains the leading browser (as I am sure it will, no matter how strident the followers of the Firefox Religion remain), web developers will write web pages to comply with IE standards.

Jordanr05 reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

It feels more efficient now - especially when loading a new tab (not as long of a weird delay). It's also good to see Microsoft is listening to feedback and fixing UI issues and adding additional customization.

In my opinion it's starting to look polished - let's just hope they continue to listen to us testers.

I'd still love to see ad-blocking capabilities, but i'm sure everyone will b**** to Microsoft just like when they made blocking pop-ups standard.

djtf reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

Improved version,more performance then the previous Beta 2! The realy did a lot with engine! Better benchmarks! I use AOL-Browser wich uses the HTML-engine of IE! Reaches same speed as Opera 9! Good work, recommend it!

IVStalin reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

(review of beta2)
The user interface is an improvement, but the core browser is still horribly broken.
The same old bugs are still there. A dead loss. I hope they will at least make some attempt to fix it before release.

RoSmecher reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

i would give it a higher rating, expect it won't install on my computer and i am running windows xp sp 2 and beta 2 worked fine for me with it. this is non sense though why would it work.

kindbud1 reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

well let's see here...

http://www.webstandards....les/acid2/test.html#top
http://www.webstandards....es/acid2/reference.html

ouch

styxrtp reviewed v7.0.5450.4 Beta 3 on Jun 29, 2006

Note: If you are running beta 2, please Un-Install it before installing Beta 3

Changes (from M$):
Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 is now available for download and includes improvements in reliability, compatibility, user features, and security. Although Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 was layout complete, based on our customers’ feedback, we’ve made some additional changes to the look and feel of the browser. Beta 3 allows users to add the e-mail button back to the toolbar, enables users to reorder the tabs by dragging them to the left or right, and enables horizontal scrolling while zooming.

To improve the RSS experience, Internet Explorer 7 now allows users to update all their RSS feeds automatically. In addition, the user has more control in marking their RSS feeds as "READ."

Beta 2 testing has helped us improve compatibility with websites and web applications in Beta 3. Internet Explorer 7 reliability has improved in Beta 3 as several layout-rendering bugs have been fixed as well.

In addition, Beta 3 contains all the security fixes addressed in the June Internet Explorer Security Bulletin MS06-021.

We encourage you to download Beta 3 today and keep the feedback coming! Thanks to the Beta 2 feedback, we’ve been able to make some important changes to the product and improve the web experience.

Changes reviewed here:
http://winsupersite.com/reviews/ie7_beta3.asp

niknet reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Jun 19, 2006

So Far So Good..Yet

yanike reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on May 29, 2006

Great browser!

Diam0nd reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on May 28, 2006

Jeez, you ppl are scary as hell. Nobody says that IE is the best browser on earth, and I believe IE should NOT be your primary browser. I, for instance, prefer Opera v9 as my primary one, Avant as my secondary one and IE as my third (why? because on some sites it is a MUST).

Anyhow, IE7 > IE6. Thats for sure.

BetaChap reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on May 3, 2006

I think IE7 is OK. More stable than IE6 & more comfortable to be using tabbed browser windows.
One problem I have had is that MSN Hotmail webmail gives me an error when trying to empty the trash folder. I managed this ok in Mozilla. Not sure of the setting which affects this. I'm sure this will be fixed by release time.

After using IE7 beta for some weeks now, I've have recently been encountering a problem with access being blocked to SSL URLs for sites that don't have a certificate signed by a "trusted certificate authority". Even at a government website today, this was a problem! I believe this isn't just an IE problem but I'm thinking of going back to IE6 until the full release of IE7 is available.

lsproc reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on May 1, 2006

Lets be fair guys. It is a decent browser. Leaps and bounds better than IE6 with a phishing filter and preinstalled activex need your permission to run is good work. Yes it is true it does have a way to go and renember that the Vista version runs in a protected enviroment so viruses can't get out. Something that other browsers would take a while to manage. The rendering engine still needs the odd fix. Does Acid2 make any difference to the average person? Does anyone really care if Firefox has themes. You don't need all these unneeded bells and whistles in a browser. As long as it works with nearly all web pages on earth then it is a good browser. Something where Firefox and Opera lacks out. IE fits this place and thats why it is a good browser.

CyberDoc999 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on May 1, 2006

IE7 is not that that great, I do not like it!
maybe it will grow on you like mold. I went back to FireFox.

Wheelchair Dude reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 28, 2006

I really like it, I honestly do. I just don't like the File, Edit etc. Menu in the middle. That sorta bugs me, but not too much.. umm, I love the tab idea. Because for some reason, Mozzila Firefox will not work on my computer..*nudge*. But anyways, it's pretty decent. Just the file menu needs to be changed, so it's not in the middle. But at the very top, umm what else. It is kind of slow at start-up for me. Because its slow because it says, "Detecting Proxy Settings..", Because I'm on a DSL Connection. So that takes quite awhile sometimes. But other than that, I would rate it a 4.

soots reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 27, 2006

msn did not work with it also thought it was poor conpared to advant and maxon

TheCoach reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

all of my microsoft software is authorized and current. i looked forward to an overall positive experience when i downloaded and tried IE7beta2. After a couple of hours of trying to do what i normally do on the web, i uninstalled it. If the current release is 'real close' to what the 'official' release will be, i won't be using 7. the feature set is appealing, however, the 25+ errors i reported in those couple of hours tells me it and i are a long way from getting together.

k3of4 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

An improvement, but late to the party. I'm not a big fan of the new interface either (especially favorites icons left of the "tabs"), but that's just personal opinion.

Tosher reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

It's incredibly slow at times, and there's a bug with the fancy new icon - second restart after install it's changed back to the old icon-set. These things BUG me. But i've gone back to Firefox for most tasks - some things don't work properly in Firefox, so then i have the 'view this page in IE' button handy. Anyways it HAS been greatly improved, IE. BUT I WANT MY ICON BACK!

Esquire reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

Install and uninstall without a glitch, but it has to remain uninstalled for now since there is a conflict with online banking services that I use.

skynetman reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

I can't install beta2.
ie7beta2.log says:

30.532: DoInstallation: Installing assemblies with source root path: g:\8699c61a0feb79cc2bf224358d4cb0\
30.532: Num Ticks for Copying files : 12422
30.547: DoRegistryUpdates:UpdSpInstallFromInfSection Failed for ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install error: 0x5
30.547: INF_REGISTRY Failed
30.547: DoInstallation:DoRegistryUpdates failed
30.610: Access is denied.
30.610: Internet Explorer 7 installation did not complete.
Select 'OK' to undo the changes that have been made.

Any idea?

jjjansen reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

Crashes on many DotNetNuke sites including dotnetnuke.com :-(

Always ask for login/password on intranet site with active directory where IE6 did not :-(

Just crashes too many times to be useful. Too many for beta 2. Expected maybe in alpha 1 :-(

wognum reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

well, it's installed...but i cannot open IE7.
it closes immediately after i open it. :(
whatever, i use maxthon :)

pjb reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

Works well for me.
Nice to see the previous issue with Dreamweaver 8 (FTP Remember Site Settings) has been fixed with this release.
Installation is a breeze, as is un-installation via Add/Remove. Windows Live Messenger continues to work after this release – I have found no issues there.

IgnacioJN reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 26, 2006

After installing IE7 Beta 2, Windows Live Messenger stopped working.

eclipsingdivinity reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Internet Explorer has always given me the shivers. It's the #1 cause of spyware, and it's unsafe as hell. And everyone is very antiMS about the whole situation, and how Microsoft is only making IE7 because of some reason that has to do with monopolistic ideals or increasing competition from Firefox.

But holy moly simmer yer arses down. IE7 has some good things cookin' for it that make it a solid choice for casual and frequent web sufers. For one it is SAFER, by far it is quite safe...why? Because it turns off active x by default, and it doesn't suffer from the same security flaws that plague IE 6.0 at the moment.

The interface while oddly designed has nice features. The antiphishing is streamlined and handy, tabs are nice, and opening and closing them is effecient. The quick bookmarks panel is excellent and saves from the clutter of Firefox's bookmark toolbar. The default 'no page' page is easier to understand and mimics that of Firefox 1.5. Its rendering engine is much faster to boot.

Bad? Lots of memory is used. The interface while trying to achieve simplicity will take quite a bit of getting used to. Not only does it mark a drastic design overhaul to IE 6.0 and it's casual Luna/Windows Explorer feel but it's a major shift in how a Web Browser should be interpreted.

So when Microsoft forces it's customers to swallow the pill that is IE 7.0 through some major Windows Update; we will wait and see what the world thinks of the new MS browser, and it will ultimately determine how many users will turn to disgust and flee to Mozilla or Opera, or rejoice and end the growth of Mozilla's userbase.

I think the next generation of the browser wars will have less to do with security, and more to do with the content of the browser itself. That's when web surfers really win.

mjm01010101 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Nicely done. I'm a hard-core FF user, but this is exactly what was needed for IE to catch up. Why did it take so long?

Seems a tad slower than the OLD IE on systems without much RAM, hope they fix that.

minklein reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

I have used the 32bit and now the 64bit version. They both appear to work the same, with the exception that 64 defaults to the 64bit browser. It still has the ability to connect via 32bit which you have to do for M$ updates.

I had problems with the 32bit version and embedded links in Outlook Express Email. Most of the time it would not connect via a double click and would end up in a system folder. With the 64bit version I use T-Bird for Email and I have not experienced any link problems.

I don't use Outlook Express with XP64 as it will not spell check with Office 2k installed. I don't know if Office 2003 will fix that, anybody tried it?

The other thing that is missing is the lack of an Email button. No quick link to get Email from the browser. Maybe this will be fixed later.

This release of IE7 is not bad, like anything new you have to get used to it. I think it still has a way to go, it has potential, if they listen to the users.

anmol.2k4 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

they cannot make everybody happy !
i find it is not as responsive as opera still im sure that they will be able to slow down the progress of alternative browsers.
and
they cannot make everybody happy !

Browser12 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Still a pretty unstable version. I've tried msn messager betas before and they worked fine. Overall, I don't like it. I would like to be able to have the classic view. Also, the amount of buttons offered for the main toolbar. Either give us more options are offer sites that allow you to add them. I always liked the whats related button which isn't in the newer versions of windows/IE. Also, allot of clutter with the context menu when you right click. Offer the public the option of totally customizing what you have there. To: kindbud1. Do the system restore thing. Hopefully you have it set to the normal restore points. If not, oh boy, you might be stuck with this version. Its that or reinstall windows which is always fun.

lbickle reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Joe Dirt....You obviously never used the older beta's of Firefox then...I can specifically remember them stating to uninstall previous versions before installing new ones.....granted you don't have to do that with the final now but this is IE 7.0 "Beta 2"....Note the word BETA. I guess if your thought holds true then I should say Firefox is...and I quote "Junk Junk Junk", because in the some the beta versions it was recommended you uninstall the previous versions before installing the new beta. I am not sure why people feel the need to post a review just so they can bash a product for something so stupid. The site is called Beta News....it is here so you can see the latest and greatest software and help test it to make it better, again thus the word "beta"....If you don;t like to test and yes sometimes that does mean you have to go through some hurdles then don't download Beta Software....wait for the final.

AlphaBetaGamma reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

No one has mentioned the obvious problem. The Favorites button is on the extreme left-hand side. You have to move your mouse all the way over from the scroll bar on the right. And you can't move any of the buttons around as you could in IE6. What were they thinking?

Other than that, I guess it works OK, but if you can't use it, why bother? Firefox still looks good to me.

Vampmon reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Fantastic release.

Version = 7.0.5346.5 as of 25 April 2006.

A couple of builds ago i was able to right click a link and select "Open link in new tab" i'm only able to select "Open in new window" now, anyone know if there is a settings change to enable me to do that?

_Shorty-dammit reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

crashing? got google desktop installed? that's why.

bourgeoisdude reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Read that last note before ditching this...most stable one yet. Also the back button is working for every site now like it was in the original beta. No bugs with this one that I see.

Matb_TePe3a reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

If you do not see tabs try this:

http://www.jcxp.net/foru...ndex.php?showtopic=6081

This is just a beta release, dont blame it for that.

Floodland reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

How many years to release this (how to say it without ban myself...) pathetic attempt to compete. This is just garbage.
How is this company still ruling IT?

rawd reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Yup, cannot see any of the tabs. Blargh!

Been using all the previews up until now and this is the worst one yet

new_jamie reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

An absolutely buggy piece of cr*p.

I downloaded this in good faith and with an open mind.

My tabs don't show at all for a start even though they are open (i can ctrl+tab to them).
It crashes periodically (just closes without any warning!).
Plus, i just generally don't find it user friendly. The hiding of the menus by default - what's that about?!?! It seems MS want to emulate the advanced features of Firefox and Opera, but fail miserably.

I really wanted to like IE7 but I can't until they start to think seriously about the UI and stability. Yes, I know this is a beta, but it's beta 2 for crying out loud. Firefox and Opera are (generally) far more stable in alpha builds!

Sort it out MS...

bobad reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Hey, it's looking better. Much more stable and feature complete than the last time I tried it. Ignore the remarks about security made by inexperienced users. Even if you use brand F and brand O, you STILL need to use an AV, Anti-Spyware, and firewall to be completely safe. So use what you like best and ignore the fanboy scare tactics. No browser is completely secure, and never will be unless it's so locked-down you can hardly use it. Right now MS needs to take a serious look at Maxthon. Their tabbed browsing leaves IE7 in the dust. Other than tabbed browsing features, IE7 is becoming first class.

utomo reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

The simple one is Microsoft buy the maxthon and then improve it.

it still need many improvements

IanT3cs reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Works well enough for casual use.
But like many nerds, I simply don't trust IE. Many of my clients have now converted to Opera. Version 9 (beta) renders Acid2 perfectly. Firefox and IE 7 do not.
I also believe it's safer not to rely on Microsoft for most things. Are the sad guys going to attack what's used the most? IE!
I don't intend to turn this into a "my browsers better than yours", so give IE7 a go. But use something else for your own safety.
Keep Internet Explorer in reserve.
And Opera 9 now has Widgets! Great way to break the monotony.
Have fun, but browse safely.

Floske Tuf reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

One word : FANTASTIC !

One little remark however :
What about favicons ? Does IE7 look for them, or does it ignore them.
Not that it is a main issue, but it looks nice.

Hellcat_M reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

I agree with terminalx, it is looking good. The one thing I don't yet like is how it handles tabs. Its the same with Firefox (before you add tab addons), and with Opera, the tabs are limited. With Firefox with the addon and Maxthon, you can have a tab open doing many different things (clicking on a link, when doing a search, when opening up a new URL in the address bar, when a popup is eniciated...etc). With IE you can't, you have to open a new tab manualy. I'm oping an addon or the MS will add this funcion to the browser. Otherwise I'm plased with it, its quick. The Acid2 test does show up funky, but thats also with Firefox, the only browser that it showed up correctly was Opera...for me anyway.

markus10018 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Maybe BetaNews should update the screenshot?

IE 7 is way better then 6, but still miles away from Firefox or even Opera.

Zankur reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

This version is far better than its earlier betas,and ofcourse ie-6!
I am currently using this browser to write thi review,and its good!
plz dont compare it with speed/functions of opera or firefox...
Keep them out,of ur mind,while using this beta and u will like it..
A step in right direction!

osric reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

- Seems heavier on system requirements as compared to Opera and FF (e.g. Did you notice that the application icon on the caption bar shows an unrecognized application icon and when IE is run and then after some time shows the IE icon?)
- Some sites that work with IE6 dont work with IE7 (e.g. Yahoo Mail Beta)
- Fails the ACID2 test

+ Lot better than IE6

yagood reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Build 5346.5 on Apr 25, 2006

Just show me how does Acid2 look like in this version.

(http://webstandards.org/action/acid2/)

yanike reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Apr 17, 2006

OK! Internet Explorer 7 is way better than 6. You can have google as your main search. Go to google.com and click on the arrow google made for IE7 visitors and add it. IE7 is still in beta and has improved alot since the last builds. The last major build if I can remember was 5(not that much of a change, but icons and a few security fixes). Hat off to Microsoft and well done! Please don't let us down in the end. Because I know you won't anyway.

RoSmecher reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 28, 2006

I 100% completely agree with terminalx. It is not bad for a BETA, but hopefully many improvements and fixes will be made. Also I think the newest version is 7.0.5342.2 (Beta 2). So hopefully betanews will catch up some time.

terminalx reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 27, 2006

I like the direction this browser is going and its a lot faster then IE6 the interface is cleaner now but I do not like that you cannot move the address bar...this will probably change since it is BETA...people who do not review the product should not be allowed to make comments saying something is crap is not a review and should be deleted since its a waste of space...

CyberDoc999 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 24, 2006

this newest IE is very buggy and crashed way too many
times....
It is also very difficult to un-install!
It's back to FireFox for me!

khalid2005 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 23, 2006

Do not vote if you are not qualified.

Slug_Coordinator reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 22, 2006

A few peves with I.E. 7

1. It will not keep the same settings from your I.E. 6. Such as how you have your Menus aranged and favorite Search Engine.

2. You can not move the Address Bar to the same location as it is in I.E. 6.

3. Some of the options you set in I.E. 6 is not kept or allowed.

Bottom line once I have my Browser how I want it I want to keep it laid out that way. I do not want Microsoft to tell me where my Menus or Address bar will have to be I do not want it on top. I do not want MSN being my default Search In fact I would rather none be set as default.

Next Why not have a click button to add your favorite search ? Or simply not to have it on the tool bar at all if I set my home page to being Google or etc.,

Come on give me some options I already had Microsoft not what you decided we should have due to your choice.

Sorry I am sticking to 6, and Firefox.
I appreciate the faster Browser but I still want my ability to customize the locations of things.

EarlyMorningHours reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

You would almost think that Microsoft is *trying* to lose the browser war. Maybe if IE becomes a two bit player the vulnerabilities in FF will go up or something. Who knows what they're thinking, but it certainly can't be "people are going to love this!"

While this newest IE is yawn inspiring to say the least, Maxthon still runs on top of it beautifully. I used Firefox for several months, but once I found Maxthon there was no going back. Now that's a real browser.

horsecharles reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Whatever happened to this being standalone for all other OS?

anubeon reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

This beta has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the open source model beats the corporate model hands down. The first major update to Microsofts flagship browser in over two years and this is all they have to offer; is that a death knell I hear?

The long awaited implimentation of tabbed browsing in IE is dissapointing to say the least; IE7 insists on opening everything (links and all) in new tabs and I have yet to see a definitive sigle window mode.

The user interface is rigid and inflexible, allowing the user minimal customisation, and the position of the menubar (which can not be changed) is infuriating to say the least. If you ask me the end user should be entrusted with full control over the UI as is the case with firefox (userchrome.css is pretty cool don't you think).

Also as far as I can see there is very little in the way of plugin (or theme/skin) support. While plugins are a possibility the chances are there will be very few developers willing to deal with the relative complexity of the IE7 plugin system.

There are a multitude of other issues with this beta, however to be fair they could end up being fixed in the final release (unlike tabbed browsing, user interface and plugins which I assume were pretty much finalised before beta). and only a successful ACID2 test will attest to whether that is the case or not.

Well folks if I were you I would steer clear of IE7 as a primary browser, firefox and opera have it beaten hand down, and if it weren't for my reliance on microsoft update it would be off my system before you could say 'download of firefox today!'.

sn1p34 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

"Too many choices! Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc. I can't be a fanboy for all of them."
So let me get this straight you givieng it a bad rateing because you have a choice, your rateing the software not the fact that theres lots of browsers....

verdegal37 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Me gusta i me funciona bastante bien no van por mal camino.
A mi personalmente me gusta mas como trabaja i las opcciones del aol explorer.
De momento ma quedo con aol explorer.
Tampoco hay que puntuar tan bajo este navegador es bastante bueno.

arossetti reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

So far not bad from a functionality standpoint, but I wouldn't upgrade if given the choice. I can't stand the fact that you can't move the command bar above the address bar, along with other "fixed" icons and such. At least I figured out how to turn off Clear Type since it looked like garbage on my CRT.

pir2ed reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Many will use it because they don't go beyond the default. That does't make it good.

Paradise-FH- reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

web designers and developers need a refresh of ie to bring it into the current age. firefox is still my browser of choice but the simple fact of the matter is ie still holds market dominance.

ogman why don't you keep your comments to yourself if you've got nothing constructive to say.

proflamer reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Too little, too late!

ogman reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Who needs another browser? Aren't there enough of them, and most of them better?

ranasrule reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

very nice

Murphmeister reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

I wonder about the guys who complain about having trouble installing this. Probably spyware loaded computers with a hundred brower add-ons and plugins and then cry and down-vote when it doesen't work. Then again I'm only speculating...

Works well for me, seems just the same as the last one though, bar a few minor changes. Still liking it. ACID 2 is still laughable but much better than IE6, nowhere near FF. Like the RSS agregator and new print preview. Nice interface overall and some cool new features. Performance seems a bit better, on par with FF now.

Its taking a few releases but it's now ontrack for a stable final. One quibble is that I am greatly disappointed that MS didn't go further in supporting new standards. This means that IE 8 might be up to todays standard, when it comes out in 2 years time...

Zee333 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Works very well, a lot better then IE6 and to my amazment, better then Opera & Firefox, far better then Firefox i must say, i love the new look, the tabs and the new security features it has, a major improvement to previous versions of IE, i suggest everyone give this a chance and don't just knock it off because it's a Microsoft product. This is a Beta and it works really well.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

donpacman reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Dont install this, just rename the .exe to .cab, extract with winrar and run as standalone :)

That doesn't work an error pops up about a dll file.

kooshini reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Dont install this, just rename the .exe to .cab, extract with winrar and run as standalone :)

I like this better than IE6

clompers reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Beta 1 worked fine for the most part, but IE 7 Beta 2 wouldn't even open for me after the first time. Downgrading to IE6 did work for me though.

war593122 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Hey,

Muahah love the screen shot. ;)

Anyways this pos crashes when middle clicking on links. :( Every single time. No error messege, nothing in event view etc.

Still has nothing on firefox.

You cant move tabs around, opening ie shortcuts from appz still open in new windows. Annorying as hell.

Its just lame and old tech! :(

Damn msfeed.dll error on installing. Took 30min to get it to install. Then when trying to uninstall, since I cant stand it, the damn uninstaller is missing. lol

Besides its IE. lol

muahahaha stay away!!!!,

Will

shy_one reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Works good slightly slower than IE6 but still good.

One improvement they shoud make is have skins like they do for media player and a website dedicated them it doesn't look to bad but could be better.

Would only be a 4 but have to bump it up because of the fanboys below saying their browsers rule but to each their own.

zimu reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

The image is wrong.

Strongly advise against this "upgrade"-- if you do decide to go back to the old IE (which I did) it basically breaks it. I can no longer browse with IE, if I type in a URL it just opens up firefox and browses to the site! File associations and everything are completely ok.

cltx99 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

At least with me, very disappointing. It was very slow. In fact, IE6 was far better. I only use IE when I have to and SeaMonkey is my primary browser. I've yet to come across a browser that can touch SeaMonkey, unless you're into all the do-dads and extensions.

It seems to me that IE7 has a very long way to go.

cuongtm reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

IE is good browser however it has some bugs that hacker can use it to attack clien't PC

mfaccone reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Great! Fixed the one problem I had with the last version of having the dialup dialog pop up with every page opened. That drove me nuts even with the so called fixes for that which didn't work.
This version runs much much more like MS software. Still has some issues with toolbar but overall its a 5 for me.

phill666 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Fixed all but one of the problems I had with the first Beta 2 Preview. Speed is great, and more importanly...for me atleast, the CHM bug has been fixed, and they all work correctly now. The one thing that is still a problem you ask? you guessed it, the tool bar layout just sucks. If I could move the address bar, tabs, etc around, would have been a 5.

cjackson27 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Overall, the build seems to be much faster. I still could never switch to it without find as you type searching. Besides this, it's really coming along.

crashoverride reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Just got my x64 trial in. The one thing I would like to know is if Microsoft is so all for 64 bit, wheres the 64 bit versions of this. Way to go Microsoft alienate us 64bit users. The Windows Onecare doesn't even support x64.

pnutts reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 21, 2006

Good stuff. The previous beta uninstalled without a hitch and this beta installed with no issues. It seems faster and so far the browser hasn't closed unexpectedly.

For those with installation issues, did you follow the instructions on the download page? Any previous beta must be uninstalled, the PC rebooted, and then the new beta installed. Since this is a beta, it isn't surprising some folks are having issues.

rcadams reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

Won't install, Getting MSFEEDS.DLL installation Error POPup. Tried work arounds..

Orginal Beta2 Preview installed fine.

improvelence reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

Still wont install on 64 bit windows.

Good job M$, nice to know you are following your own 64 bit initiative. Bravo.

wat0114 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

It gets a 4 because the "Stop" button doesn't work unless it's a page I've manually reloaded (from the Reload button). Overall it is still a rather impressive looking browser with some handy features, especially the anti-phishing option.

sanawar reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

I agree...they should let the toolbars move. Also, an option to move the "tab bar" to the bottom should be provided.

Betanews, please put the IE7 screenshot instead of the old on.

Skyfrog reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

Extremely ugly, cluttered, and impossible to customize. Who's bright idea was it to put the address bar up at the top and not allow it to be moved? Tried it for a while and the back button wouldn't even work. This is pathetic Micrsoft.

DigitalSin reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

That screenshot is not IE 7.

surfbum4fun reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

MAN! I wish I could install ie7 in Solaris. jk

krgood reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

I can't install the product, I get an error "ie7b2pmx" hotfix failed to install. Too bad...
I would have liked to have tried the beta out to see what MS has done with IE. Back to FF!
Goody

siryak reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

Although Im still a FireFox user I am very impressed with IE 7. It is very nice looking browser and plenty of extras. It matches FireFox in features but I am not yet convinced in security is the only reason why I am still using FF. Also why in the world did they put a picture of IE 6 up there lol?

Realist reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

Kimoeagle. All you need to do it go to your "Set Program Access and Defaults" panel and select IE as your browser. For some reason this build unselected it.

Adrian79 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview Refresh Build 5335.5 on Mar 20, 2006

works great build number is 5335, and it doesnt break trillian

pafinator11 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Mar 18, 2006

This new IE definately looks promising however it broke AIM Triton and Rhapsody so I am forced to back down. It did look very promising and I hope they fix the problems soon.

Kimoeagle reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Mar 5, 2006

I have had no success in getting IE7 to acknowledge URLs (for any intended Internet contact). Review of Internet settings,i.e., comparisons with IE6 installs on a desktop and a laptop -- even emulation of these IE6 settings -- proved unsuccessful.
The cosmetic changes that I was able to view and use before IE7 froze up looked promising, but totally useless.
Ihave returned to Firefox 1.5, with an IE6 install mounted for the rare occasions when IE HAS to be used.

charlezz reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 21, 2006

At first I was a bit sceptic about the new IE but it suprised me and I catch myself still using it. It has all functions Firefox and some extensions provide in a really slick interface. Tab dragging still has to be integrated but I think they did a really good job there in Redmond. And off course using good ol' IE again I can view every website correctly again. Great leap ahead.

pvolk reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 20, 2006

Well, its not that bad. I agree they could have made it worse. I enjoy the tabbed browsing, the security still seems lax although it is supposed to be way better, but hopefully when full integrated with vista it will be more reliable. Alot of the features dont work well, or at all. But its a beta. It looks nice, it has tabbed browsing. And this cool multi tab viewer which is very mac-esque. Also its kindof unstable, i have had random crashes periodically for no reason. But its a Beta so im cutting it some slack. Its better than IE6 though so i cant complain too much. And no im not one of those people who is too proud, or too stubborn to switch to the more stable firefox, im just too realistic. Firefox is a sub-par browser, with less standard features that IE and still plenty of bugs of its own. Also this release may look like its a ripoff of the firefox browser, but firefox is a complete ripoff of the opera browser...and so the line continues so shutup! IE is just as secure as firefox if you know how to use the internet and how to avoid annoying scripts and hacks through IE. Anyways enjoy this seriotypically incomplete release from M$!

imanino reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 18, 2006

Well, it could have been worse. Certainly, Microsoft could have found ways to make it so. They have that gift. The best features here are features that have been in competing browsers for a while, so it's IE leeching from everybody else. A lot of the Microsoft proprietary stuff doesn't work right yet. I had problems with the new RSS engine not updating. My home installation let everything through, while the office one blocked pages incessantly with a warning suggesting the protection built-in is very buggy dependent upon your particular software configuration. File associations are buggy. Worse, it replaces you IE6 connections to the OS and if you don't know how to do it, yep, time to reformat and reinstall the OS! And as usual, any attempt to do video or music brings up the usual bevy or problems with that monster that is WMP 10. It's Microsoft imitating itself while imitating Firefox and some others. Better than IE6 by any measure, but then again, that is not saying much.

JonathanDoe reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 16, 2006

That's Microsofts ClearType, which is enabled by default regardless of the OS settings for it. Just go to Tools..., Internet Options, Multimedia and uncheck Use ClearType.

markrr71 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 11, 2006

Is it me or after loading this new Beta version 7 does the screen text on each page seem blury and out of focus. If I restore to earlier version it goes back to a nice sharp crisp text. Anyone have any ideas??

gplanas reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 11, 2006

I am putting a rating of 2 not because I dont like IE7, in fact on the outside IE 7 is actually a great program. However, when I try to install a program that utilizes IE anything it either locks up or wont install at all. Any ideas on how to bypass this problem?

Thanks

photonboy reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 3, 2006

I have to rewrite my review. I tried to install McAfee's security suite and kept getting blank windows. After removing IE7 b2 this problem went away. So it has a few glitches after all.

You need to click "show updates" in Add/Remove Programs to find the removal link.

I hope that IE7 has a few more configuration options similar to Firefox or Google.

rkwone reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 3, 2006

I am usually a MS fan, but this is a piece of crap. Kept hanging up. Kept trying to initiate dialing internet connection, even after connected.Needs a LOT of work to be released anytime soon. I had a problem making it go away. Had to format C.

derekr54 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 2, 2006

I use Opera and Firefox most but decided to give Bill a fair chance.Installation was easy with no problems and it looks pretty good for Microsoft.I tried it on two pc's and got different results on both.On one it works ok but when I try to use Morpheus IE7 keeps popping up and Morpheus crashes.On my other pc each time I try to browse the web,my modem connection screen keeps activating and asking me to connect to the net,that would be ok if I was not already on the net to start with.Due to these problems I have un-installed IE7 from both computers and gone back to Opera and Firefox,I may give it another chance once the final release is out,but not until then.I must say tho that it is better looking than IE6.

daverage reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

I have made one review with 3 stars.
I really liked this...loads of features, looks pretty good (for M$) and is fairly stable.

But (here comes why it is a 1 now). Who here has tried to uninstall it?
It hung my system, then froze then sat there for 45 minutes and finally blue screened me.
I am running a decent system and have never ever witnessed anything like that on it before, and I am terrible for installing beta and alpha software.
It did seem to remove it self, but now IE is playing silly beggers, so will have to restore or run the sfc /scannow.

Not good!!!

RoSmecher reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

not bad so far. once it gets sent to the performance and optimization team before the final beta it will actually run much faster and be smoother. overall i think they did a good job, looks sleek, and has way more features than IE 6. Two thumbs up to Microsoft and a big boooo to everyone that hates them for no reason other then they heard from their friend that microsoft sucks.

jshrk reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

If you are completely bored and have nothing to do but download this product and try it out like i did, then DONT! its a waist of time its a slow copied piece of sht, not worth my time download and i want microsoft to give me back the time they made me waist by looking at this product.

huppel reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

I am known as someone who "loves" Microsoft applications.
IE7 beta 2 preview did however NOT AT ALL impress me !
It misses too much useful things that I was used to in IE6.
If this is what we will get in the final release then I go asap to firefox or whatever other explorer.
IE7 is definitely a no-go for me - I hate it.
This comes from the bottom of the heart of an MS-lover !!

leemedic reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

I have installed Internet Explorer 7.0 beta with NO problems. I have been a user of Foxfire, but now am hooked on IE7. Great job Microsoft. Looks like they are giving Opera and Foxfire and run for their money now!
Installation was an ease. Tab browsing is smooth and very very fast! I highly recommend downloading it and giving it a try.
Disclaimer: I represent no private groups or compmany on the review! I am a private user.

robmanic44 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

This just isn't ready for use. As for the Seamonkey supporter, all I can say is "Amen Brother".

imnra reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

I downloaded the beta 2 version of IE7, but I have not installed it. After reading the reviews, on IE7, I am no longer interested in trying it out. I will continue to use IE6, for now.

anomoly reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

The problem with IE (as well as with WMP) is that without them, certain functions of a common windows based pc just will not work. As an 'addition' to, but also being a necessary install (for complete functionality) is rather irritating when there are many other & better alternatives. IE, in my firewall, must have complete web access, whereas firefox can be given limited internet access as a 'browser'. Without WMP, some web content is unavailable. Another irritation (wmp sucks) to an already bloated 'everything under the sun' os.

bobad reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

I agree with 90% of what Zenwarrior said. MS should use Maxthon as a model. It just doesn't get any better. About the tool bar: A simple right-click can turn on the tool bar, just like in Maxthon. IE7 is actually more like Alpha software. It's not feature-complete yet. So to all the naysayers, SURPRISE that it doesn't work perfectly!

ZenWarrior reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

We were waiting for this POS?!

Maxthon (written by only one guy vs. the behemoth Microsoft) was light-years ahead of where IE7 is now at least two or three years ago! And from what I've seen, it will be a few more years before Microsoft figures out that bloodchen, Maxthon's genius coder, understood what I.E. should have been as a browser long before Firefox was "officially" released, and Microsoft even saw a problem.

Seriously, if any IE users here really want the browser Microsoft should have developed years ago, just download Maxthon and use it. It has had tabs for forever. It has had superior security options for years, that IE7 *still* lacks in the 21st century. Maxthon is also infinitely more customizable than this piece of crap MS is now trying to pass off as "new" technology. In fact, that was the very first thing that turned me off -- being unable to make IE7 my own browser.

What MS-idiot thought it would be a stroke of genius to remove the main toolbar? I only needed it *immediately* after downloading and trying to use IE7! Indeed, the very first thing I looked for had been made invisible to users! Duh! (Why does Microsoft seem to have the nefarious and unstated goal of fully removing the word "personal" from personal computer?)

I have looked IE7 over and see virtually nothing that tells me it's a 21st century piece of software. As is often offered by Microsoft, it's merely pablum for the masses. And in this case, IE7 clearly is pablum intended to stem *corporate* market share losses. The regular consumer has effectively been told to continue switching to other browsers. (I've not said this before, but after seeing IE7, it's time to be completely honest. So you're hearing this from someone who openly admits to not being a fan of other browsers: "Switch! Now! Abandon IE! After all, Microsoft has abandoned you.)

Far from offering anything neat and/or wonderful, Microsoft didn't even have the brains to first closely look at "modern" browsers and copy more of the ideas (other than tabs) that have contributed to their loss of market share. I'll not respect one single reviewer in the popular press who somehow finds pay-off money in their pockets to review IE7 as anything other than P.T. Barnum's words proved right once again: "There's a sucker born every minute."

Again Microsoft, just one word: "Maxthon." And to think, even your own management has publicly admitted to using it over your own product. I do not think even they will be stupid enough to switch [back] to their own [in theory only] new-fangled product. But worst of all, IE7 is irrefutable proof that MS simply does not listen to its customers -- until forced by the courts or actual red ink to do so.

cltx99 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

Seamonkey, when in the Alpha stage ran rings around this IE7 Beta. Anyway, I tried it and was not at all impressed. As far as page rendering it was very slow. I'll stick to IE6 for my secondary Browser and surely will remain with Seamonkey as my main browser.

To make IE7 anything half decent as a browser, I suspect that there will be lots more betas before the final gets here.

offmdan reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

Stick to Maxthon or Firefox (even better!)

After so many years... you would have hoped for something more spectacular! Try again IE!

Drich reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

Its not bad. I do like the built in RSS reader. Works great. But right now I still prefer the AOL Explorer browser over this. Has all the features IE7 has plus a little more. Ill skip this for now.

bbfc reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

Impressive stuff MS!

I must admit that I was impatient and downloaded the 'leaked' version, but a windows re-install got rid of that. This build seems to load and install more quicker.

I like the tabs, but it would be nice to have a Close button visable on all tabs. The UI is also very impressive.

Edit: Why is the picture above of IE6!?!?

tontito reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

People say firefox doesn't block all pop-ups, and for that it is bad, but i have bad news about ie7 also, the same pages open pop-ups and aren't dangerous pages, imagine for the others...

The interface looks nice and it solves some issues i had with ie6 so i give it a 3+

For now i will keep using firefox and testing ie7 carefully

sn0wflake reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

I wonder how long it takes to discover the first security hole.

googun reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

It installed smoothly on my desktop system; will try my laptops later. The tabs are years late in coming, but it's good to see them at last. The full-screen, zoom and quick tab features are sweet. The quick tabs seem to be a necessity anyway as the space for tabs is limited and they don't stack up quite as well as on Firefox.

The new simpler GUI works well, but I suspect it will be reworked a little before this version leaves Beta.

As usual with MS apps, the GUI graphics are a mess. The artwork's good, it just doesn't all go together. Oddly, some tooltips don't have shadows.

Last minor thing: The orange/yellow band across the 'e' icon doesn't work IMO. With many tabs open the yellow can overpower the relatively subtle icons on the screen.

It is obvious that some agile minds have been at work on IE7, but I'm not sure it will pull me away from Firefox.

ScReWfAcE reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

IE7 is REAL DAM NICE it works fine installs fine looks fine.

1 Problem MEMORY it sucks more memory that IE 6 does when loading pages. 50meg suck away by loadin 1 website. DAM!!

Other than that happ ywith it so far.

gkar reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

The layout is clumsy and a little dorky, they should address it. It does have some good security features. Seems to be fairly quick even when back/forward paging. They should make just admit to themselves the Firefox layout is the most functional and just do it like that. =)

ojos_rojos reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

100% agree with Kubla_Khan
only one thing i don't like - classic menu placed under address bar

Marucins reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

CRAP IE7

pjb reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

JScript Menus are fully displayed. Instead of drop down on hover over, they are all constant. Hopfully this will be fixed. DPersonally I don't like where the address bar is placed, and there seems no way of moving it.

jkamenetz reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

I can not install IE7.

Dasteez reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

Good features:
- Phishing Protection
- Tabed Browsing
- Improvements to GUI

Bad Features
- GUI is pretty but looks clunky
- Seems slower

I can defiantly tell that it's beta, but that doesn't mean the end result isn't going to be good.

marty reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Feb 1, 2006

Sorry folks. Only works on Windows XP. I have WinXP x64 and Windows 2000 dual boot (actually triple boot with Fedora Core 4 - a real OS). Therefore I give M$ a boo and my rating as 1.

Kubla_Khan reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

If you can't install it don't write up a bad review. Your download could be corrupt - get Free Download Manager.

Now, unto the review. This is finally a great piece of software from Microsoft. Many improvements not only on the GUI side. Opening a tabbed window has never been easier or faster. Deleting Cache, cookies, history, etc. can all be done from the click of a button, and no waiting for it to finish to click the next button to delete more. The favorites center can be constantly there or pulled up whenever you want by the push of a button, and Feeds are extremely easy to add and access.

In fact, I am writing this using IE7 and it's increbily nice and easy to use - takes about an hour to totally replace IE6 in your mind... and day for you to totally forget IE6.
A great effort on the part of Microsoft and looks very promising.

cbeck20 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Well I really can't write much of a review because the program won't even install. An error occured about msfeeds.dll . I've never had an installation error before on any program I have ever installed. That speaks volumes right there.

Mirrebex reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

damnit.. genuine software validation

KSzostek reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Nice job a few things have changed and still more will change.

Keep in mind this is a beta things change several times.

Stephen_hazen reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Beta 1 version is much better than this version. When I installed this version (after uninstalling the beta 1, required) I lost the ability to view html in Outlook 2003. On the pro side it is a lot more stable than the beta 1 version. on the con side right clicking on a link gives you only the choices of IE 6, the toolbar was much, much better in beta 1. I woun up uninstalling it.

ModderXManiac reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

In spite of my sincerist efforts, I have been unable to get this installed successfully on my pc with Media Center Edition 2005 OS, it worked on my XP Pro and Home machines very well, no malware yet.

But I think they could have done a better job at allowing for customizing to the gui, the gui is a joke to me, and I could care less about taking the time to format it to look like Firefox, which I feel is a much quicker,easier, and more professional operating interface than this client has at this time.

I think that this is still a bit too early for a public beta, php rendering is buggy, java applets are...buggy... But for the improved security, VERY IMPROVED, and muuuuch faster page rendering, it's saved from a score of 1.

I'd say this is still a late alpha release with how slim and buggy it is. Maybe next time, Microsoft, you guys kinda let me down over this, I've you guys do hella better on beta's before, this is a flop, honestly.

Also! The famous !PHISHING FILTER! is faulty, I try to submit three sites, each time it says the feature is NOT AVAILABLE.

People, use real browsers, this is ****ing broken.
Use Firefox, Opera, and Seamonkey; I, and many other IT professionals presume those fast-growing clients will continue to dominate IE in stability, security, and speed, for years to come.

AntiochMedia reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

From a developer's standpoint, I would like to be able to install this to use for my own testing, but still have the v6.0 rendering engine as most Internet users will not migrate for a full 2-year cycle. I spend a good amount of time making things Firefox and IE6 compatible ... if this fixes some of the bugs, I'll be looking to have to test on IE6, IE7, and FF...

So ... I wish there was a way to switch between rendering engines.

sn1p34 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Wow, Windows 3.1, who the hell uses that, Windows 3.1 supports nothing, lol so quit your b****ing!

Mabey you should consider now a time for an upgrade!

Velocition reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

doesnt work on windows 3.1

THZGryphon reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

No problems at all, all sites seem to work properly. Uninstalling FF.

AndreiX reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

The best browser there is out there.Get rid of all firefox and opera crap and install this.

guitardave78 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Edit 2
Security settings are hard to change, tells me they can only be changed by system admin (me) This means active x is a bit painful, which in turn killed msn music store in media player. Restarted and it wasok, but still, don't kill your own product!!!.

Ok Edit time,
I was wrong, if you intall it everything works.
But it stays a 3 for not making it very obvious that it was installing on top of IE6!!! Also it does work with avant, so you can get some extra functionality with the nice new rendering engine :)

First impression...(After using the stand alone hack mentioned below). It looks lovely.
Then I tried to do my settings and the pop up blocker blocked the language drop down!? So I turned off the pop up blocker, and it still blocked the drop down!?
Anyway, got passed that and....it is quite nice. text renders well, it seems fast and is nice to look at. Not tried all features and am not sure what the text box on the top right is for, but it looks feature packed.

Looking good, lots of promise, but rushed it to the public it seems...which considering how long it has been in production surprises me!!

soots reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

crap

Sabz reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

NO 64BIT VERSION? MICROSOFT YA SLACK

hazlema reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

I would try this but I'm afraid I won't be able to get rid of it after it crashes and screws everything up.

nerrad reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Is this some kind of cruel joke played on us by Microsoft? I know this is a beta, but give me a break. The toolbars are not movable, and their default position is not acceptable. All the buttons are out of place, and the icons look like they were drawn by a first grader! A public preview should impress, but it didn't impress me one damn iota. If this is what I have to look forward to, I'll jump on the Firefox bandwagon for sure.

kooshini reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

I think half life 2 installed faster than this!!!

and,

http://vivekjishtu.blogs...andalone-in-5-easy.html

mastergeese reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Pityfull !
Install fails everytime.

crashoverride reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

I've been using Firefox since it's begining and have been very sceptical of IE. I however have to admit though....I'm impressed.

Edit:
Been using it for a little while now. The install was totally painless. I absolutely love the layout of the toolbars. Page rendering is much faster than IE6. I'm a diehard Firefox fan, but if this keeps in the direction it's heading I'll most likely be switching back to IE when this thing is finally released.

Beta Test reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

So much nicer than ie6 but Im gonna stick to opera.

You can actually test this without installing by running it in local mode if you choose.

1.Extract the exe file to a folder.
2.Delete the shlwapi.dll
3.Create a blank text file and name it iexplore.exe.local

Then just click the iexplore.exe to run.

chimpypimpy reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

This seems much more like Safari than Opera/Firefox.

Faster, more secure and more minimalist design than previous IE's.

computershack reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Got some rendering issues with some sites. Ironically my MSN Homepage displays the MSN logo to the right of the main page.

Also, no mouse gestures included. Tab browsing is basic in its implementation.

Phising filter is a good idea but I've no idea how good or bad it works.

It's a step in the right direction and is obviously taking some cues from Opera in the look of the UI. Hopefully by the time it's out of BETA, they'll have native mouse gestures. I'm in no doubt that the rendering issues will be sorted.

DACWILSOL reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

This is a great update to IE6. I have been using Netscape 8.1 for sometime. Since the public preview of IE7 became available, I have made it my default browser. UI takes some getting use to (mimics FF). Missing mail button is not a problem, simply type "outlook" in the address bar without the quotation marks and outlook opens. This also leaves a outlook icon stored in the address bar for viewing e-mail just like the mail button. IE7 is a Excellent browser. My review is simple, but download IE7 and try it, before you rate it.

xrayspex reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Very nice for a Beta.
Installed fast and easy. Tabbing (finally!) works very nice and RSS feeds works well.

Like others that have posted, cant compare to FF but a very nice improvement over IE6 so far.

midfingr reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

IE7
Some pluses:
Antiphishing, ActiveX opt-in, IDN support, One click cleanup.

Yes it beta. Yes it's buggy. But like it or not the IE engine is still an integral part of WinXP. It seems that MS is focusing on security and if that holds true to the gold release, then this is a step in the right direction.

Having said that, I still use Firefox as my primary browser as I have no love for IE6. I will probably use FF for quite some time. And the fact that IE7 is still in beta, who knows what can one can be exposed to on the internet.

I'm writing this review from within IE7 and as far as stability, it seems okay so far. It has a way to go, but if this is any indication, it's heading in the right direction - fingers crossed.

@Beta Test
D'oh Why didn't I think of that. Thanks for the input.

kazoom reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Installed flawlessly for me in 3 minutes.
Browser seems very fast and tabs working fine.
RSS feed integration working well, anti phishing capability working nicelty..i actually like the GUI.
Not FireFox but a nice improvement over IE6.

Looking foward to it coming out of beta.

katipo reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Not a bad effort for a beta.

Is there a way to have the menu above the address bar rather than below? If not why not?

Also how do I change what loads when you open a new tab? Currently you get a blank screen

roj reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

"IE in any version is still a security risk."

So is every other browser. Next...

"Is not w3c complient in any way."

As if this matters. "Standards" that no one uses are irrelevant.

"Likes to to things "Thier way", cause it's "Better"."

They often were, are and will be - the computer industry has grown because of that. Next.

"Is STILL based on Mozilla 4."

And everything is based on Spyglass. Your point?

"Is NOT DOM complient."

See above on irrelevancies.

"NOT CSS 2/3 Complient"

Even more irrelevancies...

You haven't pointe dout one relevant area whwere the browser is deficient. Not surprising - you're obviously one of those myopic MS detractor and even if they cured AIDS and you had it, you'd find a way to b****.

I give the browser a 4 out of 5 because it's getting there. It ain't Maxthon yet but it's certainly a lot better than what came before.

Zerbe reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Looking better, but I dont like the UI much at all.

AlexBR1974 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Go MS haters!! Keep b****ing about everything MS does or will do. Let Vista be on the shelves and you will be the first ones to get your copy! Why don´t you stick to Linux and/or Opera and leave the rest of the world alone! IDIOTS.

ghammer reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Good to see that Microsoft gave the Firefox and Opera fans a platform to squeal their love for their app.

For the rest of the world, this is a nice preview. Is it finished? Nope. But pretty cool in its own right.

If you use IE, give it a shot.

acey99 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

IE in any version is still a security risk.

Is not w3c complient in any way.

Likes to to things "Thier way", cause it's "Better".

Is STILL based on Mozilla 4.

Is NOT DOM complient.

NOT CSS 2/3 Complient.

It's SONY !

Looks like they're claiming that they Invented Tabbed Browsing, Don't Think so - Opera had that 1st, Mozilla Improved it.

Looks Like they Stole a lot of Ideas From Firefox !

Including the new search feature that just happens to use Google by default, just like FF!

Gee, ms, come up with an original Idea.

Tokar reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

rafaelcage: dude get a life. FireFox is a hack, and you are tool. Quit thinking its the best thing to happen since sliced bread. Its not. Both Opera and IE are superior to FireFox is more ways than one.

minimarko: good review. I completely agree with everything you said.

Just be aware for people intending to run this without installing it...
If you choose to do the iexplore.exe.local hack to get it to run without installing, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not reset the web settings while in IE7. It will continue to make IE7 work properly, but IE6 will be compromised: it will cause it to freeze during operation.

The file/edit/view toolbar is a pain...argh!

I still prefer Opera, like minimarko.

minimarko reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

Alright, so the installation went smooth... And so did the quick uninstall.

The interface is kind of nice, it's less cluttered so you see more of each webpage. That's about the only nice thing about the interface. In this release you are very limited in the amount of customizing you can do. First off, the "Classic Bar." The bar with: File Edit View Favorites etc is gone unless you select it. If you choose you want it, it sticks it under the adress bar and navigation buttons. I prefer by "Classic Bar" over everything else, it just looks weird. You can't move any of the toolbars around except for the Links bar. So if you like your interface a specific way then you should stay with Firefox or Opera.

The browser is alot faster as seemed just as fast as Opera, but it's starting up time is still slow. Now since it is still a beta release its got some bugs, but I had some webpage issues where it wouldn't show the page properly.

If you don't want to use tabs you still have to put up with an extra toolbar you can't get rid of and the only thing in it is a button to access your favorites, and to subscribe to RSS feeds.

There really arn't enough new featurs to keep me interested, and the interface is a big problem for me.

Be sure to give it a try however, the install/uninstall is a breeze so even the most novice user can give it a try, but make sure you backup your stuff just in case.

Well, that's my opinion, but to sum it up: Long live Opera

forgie reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

this is b5296 for those wondering. Just installed a few minutes ago and seems pretty fast and usable. Not bad.

niti reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

What is its version. If it is 5299, was released at last week...Too late betanews :)

Adrian79 reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

i currently use build 5299, this release is only 5296 hmmm?

p.s. why the screenshot of diff browser?? lol!!

slushdot reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

It sucks that it needs to be validated. I am running a copy of WinXP with the 'Corporate' key even though I have a paid-for version just because I didn't want to go through the hassle of registering each time I re-install Windows. I also don't want my Windows XP install locked to a single PC. Maybe this low mark is unfair but then again, so is forcing your users to jump through hoops to use the OS.

NEOBassDUDE reviewed v7.0 Beta 2 Preview on Jan 31, 2006

I've been using Opera, Firefox, and some others...

IE7 is good. It will be nice to have IE7 installed on most computers eventually.

I want to know where the x64 preview is! :(

[ I know ms says on their site that there will be eventually an x64 build ]

jpmccord reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 10, 2002

First, Internet Explorer is - bar none - the best Internet browser available right now. That said, competition is VERY stiff right now, with Mozilla/Netscape's most recent efforts earning my respect for the first time since the newly released Netscape 4. (I'm not pro-Microsoft or anti-Microsoft, and I'm pro-Open Source.)

That said, I think all of the browser-makers should aim a little more attention at making their browsers option-oriented. That is, let every little feature be optional. Do what Nero and Winzip do: offer a "simple" and "advanced" set of options for regular users and power users, respectively. This keeps the browser easy enough to adjust for the "users" and adjustable enough to appease the "tweakers".

And if you want to get rid of (most) popups in IE6, there are SEVERAL addons available. My favorite is ZeroPopup, which blocks almost everything.

Summary: IE6 may not be the best for everyone, but it is the best for me and many others. It's worth downloading, even if Netscape/Mozilla is your default browser.

SNYder reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 10, 2002

isn't this the IE SP1 release that was included in the WinXP SP1 release a few days ago?

Maxwolf reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 10, 2002

It's a good program, just sucks that a Microsoft product cannot be released without 2/3 of the script kiddie population bashing the company for any reason they can find. This is a good release, 5 stars.

bsf reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 10, 2002

of course Mozilla/Netscape has better features than IE... For example, Mozilla's killing of popups.. it's a great feature.. .. and.. what are these links for ?

swirvenkirven reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 10, 2002

Everything went smooth on the download for me. The only browser I use is IE, but I would like to add a comment. This is for everybody who got their panties in a wad over Netscape coming out with a 30mb download with 7.0. That is still smaller than this service pack. What do all the IE crybabies think about that. Plus this service pack added bookmarks on IE for me(sound a little familiar, maybe like Netscape adding bookmarks). I bet the same people who were bashing Netscape last week about the HUGE download and the few AOL icons it puts on your desktop are somewhere downloading this service pack on a dialup connection, waiting for hours just to see what is different. If you don't like Netscape don't bash it for the name, it messes up the reviews when you say it sucks and have no intention on downloading it.

meinhart reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 9, 2002

For those using a Windows 2000 or XP system but want to download the 98 and ME files as well (a 50 MB download), first save the ie6setup.exe to your hard drive. Then, open a command prompt in 2000/XP and type the following:

c:\ie6setup.exe /c:"ie6wzd.exe /d:1 /s:""#E"

Just an FYI. I did it because I have a 98 and a 2K system. Works great.

Sephirstein reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 9, 2002

Netscape 7 is for ****ing morons. Why the **** would you want Outdated version of Mozilla + AO-Smell bloat - pop-up blocker?

Don't download a ****ed up version of Mozilla 1.0, download the REAL Mozilla 1.1 at www.mozilla.org.

jgoins reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 9, 2002

I am so tired of IE and its slow rendering. Everyone should at least try Netscape 7, and then you'll never go back to IE. Im not just bashing MS on this one, Netscape really is THAT much faster.

bleedingpegasus reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 9, 2002

Don't take me wrong, but is there anybody encounter any issue with installation of this SP on pirated Windows?

Gelsmurf reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 9, 2002

never heard of Mosilla ;)

guess you mean Mozilla??

woodengod reviewed v6.0 SP1 on Sep 9, 2002

Brilliant Microsoft, why release IE service pack shortly after Win2000 SP3? I hope there won't be Notepad SP or so. Sure, I installed it, I see it works, but so far I prefer to use Mosilla.

User61 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Dec 5, 2001

No doubt it's better than version 5 in some departments and better than Netscape in some ways but Opera is still the best. It is small, fast, efficient. It doesn't create it's own html tags/attributes and complies with strict HTML standards by WWW Consortium.

Darken reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Oct 17, 2001

It's a great program ! IE 6 is better then IE 5.5 and all NetScape browsers. Great features : Image Toolbar, Media bar and Auto image resize. Microsoft rulez !

See ya, Darken

burner reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Sep 3, 2001

Ok, the browsing experience is fine. But, I found HUGE problem with IE6. I can't view my "folders" anymore. All that i get is a big grey area where my folders should be. Also, i can't even get to "add/remove programs" anymore. Great upgrade =P:: I want to cry now. Looks like i'll be using an explorer substitute till this is patched. I haven't heard of anyone else having these problems, so i think it must be because i'm a litestep user as well. MS must have added things to not support 3rd party shells. As for the browsing and other things... not really different from ie 5, can't believe the version #'s get so bloated.

maximum reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

Well great, another version of Internet Explorer that's going to be patched from here to Seattle. I would suggest keeping IE 5.5, unless you actually would trust any version of Internet Explorer with your credit card numbers.

Still, Netscape dominates in flawless security and email. Give it a try, even if you are a Microsoft-lover.

sphiggo reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

Hehe. I wonder what IDcide thinks of this one. The cookie privay feature is a direct rip-off of the IDcide Privacy Companion. But hey ...what the hell. Works for me. :-)

dejavu reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

It's a great program! Some features like privacy control we find in nice mozilla 0.9.3! IE6 it's fast and until now seems more stable than the buggy 5.5 version. Talking about Netscape and/or Mozilla...dead? I don't think so. Monopoly isn't good idea. If you like Internet Explorer go ahead. Very good program.

jdog16 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

Wow, I can't believe some people claim Netscape is good. You're either a. NEVER made a site before b. are very stupid c. both. If you're EVER made a site in your life, you would thank God that IE took over. Netscape 4.7x can't even render FRAMES properly. One of the most basic features, and if you try to use style sheets, well, you might as well no use them if you're using Netscape. I don't even bother trying to keep compatibility when I make sites. I make sure in Netscape 4.7x you can still SEE the site, and all content, but I don't give a s*** about if the colors, etc. are messed up. So if you swear that Netscape is better, GO BUILD A SITE, and then come back and try to deny the fact that IE saved us from Netscape.

vytltier reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

Spidah: use RC2, it works fine. no problems, very fast, just like you want it. NO LINK-PROBLEMS with XP RC2 german, works like the original build.... fine program and at last: Netscape is dead !!! all of you dreamers !! (I liked to use Netscape when it was better, but this days are gone, no use moaning about, simply accept it! the better is the enemy of the good one, as we like to say in austria!

Haoshiro reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

No matter what others seem to believe, IE6 is significantly better then IE5.5. The interface itself has not changed much, but as a web designer and hardcore user, I can tell you that IE6 has improved over 5.5 in SO many ways. Faster, better technology support, etc.

IE has eclipsed Netscape since v4.0, and has continued to stay ahead.

For those of you who think Netscape has died because of IE, or that development on it has slumped due to IE or because Netscape is working on 'big improvements', think again..... Mozilla is Netscape, through and through.... and it is often updated. http://www.mozilla.org

jobryan26 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

So far I've had no problems with IE6. It installed pretty straight forward and it's faster at accessing the content. But why does mine visually look the same as IE5.5? The screenshot looks nothing like mine. Is that because you have to have XP? Other than that no crashes and I really like the auto image sizing.

shard reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

I just signed up to write to this forum after reading some of the responses. And I'm not writing this to flame any of you, and I don't wish to be flamed either. Here's what I have to say. MS SUCKS! IT SUCKS! Now...that being said, I admit to using IE as my primary browser, but my browser of choice remains Netscape. Since MS unlawfully KILLED Netscape life for the browser as a mainstream product has been pretty dead(unless you're on UNIX). Netscape isn't being developed much because it now falls under AOL Time Warner, and they have MUCH better things to do with their time and money than to develop the browser(at least that's the impression I get). IE overtook Netscape, and now IE is more developed, and probably a better browser than netscape overall. But the funny thing is that when IE took over netscape, netscape was the BETTER browser between the two. Thing is that end users(uninformed/uneducated), got IE pre-installed, many may not have known about netscape, or just simply never cared to try out another browser since their PC came with IE. But Netscape WAS better! Still is in some instances, at least that is what I find when visiting some webpages. Like I use Netscape here at work on Win95, but I usually use IE 5.5 at home on WinME. I probably wont touch IE6 till WinXP forces me to do so. I use netscape purely out of loyalty though, so I'm not trying to get you guys to do the same, I just despise the way MS goes about business.

About that QuickTime 'bug', it wasn't a bug, MS did that on purpose, saying that QuickTime never met with their 'standards', other web plugins wont work either until developers develop necessary patches to fit with the MS 'standard'(whatever that is). They also wont support pages with Netscape plugins by default, you'll have to download the patch, and the same thing goes with Java cuz Sun and MS had a fallout over some Java 'stuff' in IE 5.x, so MS just said fine then, we wont put Java in at all!

MS...GROW UP!!! :-)

Jamale reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 29, 2001

Looks otherwise good, but the link -problem described below is back. And that makes it unusable for me. So I am back in 5.5 where it is fixed. Some stupid programmers in MS?

Jari

Dark reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

Microsoft, regardless of their public image, definitely know how to create a great browser. While most of the changes and improvements are under the hood, IE6 rocks! It loads pages even faster than IE5 and the new Privacy Report feature is very intelligent and useful for those who value their anonymity on the net. Perhaps the only thing that I found fairly useless was the image bar. I find it much more convenient to just richt-click on the image and save bu then again, I guess it does make IE6 even more user-friendly for the novice user.

Spidah reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

Hmmmmm Well it downloaded without problem. However I tried to install it over the build included with Win XP Beta 1 it refused to oblige.

A rating killer of a problem for sure

pqee reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

Can someone test something for me on this build.
Make sure your Links toolbar is showing in IE. Create a few folders on the links bar with favorites in them. Open a few IE windows and try selecting a different favorite for each open IE instance.

Whenever I do that all of the favorites switch to only 1 of the instances (usually the first opened) and try to open. I can't get the favorites to open in the same window I'm picking them from.

IE 5.5 and IE 6 (Build 2462) don't experience this issue. IE 5.0 and 6 Final both experience it.
Any ideas?

KAMiKAZOW reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

IE! Security holes³.

wyvern reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

the_duke748: To download all of the windows 2000/XP install, run the ie6setup program as follows :-

ie6setup.exe /c:"ie6wzd.exe /d /s:""#E"""

It will then prompt you for a directory to download into. You can then use this downloaded installation on as many PCs as you like ...

ezh reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

This is ie 5.6, not worth calling it 6.0.

BTW Netscape did not released a newversion for 9 months for 1 reason - they wanted NN6.1 is a huge improvements over NN6.0x. Now they will have a release every 3-4 month (I think).

farmershane reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

Love it! I have always wanted something this speedy. IE 6.0 rocks! Netscape 6? Run, as fast as you can from it! Microsoft rules!

the_duke748 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

Donpacman, I have Windows 2000, when I ran ie6setup.exe it did not give me any option for a Minimal Install, it just went straight into the install process? Anyone any ideas how or where I can download the flat build (so I can distribute to other Win2k pc's) ?

donpacman reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

hey Joco,
Activate the IE6 setup when you get to the part that says Typical or Minimal chose Minimal click everything you want to download and to the right you should see Advanced botton click on it then click on "Download Only"....... If you have a CD burner save it to CD......... ;-)

tem0 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

I've been using it for a few hours now and I have nothing but praise for the latest edition of internet explorer.

dso47 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

quite good. I've noticed a speed improvement over 5.x. Still has the neat, non-bloated interface of v.5.x, just with a few additions and icon changes. Very nice :-)

golbex reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 28, 2001

Oh, and I think there was a problem with the Quicktime plug-in. Apple has a fix for it at their site if you experience the IE6 Quicktime problem.

rodneyreid reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

Been running it since the pre-public beta, glad to see it's finally out.

Can't wait until December when they release IE6.5 beta (thats what they did with 5.0 and 5.5...one can hope)

Here are some other things not mentioned elsewhere about IE6:

VML now has anti-aliasing
SMIL2 is a lot faster
fully XML/XSLT 1.0 compliant
Meta refreshes can be disabled

wrt Netscape 6.1/Mozilla, I really wish they'd include SMIL2 and XSLT, but I realize that's likely a couple years off (when we'll first see SVG out of microsoft and netscape, ug)

boomdboom reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

Sorry forgot to say this earlier that the picture resizing doesn't work either. I checked and unchecked the box under the properties and it still didnt help. Is anyone else having this problem. I'm running under Windows ME

yoshorty reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

IE6 sure seems to be way faster, but seems it has messed up with my mouse. The left click is not working, but ONLY in the site window... if I left click on Standard Buttons or Address Bar it'll work! I can't open anything in a new window or Save Targets and stuff..
And I'm using their MOUSE! The MS IntelliMouse.
Anyone else had this problem with a MS IntelliMouse (drive 3.2)?

the_dude reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

Brilliant. I love the new privacy features, and I love the performance of this baby.

pbeery reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

To just download the files, choose "custom" install and then click the advanced button. This will offer you the chance to just download the files.

ed78 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

Response to Joco:
I've tried using the following (modified from ie5.5 w2k). Donwload the first part then run the following command:
"C:\test\ie6 folder 1\ie6setup.exe" /c:"ie6wzd.exe /d /s:""#E"
All seems to work well except it can't actually download the files due to net congestion either on my work LAN internet connection or at the MS site end. I get an odd error msg saying "... no ISP connection found... try again later" which is rubbish. Good luck :)

Joco reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

Anybody know how to download the full version? I need it to reinstall on other machines without internet connection. There's no install dialog where I can choose "download only" as it was with IE5. Thanks in advance for any help.

mz71687 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

According to the requirements, you can't run IE6 on Win95! Does anyone know if you can and they just don't support it or if you can't install it at all?

hustla reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

Bunch of crap if ya ax me.
I'll wait til I run XP and am forced to use it.
Otherwise forget it

jpasula reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

Oh my God, IE6 is very fast. It's extremely faster than IE5.5, and so far it's been stable.

gerbick reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

so far... so good. one problem though. for some reason, whenever I click on links that have exe as their target (whether directly or via reference) I can no longer download the files. I get an icon like it is supposed to be an image.

anybody know a fix around this?

mooli reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

sniff sniff.. he's all grown up now >;(

quake8 reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

****ing great
100x faster then ie5.5 and 200x faster then 5.0

GET IT NOW!!!

ComradeF reviewed v6.0.2600.0 Final on Aug 27, 2001

Best browser there is, even if it is owned by Micro$oft. Makes pages pretty and clean. Supports the most code. What more could you want?

pro_review reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Aug 19, 2001

Nice Job for the folks in seatlle,
If download IE6 or not, you better also try 'Xanadu XP' a nice free browsing tool, i have found at the file forum .(copy & paste into the address line)
http://fileforum.betanew...tail.php3?fid=997253481

TheTester reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Jul 25, 2001

Not too bad. Nice interface. Some nice new time saving features. Crashes a little and is slightly slower then IE 5.5 on my system. I experianced a few problems when trying to open downloaded .ttf files through Internet Explorer, small yet significant problem that should be solved (although its probably just me).

irchs reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Jul 23, 2001

I am currently running build 2512.1 on a win2k machine. Smart tags have been axed, its fast, and nice looking. A good browser. What more do I want it to do?!

alex_9910 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Jul 9, 2001

Let me clear this out. Someone before said that he "respects Netscape for naming their releases right, that is providing many new features in the 6 release". I bet he didn`t know that Netscape 6 was lamely built on the new Mozilla engine. That`s right -- Mozila is a open-source project, so it was a 5-min hack to change the skin, window caption, and an About box >> and here is you Netscape 6. I personally perfer IE; not only as a user, but also as a web designer. But with IE 6 release I`m having some concerns: those smart tags will be a pain for developers. Though I`m staying with 5.5 release, if I was to download IE6, I would definitely to turn smart tags off >> just in respect for web developers. You can read how nasty those SmartTags are on some big review sites. Such as http://www.zdnet.com/. Cheers!

wartillo reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Jun 26, 2001

This is the best Browser out there. Greats options ... and if you don't like Explorer I personnaly suggest you to use Opera and not Netscape ... it's a peace of junk.

Karonn reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Jun 25, 2001

Great Browser. Under the hood is were most of the work is at. I don't think many users will notice a big difference but anyone that does web development will love all the new features added.

busta reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Jun 25, 2001

Yeah, not a lot of features probably in the interface, but I'd imagine there are some new capabilities internally. Yes version 5.9102014 PR2 would be more appropriate. I'm still waiting for Netscape 5.0.

thabomb89 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Jun 25, 2001

This version, by far, is the best version of Internet Explorer yet. It's stable, and much faster than Internet Explorer 5.5. However, I am disappointed so far because there aren't enough features to brand it Internet Explorer 6, it should be more like version 5.6. IE 6 is just IE 5.5 with a lot of junk added on top, but is overall a great browser. Microsoft will proably pull some sort of trick to make people go to their new browser, as they always do.

captainahab reviewed v6.0 Public Preview Refresh on Jun 24, 2001

Yarrr... ahoy mateys!
At this time, Internet Explorer 6 is the best web browser there is. She's a tight ship! The best combination of speed, stability, options and looks. It's all you need. Outlook Express 6 is also the best e-mail client there is, bar none.

tchdbyagl reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on May 19, 2001

It is ok, I really do not see much of a difference in this program as in IE 5.5. I dont see anything diffrent at all actually maybe just that stupid Personal bar. I have had no troubles with it but I do not see any diffrence.

rg526 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Apr 15, 2001

This is a waste of time to download. I am running Windows Me with 256K SDram. Every time I tried to access my email from MSN messenger IE6 crashed. I used the add/remove button from the control panel to remove and restore to the previuos version as it said I would be able to do. It removed IE 6 allright but it also removed outllok express and all my email. The restore feature from Windows Me would not work. I realize this is a beta program but to make it a public beta program with these many bugs as people are having is wrong.

hellahard reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Apr 13, 2001

fair play Rob2771. everyone has there own opinion. i agree Opera is incredable it is so fast! fast than IE by about 30% on my system! but it isnt quite all there if you know what i mean? i think we should want and see what IE 6 final is like before we decide tho. but i am sure we will get the annoying people still saying IE is crap but that is why there is a public preview so the PUBLIC tell MS what they want and what is wrong! nearly all the people who mention stupid things about programs in beta stage want to be beta testers but they have no idea what they actually have to do in order to beta test software! they probably just downloaded IE6 PP and used it as an IE5 (or 5.5) replacement when at the moment that isnt what it is intended for! you are ment to try all the settings on and off and different time on different pages with different content, eg java, java script, asp, dhtml , php etc will all teh settings on and off and differnent times, then try installing over programs and running it along side other programs and with differnet system setups etc! try doing this before you say the program is crap you will be surprissed at how strong it is for a beta (let alone a MS beta hehe no offensive bill ;)

all in all i will continue to say IE is still winning in the browser area, although mozilla is getting good (just dhtml, css, dom and the mem issues to sort out) same with Opera really :) NS it dead in my opinion AOL need to start thinking about how to make a prduct better instead of putting adverts in them! (ok i am refering to ICQ about that really, but u know what i mean :)

Rob2771 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Apr 8, 2001

"MS still rules the browser world :)"
That is the funniest thing I have ever heard when it comes to browsers (no offence to hellahard).
Sorry, but for me this version of IE I found to be very sluggish (Probably from some of those useless features).
Loaded web pages great but the actual window loading seemed to have large delays while my system attempted to allocate enough memory for another instance (64 Megs just is not enough anymore). How unfortunate that MS seems to be the browser more consistent with web formatting rules, BUT Opera is getting a lot closer (And has in my opinion passed Netscrap)!!

ya_whatever reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Apr 6, 2001

Personally i haven't had any problems with it yet other than it chrashing once(still not as bad as netscape), as for it using 10Mb of memory fine with me, programs loaded into the memory will run faster than off the hardrive, i guess thats why they make memory upgradable. The final product should be pretty sweet.

i387 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Apr 4, 2001

I find it very strange that nobody has even mentioned how well IE6PR supports web standards. As a browser, I would think that this would be the #1 thing on people's minds while testing it out (at least the web developers).

I hope it's got better CSS support than IE5.5 which has almost 157 CSS compliance issues! That's quite ridiculous for a modern browser.

See http://www.richinstyle.com/ for more information.

awojtas reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 30, 2001

An addendum to my previous post: Many people say that you shouldn't criticize beta releases too strongly (esp. in regards to being bloated), and I agree - with one exception - when it's a Microsoft beta. I've been a beta tester for Microsoft since Win98 (not that that gives me any excuse to be arrogant!) and in my experience, NO Microsoft betas have ever been more than 10% slower or bigger than the released product. In fact often the released product is the same size or larger. Also, Microsoft tend to place as many features in their betas as possible and then they just refine them (or chuck a few out) in the final release. If I was saying that WinAmp 3 alpha (or beta) was bloated & flaming it because of that, sure, that's bad because Nullsoft generally improves the speed and size of their software as it progresses thru development - but seriously... Microsoft products have never had a habit of becoming decently faster or more compact upon release.

ZilverZtream reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 29, 2001

Nice post awojtas, no criticism to give you.
Now I've been using IE6 for 24hrs+ so I guess that's about 5-6hrs of surf and well, all I could find was useless updates.
For an example, what's up with the menu's that popup now and then whenever IE feels like it (Copy, Paste, Send etc). It seems like whenever you hover a smaller pic that menu popup and after a while it gets kinda annoying.
Not to talk about the Resizing feature they added that start rendering a larger pic in a 50% mode and lets you resize it to 100% if you want.
This clearly shows the lack of fantasy of the IE programmers.
But, I still gotta give them credit for the 'Internet Options', it's way better then IE5.x.
Now they don't try to hide any settings, most stuff can be unchecked through the options without any hazzle.
So for all of you that have problems surfing with IE6, change the settings in Options (there's some URL sending options that ya might wanna uncheck)
And it doesn't seem like I'm the only one with installation problems.
Aksmooth, I got the same error, IE claimed alot fo *.TMP files where missing during install, but strange enough IE just kept installing, couldn't get it to stop and that's probably the resond why my Personal Bar wont work.
But like the rest of you, I'm looking forward to see the Final Release of this IE version, and hopefully, just hopefully Microsoft will listen to the customers requests. (lmao ya right)

Fundoctor reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 28, 2001

For God sakes folks, this is a BETA. I can't get over how many people rant and rave about the code is bloated, it crashes, it won't do this or do that. I must be mistaken but I thought that was the whole intent of a beta program was to test and report bugs and get a handle on the new features for developers. Geeez....

aj11284 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 28, 2001

Hey ZilverZtream, I have Windows 2000 Advanced Server and IE^ works perfect, including the personal bar. My personal bar shows the search, news, weather, and media. I dont know why it does not work fo you. If Also works perfect on my 98se machine. I think that it is very nice and I would recommend everyone at least try it and form your own opinion. By the way, if it does not work for you dont tell others not to download it. Do the opposite, encourage them to download it. That way we get more bug reports turned in and more bugs will be fixed. That is why it is called a beta. If you guys dont like software that crashes sometimes then dont beta test. It is very simple. If you do want to beta test, dont complain, instead report the bugs to Microsoft or whatever company you are testing for.

podge reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 28, 2001

Seems to crash everytime I type in an incorrect URL. I'm running Win2k pro. Gotta recommend that folks who aren't already stuck with this sound stay with 5.5.

Maroder_S reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

The program functions very well, and is OK, but it can't be uninstalled! I'm norwegian, and tried IE6, and it was OK, but I liked 5.5 sp1 on norwegian better. Now I am stuck with IE6 and Outlook Express on a foreign language :(. Anyone know how to uninstall when there is no uninstall from the add/remove programs facility? (Win2k)

jofin reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

Personally I fail to see what all the excitement is about! In my opinion, Internet Explorer is far and away the best browser and remains so, despite the new Netscape offering. There have been a few changes from 5.5 to 6, but nothing spectacular. I rather think that this version is really just a Microsoft New to compete with the Netscape New! Microsoft needn,t have bothered Netscape has a long way to go to catch up.
Finally, these pages are provided for user comments so come on guys, cut out the personal attacks on others - please.

EvilDawg reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

Well......I have to restate, for the record, my opinoin of this. This program seems to use alot of system resources!!
Can't say I would recomend this to anyone. I do like the idea of the personal bar, but not for sacrificing valuable resources.

radams reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

WOW.. Excellent. Been using it since it came out for public use. Haven't had a single problem. Running W2K.

captainmarvel reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

CRRASHES! Crashes regularly. Same results on computer at work and computer at home. Both running Windows 2000 Professional. MY SUGGESTION: wait until they finish working on it. This version is barely useable.

bobad reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

IE6 is the best browser by far, especially if augmented by Net Captor. AlacrityFitzhugh is a total dweeb. The fact is that 95% of the software found here is posted by the authors themselves. Warez site indeed, you sheep dip...

billyblanks75019 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

Sniff :,-(
I have windows 95 and i can't install IE 6.0...
Any solutions?
Please mail me at billyblanks@reefs.ch if you know a sytem to install IE6.0 on win9(
ThanX

AlacrityFitzhugh reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

I would never run software off this betanews site. These guys can't even tell you where they get their stories. Who know what warez site they lifted this from. I ain't touchin it. I dare you to!

tripod_dog_2001 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

For it being a beta it runs fairly good, there are a few bugs here and there, but none that are too serious...Overall I think its a good upgrade, kinda disappointed in Outlook Express 6...

controler reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

Go get Windows XP beta 2, RC1 & RC2 all for 10 bucks download or 20 bucks CD
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/default.asp

redherring79 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 27, 2001

I've only been running it for a couple hours, but so far I'm quite impressed with this preview of IE6. The personal bar is very nice, and the only thing I'd wish they'd change would be the ability to load a playlist into the media player. New windows seem to open *very* fast, and sites appear to be rendering faster. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to perform this well as the days go by.

ispringer reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 26, 2001

This is Build 2462 (IE version 6.00.2462.0000), the same build that was briefly posted then removed last week.

Mazakman reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 26, 2001

The Windows Update site is all goofed up for me while running IE 6.0. I cannot download and install critical updates that I already had installed.(hmmmm) and I see not one, but four instances of this...

Windows 98 Customer Service Pack
1063 KB/ Download Time:

jp50 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 26, 2001

I have downloaded ie6setup file,but unable to complete update.I keep getting this error message:Download location information damaged.Please clear Internet Explorer browser cache.Iam running Windows2000 Prof.Please can anyone help?Iam unable to find and clear the damaged cache information{I did download ie6 files halfway then was cut off)

kevsykes reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 26, 2001

Installed it Friday, since then have not really been looking for bugs but looking to see what was new, but already have started to notice they the bugs are there.
1. Links bar keeps moving to short mode even though it is locked you must then untick unlock toolbars to move it back again and re tick until it moves again.
2. Since install folders in Explorer have all had + signs next to them even if no folders are within the tree and this + sign does not want to move.
3. Iomega drive icons have gone!
4. Any icon's in favorites created by sites have gone to be replaced by i.e's own
5. as for the cosmetic bits well they still need a few tweaks.
I have now uninstalled the beast, which in its self then needed a complete reinstall of IE5.5 a few more tweeks and a registry clean to get the computer runnning tip top again and solved the problems I found in just a couple of hours playing will try it again at a later release

bluej21 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 26, 2001

It looks nice, but I'm having a major problem in Windows NT. When I open Windows Explorer, the Folders toolbar doesn't work...it's just gray. Guess I'll be uninstalling now.

tgb1300 reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 26, 2001

4.8 rating out of 5 No problem downloading from Ie6 preview website. Nice new features. Personal bar was cloned from navigator, but works well. The image tool is a very nice feature. Outlook 6 is very well thought out. Well done Microsoft!!!!

FireRunt reviewed v6.0 Public Preview on Mar 26, 2001

horrible crap!

weemartian reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 25, 2001

IE 6 is brill!!! The one thing i hated with all versions of IE is the short (or sometimes long!) delay between the page being downloaded and it actually being displayed. In IE6 the delay is gone! The browser also copes very well with pages that are heavy on java! Good browser site site testing/developement.

scubasteve reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 25, 2001

i give it a 4 for now. so far i really really like and it seems extremely stable. i run winme, which is win98 with some extened features.. so no problems obviously. i am downlaoding a winme specific version.. who knows if it is any differetnt though. only problem is that for some reason i cant right click! i cant right click in ie6, it is like that function just istn writen into the code! very very anoyinG!

neograv reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 25, 2001

http://home.nexgo.de/nan...s/ie6_build2462_w2k.zip this link worked for me for win2000. installed fine. works good, seems stable so far. the personal bar is pretty decent, doesn't seem too bloated. i d/l'd from this site about 9:00 p.m. saturday, so it should still be good.

piras reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

http://www.clubic.com/t/...&type=1&id=1579 (win98/ME)English
http://www.clubic.com/t/...&type=2&id=1579
(win2000)English

madkiller reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

thx aslan i'm d/l it right now :)

aslan reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

The ftp link, does work at 4.23.36.52 /pub/windows request/ie6/me
The version i have from it is 6.0002462 is this right? Anyway, seems to work nice, but when I use the media bar to connect to the default site and play the Britney video, it causes a protection fault in kernel32. Im not sure if this is ie, or just Britney, Ill have to watch fifty more times to be sure.

ajsaragosa reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

you have it wrong, betanews isn't the one that screwed up, microsoft has taken down the link.
do some of you have nothing better to do than to place blame where blame doesn't belong. some of you need to calm down, shesh.
its just a beta web browser.

shannond5 reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

would be nice if betanews got their act together and either get a good link or say they goofed and remove the bad one so everyone would stop wasting time trying to get the release when it is not available. you blew it beta news, now straighten it out or remove the useless write up of the link.

xylom reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

Hmm, i remember the start bar.....

zor07m reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

The links work except Language Auto-selection does not install. Thanks

captainahab reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

There is now a couple of links at ActiveWin.
Windows 2000: http://home.nexgo.de/nan...s/ie6_build2462_w2k.zip Windows ME: http://home.nexgo.de/nan...s/ie6_build2462_wme.zip

Surge reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

Can anyone of those who successfully installed IE6 zip Windows Update folder created by iesetup and post it somewhere on the web? Good places are fortunecity.com, xdrive.com, etc. Win2k version is what I'm looking myself.TIA

jdurdan reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 24, 2001

Don't even bother with the links in the prevous message. The first has been disabled, and the second is for the bogus beta that hit the net in January that only installs on Win2k

oilman614 reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

I got lucky and upgraded before they pulled it. Everything seems to working fine. Couple new tools and shorcuts.

kritikal reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

It appears that Microsoft has pulled this release. The website is no longer accessible either.

Viper10585 reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

I get the same error on install as some others have reported. "Download information is damaged. Clear internet browser cache and try again." I did, even rebooted, same error. This is a recently formatted machine running Windows ME. I was excited to try it after waiting the weeks after I first thought it'd be out. I sure hope this problem's fixed soon.

Mazakman reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

This is from the Activewin site...

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Public Preview is Off

Time: 20:59 EST/01:59 GMT | News Source: ActiveWin | Posted By: Robert Stein
After a few hours of availability, it seems that Microsoft has pulled down from its servers the Internet Explorer 6.0 Public Preview Beta files for some obscure reasons. As many of our readers stated in the comments board downloading Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 PPB is now impossible. Apparently Microsoft will officially re-release Internet Explorer 6 Public Preview on monday. So for those of you who didn't manage to download the whole thing be patient! For the lucky others, enjoy this new version of Internet Explorer, and don't forget to log bugs :)

Dave2qj reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

I have Win ME, I'm just after installing ie6, d/l it. its 2am in Northern Ireland (UK) It is perfectly fine. Nothing went wrong a all the whole way through. Sweet. My reginal settings are for US tho, maybe this messed u guys up? Try changin it, it may be MS's way of restricting things.
Its pretty good, especially the image resizing, pretty much the same tho with everyting else as far as i can tell after a few mins use.
Dave!
http://www.techno-mercy.co.uk

etplanet reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Microsoft STOPS the DOWNLOAD server already, u might get the ie6setup.exe, but it WILL NOT DOWNLOAD any files.

hernie reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

The Ie6setup doesn´t work with ME. It's a very earlier public preview, I'm afraid...

KvalCom reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Running on Windows 2000 SP1. IE 6 is a great improvement. Quick download, fast install, quick browsing, great new features...no troubles yet! This is a rock!

Hawkeye reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Once again the so called "news" sites like ActiveWin and friends have jumped the gun; the official release isn't until Monday, and Microsoft has pulled the files once they found out everyone was downloading it early. I got to about 90% when they yanked it. That's why it's wise to wait for the official announcement.

Oh well, maybe in a day or two :)

deepu_s reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

I downloaded the file only finding out that it cannot download the installation files. Did Microsoft stop the preview?

jerryg27 reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Umm, why does the description say IE 5? I believe the author was writing about 6... hrmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Gotta love BetaNews !

seany187 reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

It seams microsoft has removed it. The beta results site has also been removed. Hmmm.. I wonder what happened. Arg, Does anyone have the install file before they removed it?

roban@optonline.net reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Could not even install it. Got an error message that said download area files were corrupt and I should clear my cache and try again. Cleared and rebooted...still nothing

delusion_ reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Thanks for the bad link, betanews. Plus, the installer fails to work, says something about corrupted location information. I'm guessing it's because this release isn't really meant to be public yet.

morfiuss reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

where can i get it the link dont work

bahurd reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Well, 3/23/01 7:12PM EST and while the setup file downloads, when the install runs I get an error about the "download location information is corrupt" or something to the effect.

Can't connect to download the actual files. Has Microsoft "pulled" the files??

Runestone reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Can't seem to get download link to work..

DigitalSin reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

Installed w/o a hitch. Everything runs\looks great.

Aidan Guinness reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

WOW! IE6 preview 1 has given me nothing but grief! after i installed it i begin having runtime errors, and IE would shut down... so i had to uninstall it, and still had runtime errors resulting in an IE crash! so i reinstalled IE 6 hoping it would fix it (no such luck) i have now had to result in installing netscape 4.76 :( i really hope this is fixed soon... i am running Win2k with SP1

shawkins reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

This version must be based on the MAC IE 5 code, because it displays my home page http://cr915983-a.hnsn1.on.wave.home.com/ the exact same strange way that MAC IE 5 does. Sort of disappointing.

stratmancj reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

nice version, a little slow, some java errors as well as a problem with windows update

gergith reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

this is an awsome improvement! there are alot of changes, but im sure alot of them are there, like coding, that we cant see. the bar on the left isnt quite what i expected, it isnt as customizable as i would really like, but it is a very good start.

DoverBen reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Mar 23, 2001

pretty impressive for a Preview program.

ditoa reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Dec 12, 2000

nice and smooth with windows 2000 advanced server.

When is IE6 coming out? BETA releases yet? anyone with links to info/downloads please post or email tot ditoa@ntlworld.com

Fundoctor reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Nov 4, 2000

Yepper. SP1 is just what the doctor ordered for all my machines. Win2000 boxes all load faster and DHTML is much improved. SP1 also seems to have cured some problems in WinMe as well with invalid page access errors.

steve reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Nov 4, 2000

wow! is all I can say, Page rendering has improved vastly! I winced at installing a newer IE5.x after my experience with buggy 5.5.. now it has improved in such a way that pages load faster than IE5.01 sp1 (on win2k anyway) haven't and won't be testing it on 98 cause thats my games platform :) I give the thumbs up for this release

controler reviewed vand Internet Tools 5.5 Service Pack 1 on Nov 3, 2000

Issac The Big thing is you are getting the double click from this E-Front site!!!!!!
I love this site but they sleep with DoubleClick.
Use @Guard to stop them stinking Cookies.

IssacNewton reviewed v5.50.4308.2900 Beta on Sep 3, 2000

To cool I like the betas you know be the edge not just on the edge lol. Anyway the first thing I did was tell it
to tell doubleclick no one time just see what would happen.
everytime I run adware it has to remove the damn thing anyway, but it is nice that we have the choice now whether
to say yeah read it or no even though it will continue to
reappear. No tellin I had other loading issues that might be
straightened out now. And yeah it's great to get updates from a class scan such as betanews. Lord knows MS is having enough trouble maintaining it's ME page right now with all the hackers trying to win a copy or the trip with more prizes i think it is now that the 50 per day thing is over.

Fundoctor reviewed v5.50.4308.2900 Beta on Sep 2, 2000

Josh23809 uttered these words of intelligence...

but when you come to eFront Homepage what does it say in the address bar? need i say more?
--------------------------------------------------------
Well gee, some of us have no use for ad portals and click off the homepage quickly. I bookmark to fileforum.efront.com
But thanks for the tip, Sherlock.

RedBadger reviewed v5.50.4308.2900 Beta on Sep 2, 2000

Well even if it is beta, I still like it. Its fixed the bug I had with it and my optical mouse. And at least Microsoft UPDATES their software, unlike a lot of companies who never put out updates to fix their problems.

Josh23809 reviewed v5.50.4308.2900 Beta on Sep 2, 2000

OK I am tired of people slamming betanews.com for saying they dont mention that programs are BETA's, but when you come to eFront Homepage what does it say in the address bar? need i say more?

controler reviewed v5.50.4308.2900 Beta on Sep 1, 2000

http://www.privacyfoundation.org/
Go here and read the responce from MS on cookie and Web Bugs
Very interesting and informative article.
Web Bugs in Word Doc's and HTML e-mail.
Privacy Group asked MS to disable cookies by default.
This must be da new happy medium just released?
controler

charliestout reviewed v5.50.4308.2900 Beta on Sep 1, 2000

Perhaps betanews should create a category called "Adware" or "Bannerware" or "ClickHereInsteadOfRegisteringware"

Tridus reviewed v5.5 Final on Jul 13, 2000

Well, this is the best free mainstream browser for Windows, hands down. The installer screwed up my file associations (I told it to not associate with IE since I have some custom associations setup, and rather then leaving them alone, it simply broke them all. Cute.), but the browser seems to be running fine. Now, if only it was as good as the Mac version.

2horses reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Jun 23, 2000

I think Microsoft have removed this progam from public access. The setup program displays only one download site called "For Microsoft Internal Use Only". Didn't someone say the final release is due shortly?

Susan reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 9, 2000

As in all things Microsoft, this one has a caveat. DO backup your system, it may not run as it did not on mine. Who knows why? The previous beta build ran perfectly, this one trashed my setup but did uninstall nicely . I dont know what else 'they ' did but take a cautious approach and shut down ALL extraneous proggies whilst installing.

acdelco1970 reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 9, 2000

Never have I run into a shell replacement so easy to use and easy to create themes. A few bugs, but does not kill or alter it's performance. I will use it forever. This program is tops. I love it!!

Brynne reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 7, 2000

This preview release of IE 5.5 is so much better than Netscape's Preview Release 1 of Netscape 6 that it is almost funny! IE is by far the most robust and best browser available right now. Shoot, I think Opera 4 is better than that stupid Netscape 6! I highly recommend IE 5.5 build 4030 to anyone that is looking for a VERY robust browser!

fakie reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 7, 2000

wrapster

forza reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 7, 2000

After the initial download I found IE5.5 to download web pages significantly faster, about 30% quicker by my reckoning. Having visited several sites there doesn't appear to be any any nasty surprises.

pbeery reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 7, 2000

I have one of the original rage 128 retail boards. On my system the 6.33 driver does not think my board is compatible. After installing the driver, OpenGL was no longer accelerated and DirectX would either cause a reboot or a BSoD. I have gone back to the 6.32 version since at least the openGL works on it. Je suis tres pissed folks.

Virtual007 reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Seems pretty stable, has not caused any problem on my Windows 2000 Professional system. Windows Update does not work. FTP does not work on server that require you to login (Even after changing some settings). Certain javascripts and such no longer function. Features that have been mentioned about 5.5, such as new frame security, such as iframe issues and such have still not been corrected. Currently I see no reason to install this unless you are a developer.

kewlet reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

after installing it... and tried to access my hotmail account... it keeps on redirecting me to my default home page... :(

Sheldonp reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Well, I have mixed feelings about this product thus far. I understand that it is in beta and that there probably is alot of extra debugging information in the product. However I find it very sluggish in retriving data from the net. Comparing it the the latest Netscape 6.0 beta, it does not compare in performance. I'm not saying I'm completly inpressed with the Mozilla product either, but aside from the UI, this version just doesn't seem to cut it in performance, which is one of my top issues with browsers today.
I guess I'll wait and see what the next beta provides :)

KCDSpike reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

They loaded fine, still no display panel to make changes in Gamma or anything else. Quake II ran fine. The screen seems a bit "dimmer" than when i was using the W2K builtin driver.

boomer860 reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Any one know if this version now supports frames ,the first release did not supprt it properly?

Milanista reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Where can I download the German Version?

nonoletron reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Yes, it IS faster. The pages load faster, everything is faster. Download and installation under Windows 2000 was pleasingly fast and smooth. Anyway, if the final is expected in May, this latest build has to be good.

bahurd reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

God am I glad he's switching to Linux.....
I bet Bill G. is worrying over the losss of any future sale that may be lost :-)

Buy the way, this program seems to be quite nice. A few minor bugs but then again it's "still beta".

DrDrew6969 reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

This is a great addition to get DiVX movies. I still use napster to get my mp3s. Although has anyone else noticed the severe strain on system resources when using CuteMX, there must be some serious memory leaks. I hope GlobalSCAPE works on this for their next release.

DigitalSin reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Seems stable for a *beta*. Some people don't seem to comprehend the fact that beta means it may not work and it may render your PC useless. Don't blame MS because you're an idiot.

pepiman reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Great Browser. I don't like microsoft, but IE 5.5 opens a million times faster than netscape, has far more support than opera, and Outlook is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than Eudora and Pegasus put together.

The download starts slow, that's because microsoft only has like 1 server :( Once someone finishes his download, prepare to go light-speed. I went from 6k/s to 550k/s. BIg Diff. there.

bairda reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

You know guest, I have seen your Anti-MS rants in numerous places on this site. You are supposed to making a contribution about the software in the thread, not showing what an idiot you are by getting on your soapbox about MS.

If you don't have anything to constructively contribute about the software in question, just keep your hands off the keyboard.

By the way, I hope you delete windows soon. You would be much happier with another OS...and we would all be happier for not having to listen to you.

CarlsonJF reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

This is a great browser and has lots of cool features. But try to uninstall it or even rollback to a previous version and your nightmare will begin (I was using NT4sp6a at work). I had an open ticket with microsoft techsupport for 2 1/2 weeks with the previous beta of IE5.5 and they could not get me back to the previous version if IE (5.01). Their final answer after 23 seperate gyrations was to reinstall. So I installed Linux instead. Great solution to the virus they call IE5.5beta.

4o4 reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

No crashes so far, but I have a weird problems when displaying ASP/HTML/etc. documents with a linked CSS.

Here's the "bad" CSS:

A:link,A:visited {font-family:Verdana; text-decoration:none; color:#000; font-size:8pt}
A:active,A:hover {font-family:Verdana; text-decoration:none; color:#F00; font-size:8pt}

What it should do is to display the links in black without underlining. The latter works (no underlining), but the colors are "default" (blue and purple). I should say that I define *all* colors/fonts/sizes in CSS, and not in HTML as mere mortals do :)
Weird thing is that the styling shows ok in Nutscrape 6.0!

BTW: The CSS styling did of course work in Internet Explorer 4+ and (somewhat okay) in Nutscrape 4.x.

cyberia reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Fast. No crashes (so far). If the download stops, quit and start it up again. Download was fast. Fast, fast, fast.

netllocke reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

just need that windowupdate support and would install it..used the preview was GREAT..
one last word IE is "BEST"

carlrjr reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Hmm... at 2am EST I can't get past 35k during download. Is this a site problem?

NitroPC reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Hey bluehazedskies, IE 5.5 is still in beta, so stop whining. If you can't run with the big dogs, get back to the porch! Try Juno instead!!

jinno reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

Are you sure of Windows 2000 compatibility ? Because File list says otherwise. ( Or it does not even mention windows 2000)
-----------------------------------------------------------
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS for
Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer 5.5 and Internet Tools Beta
March 2000
-----------------------------------------------------------

(c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 2000

This document provides information about the system requirements for
installing Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer 5.5 and Internet Tools
Beta.

If you're looking for information about a specific program or
component, try searching for it in the Microsoft Knowledge Base
at http://support.microsoft.com.

If you are interested in complementary or late-breaking information
to supplement the release of the Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer
5.5 and Internet Tools Beta, please view iereadme.txt on your local
drive in Program Files/Internet Explorer.

------------------------
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
------------------------

To view Ie.txt on screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window.

To print Ie.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor,
and then use the Print command on the File menu.

CONTENTS
========

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Disk-Space Requirements for Internet Explorer 5.5 Installation

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===================

To run Internet Explorer 5.5 and Internet Tools Beta, your system must
meet the following minimum requirements:

- A 486 with a 66 MHz (megahertz) processor (Pentium processor
recommended)

- For Microsoft Windows(R) 95 or Windows 98:
16 MB (megabytes) of RAM (random access memory) minimum

For Microsoft Windows NT(R) 4.0:
32 MB of RAM minimum

- For Microsoft Windows NT 4.0:
You must be running Service Pack 3 (or higher)

- Minimal installation (browser only):
Required to install: 45 MB
Required to run: 27 MB after restart
Typical installation:
Required to install: 70 MB
Required to run: 55 MB after restart
Full installation:
Required to install: 111 MB
Required to run: 80 MB after restart

- Mouse

- Modem or Internet connection

- CD-ROM drive (if installation is done from a CD-ROM)

- Some components may require additional system resources
not outlined above.

aburton261 reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

I want to download this but does it still diable the Windows update? i remember the last time i had it i loved but but had to uninstall cause it blocked me from windows update.

marcp reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

So far so good. At first I thought it didn't FTP was disabled. I was mistaken. It did not download any EXE no matter the protocol. Right clicking 'Save Target...' worked like a charm though.. Whew, was halfway to the uninstall icon.

bluehazedskies reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 6, 2000

this gets one star because it keeps telling me that the files it downloads are corrupt... microsoft sucks... aol sucks... therefore netscape sucks... therefore winamp sucks... crap... we're all screwed

Yochanon reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

I've had the earlier version of 5.5 for quite q while, and almost instantly noticed the difference in upload and download speeds, web page loading was significantly faster, and, I have not had one problem with it yet...not one. I was very pleased, but it was kind of hard to not be able to check any updates on it, but I can wait til the final is out. Anyway, I'd say this is one hell of a program and I'm happy with it.

pluralsingularity reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

actually AdRt, it does work with Getright...do the standard crl+alt click and save the php link...downloading the link should redirect to the setup file...but you are only downloading the 496k setup file and not the complete IE download. Note that once you are successfuly at downloading the setup and dclick on it...the IE5.5 install will begin which links you to the 5meg IE5.5 download

AdRt reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

Can you guys at Betanews get the damn download link to work with GetRight??

rburly reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

I'm using IE 5.5 with Win98 with a smooth download/installation. The only thing I notice is that web pages seem to load faster (even with an LAN/cable connection). I recommend it. I've had no problems.

mdboyz reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

Yahhh.. IE 5.5 works fine in win2k for me.. so far no problem yet.. I haven't tried to uninstall it yet.. so dun know if it works or not...

spwolf reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

one point - most likely no unistall...as its part of you OS, I think nuff said

yellowman reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

i didn't have any problems with the first 5.5 build and this doesn't seem to be any different. maybe it is more stable and/or faster but i don't notice anything different. the windows update still doesn't work but it now says that windows update for 5.5 is on the way soon.

Chance reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

This build is much better than the last. The bug of not loading all the graphics on a page seems to be fixed. Pages seem to load a bit faster on some pages, although it is hard to tell when you have LAN access to the internet. This build is also much more stable than the last. I think it will uninstall properly also, but I'm not about to uninstall it because I haven't seen any significant problems. It does not yet work with Windows Update, but all critical updates can be downloaded off the Windows 98 download site. I still can't get Outlook Express to work with my Hotmail account. Anyone else have similar problems and got it fixed, email me please.

Thanks,

Ben
bdmosky@hotmail.com

Vette reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

I've been using the previous build for IE 5.5 beta for about a month. I've found it to be very buggy initially...for instance; many times when I launched the browser it wouldn't connect incorrectly with the web site (not all of the graphics would download on my homepage or other pages for that matter), and thereafter when I hit the refresh button all I got was a white screen with an error message. Then after trying everything, I would have to reinstall the entire browser all over to get it to work. After that it would work several times until it repeated all over again. Things got so bad I ultimately had to install Netscape's 4.7 browser just so I could get web access (By the way, I would recommend having an alternate browser available for anyone that is a web-head). I downloaded Netcape 6 today and IS definetly faster...I like it so far. I hope that this build (IE 5.5 4030) works as well or better than the pre-beta 6 of Netscape that I took for a test drive today.

Anyway, back to the IE 5.5 browser "crash" problem I told you about. If you experience the same difficulty try the following: "IE REPAIR TOOL" for me it took 3 tries to get it to work but it seems to have done the trick...thankfully! Click START, SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL, then double click ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS. On the INSTALL/UNISTALL tab click IE 5, click ADD/Remove, click "Repair the current installation of the IE" and then click O.K. If this dosn't work I recommend smashing your computer with a hammer.

hughw reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

Talk about a load of crap. I downloaded the ie5setup.exe file, and it said "ie5setup.exe does not appear to be a valid Win32 application." Is this build STILL not usable under Win 2k?

DON reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

I HAVE A QUESTION WITH THE NEW BETA OF 5.5 CAN YOU USE WINDOWS UPDATE I COULD NOT WITH THE LAST BUILD SOME PLEASE E-MAIL AND TELL ME THANKS

gerryf reviewed v5.5 Beta Build 4030 on Apr 5, 2000

You just had to believe that Microsoft would do something to take the spark out of Netscape's "big release" today with Netscape 6. Yeah, it's only a new build, no biggie, but they couldn't just let them Netscape have the day all of themselves. Priceless. Ha!

Yadam reviewed v5.01 on Nov 24, 1999

IE5.01 is significantly lighter/faster--something more noticable on my measly 200MHz Pentium MMX / 64MB RAM. Those who sync their Hotmail accounts with OE should take note that build 5.00.2919.6600 now displays ADs in an added bottom window.

ggolcher reviewed v5.01 on Nov 22, 1999

Internet Explorer 5.01... as soon as you notice the .01, the changes become apparent... or maybe not. Content wise, it'd be very hard to really find all the small changes, but there is a different feeling about it... What is it? Yes... safer. One feels safer. Microsoft released this version with all the security bugs, so far, stamped out and the greater encryption helps when sending content-sensitive stuff. I believe that this was a master-work of Microsoft's to release this as a service release mostly... I do not notice the difference in page loading speeds, nor the small interface changes to favorites or history, nor the added options to Outlook Express... but I don't really need to notice them. I'm happy with stability. I must really applaud Microsoft for changing policy with IE and having released IE5/5.01 mostly to consolidate the product's stability and security and taking into account user's requests, instead of loading it with chockfulls of new features that are:
a)not needed
b) buggy
c) will slow down the machine

Keep up the good work, MS!

st4vs reviewed v5.01 on Nov 22, 1999

Easy to use, and very comprehensive DUN manager.
A must have if you leave your machine downloading overnight, or while you are away.

boomer860 reviewed v5.01 on Nov 19, 1999

When I installed ms5.01 I found that microsoft wallet was not shown under the internet options content section anymore althought it shows as installed in the add/remove programs internet tools ,this alone makes me feel it is unstable or worse seriously misled.

wartoyz reviewed v5.01 on Nov 19, 1999

I`m a Webmaster as well as using 4 diffrent browsers, and you would be suprised how many times I have to go behind my work I made and check it with Netscape. IE has allways been the most up to date as we see here now with the 5.01 release. I really like the new seach and favorites options, they let you configure them how you want without having to hunt down what your looking for thur a million lists. I find for myself the "edit" button that you can add works great. So many times I want to use "Note Pad" for simple updates and the "Front Page" for the really complex stuff, and this gives you both options. I also did some searching around the IE page and found some really cool add-ons for 5.01. Like the IE Wallpaper and a fee new windows like the Altsvista window (with Weather, News, Sports, Searh, and alot more). I find you have way more options then ever before. I also find the Outlook Express did a good thing when it allowed you to check other online email groups like Hotmail.