IE7 Beta 2: new build now available (March 20 build)

[tedster]

Microsoft made the beta 2 version of their new IE7 browser available today, for Windows XP Service Pack 2:

[microsoft.com...]

People testing the new browser beta should first uninstall previous betas of IE7, including the "IE7 beta 2 preview [msdn.microsoft.com]" -- using the regular Windows uninstall interface.

[walkman]

>> People testing the new browser beta should first uninstall previous betas of IE7

so essentially wait--unless you have a computer to test things...

[mack]

I just upgraded from preview to Beta 2 with no issues.

Selecting your current location and language helps websites show you content specific to your location.

Would that be MSN per chance :)

Mack.

[garyr_h]

Hmm.. I only see Beta 2 Preview on the website (although it does say it was released on March 20th).

So it's basically just another Beta 2? or did they forget to change it?

[afterburner]

I`ll wait to download this, no hurry.

[iProgram]

Still not work with some adsense site.

[zafile]

I just upgraded to IE7 beta one of my machines with ClearType enabled. The machine has a new monitor.

Reading normal pages is pretty cool. However, I still prefer to edit code with ClearType disabled.

[Kufu]

I had no problem installing it.

The interface is not userfriendly though; the reload button for example is on the far side of the address bar, which is odd. I couldnt find a facility for changing the location. I have been looking forward to IE7, but so far have been disappointed. Maybe Beta 3 will be better.

Post made by IE7 ;)

[tedster]

I only see Beta 2 Preview on the website (although it does say it was released on March 20th).

So it's basically just another Beta 2? or did they forget to change it?

Hmmm.... yes, there is some conflicting information comoing out of MS. Well, suffice it to say this is a new build and not the build that was previously called "beta 2 preview" - which was already a confusing name in my book.

I've adjusted this thread's title to help do our part in fixing the name tangle.

[kanetrain]

IE7, so far has been unimpresive.

A slick new cover on the same old browser. Not only are there still lots of lingering problems, but they've actually introduced new bugs that are really annoying to deal with.

I actually installed the earlier version, couldn't stand it, and tried to uninstall. Not fun. It took me a few hours to get it off my machine and ultimately, I had to manually fix a bunch of junk. Not fun.

[garyr_h]

I too have a problem with button placement. I wish they would enable 'drop and drag' for buttons.

[tictoc]

The Beta 2 is confusing.. hmmm..

What is going on over there at MS?

[Idris]

Cool, I've been happy with the previous beta and will probably give this one a go at some point.

It is good to see MS trying to improve on their browser especially as it is still being used by the masses. The introduction of things like tabbed browsing and other features from firefox also helps improve the usefulness of the program as a whole.

I don't use IE 7 as a primary browser but it makes a nice second (alongside Opera). Bugs and things are to be expected I suppose as it's a beta. For more advanced things like lack of rendering improvements may be a problem for readers here but I doubt that an average user would even bat an eyelid, so I guess these changes in IE will help strengthen it's position in the browser market.

[mack]

I don't really think it is confusing, it's just different compared to what IE6 users are used to. The whole browser layout is very different and the tabbed browsing feature makes it very worth while.

I believe MS have tried to make the tabs more noticeable towards the top of the browser and move the buttons out to the right side.

I have been using the Beta versions for about 4 weeks now and it grows on you. I had a look at IE6 yesterday and found that confusing, it's all about what you are used to.

Mack.

[snookie]

Don't suppose with the latest version you can still use IE6 as well...

[mack]

You can use the standalone version of IE6

Mack.

[Xuefer]

what's new?

[tictoc]

I think the beta 2 is great and not confusing but the fact that they put beta 2 when it was already beta 2 that is what I found confusing. I had to go into my add/delete programs and finally found the check box for "windows updates" to delete the first version then I had no problems with the install. One thing this has that firefox does not have is that if it locks up you can restore the sites - well... Supposedly.

[amznVibe]

Can anyone come up with a way to run IE7 as a standalone on Windows 2000?
Like they did for IE6 [webmasterworld.com...]

I think I may have to contribute to a bounty for that goal - I'm not giving up win2k anytime soon.

[nomatter]

I found it's cool. Especially for the drop down favorites center and automatic hide option. With the quick tabs, you can have a snaps of all tabs, similar to showcase plugin in firefox.

I like the zoom view in right lower corner very much, so you can adjust it for individual websites.

[KeithCash]

Great thank you for the link

[webstylemedia]

Hello!

Since our company completely moved to open source software, we'll not even try to use IE7. It's a unsecure software like all windows os. :-( But anyway take my congratulations all who like it!

--
With best regards,
Dmitry Yeskin

[edited by: encyclo at 3:41 pm (utc) on Mar. 21, 2006]
[edit reason] no signatures please, see TOS [/edit]

[netmeg]

Bear in mind that if you are running MS Money, you could have serious issues if you install this - I did, and I'm only just now recovering from it.

[ByronM]

works great for me

[JAB Creations]

I do not understand why no one has yet posted a clarification to the new build seeing as I know the nature of these forums (compliment that is), so...

This is simply a newer build of Beta 2. Firefox has nightly builds, Opera (I believe) has weekly builds, Safari/Konquerer have nightly builds (I believe) and Microsoft has released this as their second public Beta. Alpha builds (if they were called alpha) were only available to people with really expensive MSDN subscriptions. If I had that kind of money though I'd invest it in a premium membership here. ;)

I made the mistake of having universal conditional comments to include an IE quirks stylesheet. I removed them (just from my news page until I have more time later tomorrow due to classes) and I saw that a huge number of rendering bugs have been fixed! WOOHOO! I have posted on the IE blog some other comments and I'm very happy to see the progress that has been made.

Opera 9 is kicking some serious toosh on their nightly's though! A shame even if Mozilla follows it's new timeline for releases that we won't see any new versions of Gecko (other then patches) until 2007.

[ByronM]

It is nice... i've noticed some great improvements in layouts and errors over the earlier release. The new interface is different but lighter and easyer to navigate. i like it.

[Trace]

Being mostly and Intranet developer and needing to be able to use ActiveX and Office components, there is no way I (or anyone else in big corporations for that matter) could ever use another browser. With that said, I am extremely happy with Beta 2 as compared to IE6. It has a bunch of new features, some (although not many) CSS standard fixes and the UI is fantastic. I look forward to the final product.

[netmeg]

The only site I've run across that doesn't seem to render properly in IE7 is (oddly enough) my account page on Verizon Wireless (where I go to check all my cell phone stats). It works perfectly well in IE6, Firefox and even Safari, but with IE7 there's a bunch of extra white space. Not impossible to view, but it's odd, because after a couple of months of using IE7, it's still the ONLY page that doesn't work right (that I've found)

[cuce]

I am upset about the active x stuff. I use javascript that controls my rollovers as well as any dropdown menus(suckerfish) I use on my sites and in the new browsers these features are disabled by default. If they ship this way, I will have alot of extra work on my hands.

[JAB Creations]

The GUI SUCKS! Besides a couple things (such as being able to look at thumbnails of tabs) they've decimated the GUI. The address bar and half the buttons above the File menu?

And the biggest GUI issue: complete inconsistency.

John