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Oct. 18, 2006 at 10:57pm
IE 7 Out and About
Seems like the cat's out of the bag. Well, IE 7 is now available for download, anyway. Good to see Microsoft update their browser software after five years away from the party. Can't say I'm personally looking forward to this install but even if the only thing better about IE 7 is PNG support, I'm all for it.
Download IE 7 and let us know what you think! You can be sure we'll be doing extensive client testing and will post our thoughts as they solidify.
Posted in Critiques by Kevin Freitas
Comments (4)
I've been using IE 7 off and on today... its CSS support is improved - there's no doubt about that. However, I experienced some grim amusement when I witnessed an obvious rendering error while it attempted to display a partially transparent PNG sitting atop a normal image.
The RSS support is definitely an improvement, but aside from that, it's nothing to get too excited about.
I think the major revisions in the UI are a bit of a gamble. I, for one, found it a little confusing to navigate at first, despite the fact that I have an above average savvy for using software. However, perhaps I'm just too used to Firefox at this point. I think time will tell if Microsoft has come up with something useful in the UI department.
Overall, my impression (unfortunately) is not much different from my impression of the first leaked beta that I took a look at in the spring: it feels like Microsoft is racing to get caught up to where Firefox is currently, and although IE is getting there, the product still feels very unpolished to me.
It's looking like IE 7 has arrived just in time to get overshadowed by the release of Firefox 2, which ought to be any day now (something to actually get excited for).
1 | Left by Darren | Oct. 19, 2006 at 5:01pm
Kevin says:
Thanks for the perspective, Darren. I have to admit that I haven't got it in me to install IE 7 on my home machine 'til I have a chance to do a *full* system backup. How's that for brand/product confidence?
2 | Oct. 19, 2006 at 7:34pm
For what it's worth, I've installed IE7 on several PCs at this point and the process went smoothly every time. Plus it's worth the effort to finally be able to put IE6 in the rearview mirror.
Regarding the comment about IE7 playing catch-up with Firefox, I agree, simply because Firefox has been leading the way ever since Microsoft decided to go into hibernation mode with development of their browser. However, if you follow the decisions being made by the Firefox team for upcoming variations of their browser, they *have* been influenced by some of the smarter things the IE team has done.
In the browser space, if nowhere else, competition is a great thing...for users and designers.
3 | Left by Bernie Zimmermann | Oct. 21, 2006 at 12:52am
Mark says:
I have noticed a couple of very unexplainable, quirky issues I have found with IE7. Obviously, developers like to create applications that streamline functions. And when developers think that a process or function should be streamlined, the create the code to do that, many times without thinking about the repercussions of such actions. Such is the case with this release of IE.
The address bar permanently affixed to the top of the window is slightly annoying. I think users have come to expect the menu to be at the top of the application. And for reasons unknown, the developers of IE7 thought it would be a brilliant idea to not allow this part of application to be moved!
Dually as confusing is Microsoft's decision to leave the menu off the browser by default. The menu (the one with file, edit, options, etc.) has long been a standard feature on every application, and one that users utilize on a very consistent basis. Forcing users to use icons and/or key shortcuts breaks every rule of usability. I wonder how many usability studies they conducted where they asked their participants to print a page. How many of those participants do you think would ask "where is the file menu"?
4 | Oct. 30, 2006 at 11:17am