IE7 Beta 2 Released

I’ll be downloading and installing this on my computer this evening. I wasn’t really too pleased with my initial experiences of IE7 over IE6. It had tabs, but it did not implement them as well as Firefox does and the user functionality wasn’t much to talk about either. The user interface itself was too bulky and all the toolbars and layout up top took too much screen real estate. I’ll send how the new version does this evening.

The Beta 2 version is a significant step in that Microsoft expects to make no major changes to the code before formally launching the full release later this year.

“Internet Explorer is getting significantly better, and Microsoft sees it as a major Web platform,” said Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. To that end, he noted, the company is showcasing additional capabilities, such as tabbed browsing and improved security, in an effort to stay ahead of the competition.

If you’re interested in add-ons…

Also on Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled a new Web site, Internet Explorer Add-ons, that brings all IE add-on tools and software under one roof.

I actually just finished uninstalling IE7 last night to get back to IE6, which I actually preferred over IE7. I keep it around for the websites that just don’t want to open correctly in Firefox, although with the IE Tab functionality and the new ActiveX plug-in I installed on Firefox, that may not be an issue anymore either.

Download it yourself here.

Source: Microsoft Rolls Out Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2
Source: Microsoft Ships IE 7 Beta 2, Final XP Version to Beat Vista