IE7 On Automatic Update

Rolling out...

[sem4u]

It is finally here. When I logged onto my laptop this evening I was offered the chance to download IE7.

Looking at some stats for last month IE7 usage was 2-3% of browsers. This number is going to increase dramatically now.

[WebDon]

Mine came up a few days ago. I wonder when I'll get the first client call,

Phone Rings:

Client: 'Help! My IE is all messed up.'

WebDon: 'No Ma'am/Sir, you just clicked on things without paying attention again and upgraded to IE7. Some things are in different places now but once you get used to it...'

Client: 'Oh...[pause as if they understood]...can you fix it for me?'

[edited by: WebDon at 3:19 am (utc) on Nov. 2, 2006]

[Bewenched]

Didn't microsoft get into trouble regarding IE years ago when you couldn't uninstall it. So I guess now if you've taken it off your machine and it does an update it's going to put it back on? hummm.

[bill]

I had my auto updates set to notify, so I got the pop-up telling me there were new updates. My machines aren't set to automatically install. Are the people who have auto-install enabled getting IE7 automatically, or is it still optional?

[mcavic]

I had my auto updates set to notify

Good idea. I've seen two or three machines (both XP and 2000) that became unbootable after an auto-update. I never had a problem with manual updates.

[Wlauzon]

I actually think that for 90% of the users out there, IE7 will be an improvement.

However, I expect a lot of? from the other 10%. And 10% of a jillion is a lot.

[sem4u]

I have my auto updates set to notify as well. I don't want Microsoft installing anything without me checking what it is first.

Are the people who have auto-install enabled getting IE7 automatically, or is it still optional?

Good question bill.

[Angelis]

Ill tell you when I turn my laptop on at home later.

[ebound]

Is anyone here using IE7? Is it offering anything better than Firefox?

[Wlauzon]

I have been using IE7 for weeks.

I prefer it to FF.

[rj87uk]

If I upgrade to IE7, will I loose anything like bookmarks, settings, saved passwords?

Also, is there anyway to save ALL of the above to safe keeping?

[dragonthoughts]

The one thing you are most likely to lose is access to Language negotiated content. if you only read English, the chances are you'll be served default pages and won't notice it.

if your preferred language is anything else, well you may have issues.

see [people.w3.org...] for more information and commentary.

[CritterNYC]

Is anyone here using IE7? Is it offering anything better than Firefox?

To make IE7, just add these up:
Internet Explorer 6
+ tabs
+ rss reader
+ shiney interface
+ PNG transparency
+ a couple of CSS fixes
+ phishing filter

It still has the same security issues (since it's really just a modification of IE6's rendering engine and still supports ActiveX) and falls *far* behind all the other browsers in supporting CSS (Firefox, Opera, Safari and Konqueror all trounce it).

If you're wondering about it compared to Firefox... Firefox still has the advantages of a better rendering engine, better security, plentiful (and damn handy) extensions, faster download, faster install (with no reboot), etc. Plus the whole open source, cross-platform (Windows, *nix, Mac) and being able to carry it portably with Firefox Portable.

[ByronM]

firefox isn't faster for me. Firefox with 3 tabs open goes into a downward spiral after about an hour. IE 7 with 3 tabs seems to run consistent and no memory loss.

I don't use plugins mutch because they're buggy or break between releases, i don't care for a small download since i don't download a new full release every month, i don't care if i have to reboot because i have to reboot to fix crashed firefox sessions anyway or free up memory it never gave back.

IE 7 is more than just a polish of ie 6.

[mcavic]

The only real problem with IE7 that I know of is the interface. It's just an absolute mess.

[Wlauzon]

FF for me I gave up on except for testing sites for compatibility.

After a couple of hours it seems the memory leak that has never been fixed finally just slows everything to a crawl.

[Wlauzon]

For the week of 30 days ago our IE7 usage was 2.33%.

I just checked a minute ago, and up to 7.55% for this month so far and rising fast.

and just for info, 5.5 is down below 1/4 of 1%, so it is basically a dead issue.

[edited by: Wlauzon at 5:41 pm (utc) on Nov. 2, 2006]

[UserFriendly]

Purely for the CSS fixes, I am seriously considering detecting IE6 users and telling them to upgrade to a new browser: Firefox 2, Opera 9, or Internet Explorer 7.

But for my own personal use, I'm sticking with Firefox 2. Opera 9 didn't suit me, and I can't stand IE, 6 or 7.

[mcavic]

I am seriously considering detecting IE6 users and telling them to upgrade

That's so 1998.

[avididy]

IE 7 review by WALTER S. MOSSBERG, WSJ [nwfdailynews.com]

As he says, there is not much new in IE7 if you are already using FireFox and/or Safari. Personally, I would not mind upgrading just to check it out but all the add-on's I have installed (google toolbar, notebook etc.) need to be first compatible with the new IE.
DILLLEMMA! As far as the detection against fraudulent Web sites goes, I am using McAfee SiteAdvisor: great tool!

I have been testing IE 7, and I agree with Microsoft that it's much improved. If you are a confirmed IE user, upgrading to this new version makes perfect sense, because it is likely to be more secure and its new features make Web browsing better. But if you are already using Firefox, IE's main competitor, I see nothing in IE 7 that should make you switch. It's mostly a catch-up release, adding to IE some features long present in Firefox and other browsers. The one big feature in IE 7 that wasn't already in Firefox, a built-in detector that warns against fraudulent Web sites, is being added to Firefox in version 2.0.

[edited by: encyclo at 7:23 pm (utc) on Nov. 2, 2006]
[edit reason] added link to article [/edit]

[Captaffy]

My understanding is that even with automatic updates turned on, IE7 will only download and then alert the user that they should install it. It will not automatically install.

[encyclo]

IE7 is marked as a high priority update in Windows Update, but it will not be installed automatically and it is not obligatory for the end-user to upgrade.

IE7 is currently only available in US English, so it won't be available for a while for other locales.

My view is that anything that reduces IE6 market share and increases the number of reasonably standards-compliant browsers out there is a good thing. I wouldn't use IE7 from choice, but I consider that having a diversity of choice is good for the web as a whole as it encourages standards-based implementations rather than proprietary ones.

For those who prefer IE7, your choice is fine by me. :)

[CritterNYC]

ByronM - When was the last time you tried Firefox? I mean a fresh install? Seriously. Try Firefox 2.0. And, since you said you had problems with your old copy, install it fresh...

[Warning: This is the totally manual/geeky way of repairing issues within Firefox, but it's the way I prefer to do it.]

Uninstall your old one. Now, delete your old profile by deleting the contents of:
C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

You can save your bookmarks (bookmarks.html), cookies (cookies.txt), saved passwords (signons.txt and key3.db) or any other bits you choose from your old profile before deleting it if you like. Just copy em back in after running FF for the first time and then closing it.

That's another nice thing about having a browser that's not artificially tied to an operating system. You can uninstall and reinstall it. Even remove all traces of it and do a clean install (which is handy for testing lots of different things).

Or, if you're not the adventurous type, snag a copy of Firefox Portable. You can run it from a portable device (iPod, USB flash drive, CD) or right from a folder on your desktop with no installation and without impacting an existing copy of Firefox.

[pageoneresults]

Arrrggghhh! They've got the damn address bar permanently docked at the very top of the browser, above the menu bar. Now, why would they do that?

I'm also seeing lots of sites that have major CSS issues. I'm going to guess that web designers are going to have their hands full for the next few weeks working with CSS to get things right.

[briang959]

I don't like the top toolbar locked in place either. That's pathetic. I've been using FireFox for a few weeks now and LOVE it! It's faster, easy, customizable, and not bad on resources. I really thought I'd miss the Google toolbar, but having the Google search feature (and others) built right into FF makes it very likeable. I'll only use IE now to test pages. Sorry MS, you were a little behind the curve on this one and when you did release the product, it's still not up to par of other free browsers out there.

[briang959]

BTW, you can install this utility as I did so IE7 won't automatically push while other updates do.

[microsoft.com...]

[pageoneresults]

They've changed the GUI enough that many are not going to like it just for that reason alone. They took things that have been in place for years and have moved them to places that will take some getting used to. For one, the Refresh button. Now it sits to the right of the address bar and is somewhat small.

No more "square" back and forward buttons with text labels. Now they sit to the left of the address bar and they are smaller than before.

Just the moving of the address bar to be permanently docked at the top of the browser is enough to throw a long time user of IE for a loop. ;)

[RonPK]

For the record: IE7 is now available [blogs.msdn.com] in Finnish, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish too. Other language versions are to be released "over the next few months".

[StupidScript]

Downloaded and installed IE7 on a test machine, just so I can predict problems others might be having ... but in no way will this be my primary browser.

For those of you who have been frustrated by what you think is Firefox's memory issues ... you are falling into a common trap of not investigating the real problem, which is _not_ the browser. Memory leaks are a problem with several FF extensions, including the tremendously popular AdBlock.

Go

Start -> Run... -> firefox -safe-mode

or

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode

if FF isn't in your system's path to start FF without any of the extensions, and if your Profile is okay, you'll notice that FF2 uses about 60-80MB of RAM (~40MB less than IE6-7) and it doesn't draw down any additional RAM as you use it. You can disable all of your extensions in normal mode and then try enabling them one at a time to find which of your extensions is causing the memory issues ... but it's _not_ the core browser program.

[MatthewHSE]

From a purely selfish standpoint, I don't care if people like IE7 or not if they'll only use it. I'm tired of fixing things for IE6, and the sooner it becomes a legacy browser the happier I'll be.

Of course, if IE7 causes some folks to upgrade to Firefox or Opera, I'll be happier still... <sigh>Oh for a world where 98% of my visitors used Firefox!</sigh>

Sidenote: I just upgraded Firefox to 2.0 and it's great! It opens even faster than IE, is ultra-stable, and has many great enhancements that have been missing from previous versions. Extension issues finally seem to be settling down (although a few still need max versions bumped) and I like the new theme a lot.