Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2
Okay, so I gave in and installed IE7B2 just to see how it compares to Firefox in its new features. I have to admit that the changes between IE6 and this version are quite dramatic. There really is a huge learning hurdle to using this version as it doesn’t emulate some of the UI that Firefox has made popular.
Of course, since it is a beta product, there are bugs to be found, but I’ve enjoyed some of the browser’s new features. First of all, it eliminates some of the toolbar clutter and then adds the search box at the top. Personally, I was surprised that they include Google in their list of search engines to use. However, that’s necessary in order to keep the appearance of being fair.
Probably the biggest problem anyone will have with the browser is going to websites that use browser detection scripts. For example, my bank, Washington Mutual immediately redirected to a page that required I install the latest version of Netscape or IE. As a good customer, I did send in a message to them asking them to update their browser detection script to handle IE7.
So, you web developers out there need to update your scripts if you use them.
Update
BTW… IE7B2 can only be installed on machines with Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed. Sounds like a ploy to get more people to upgrade to the latest version of Windows… nah….
