Tales of a Designer

Internet Explorer 7 is Finally Here

Finally, we see the official release of IE7 hit the internet. Now, my first thoughts are that this is good, but the more I think about it and read other people’s opinions, the more it makes me wonder how good this really is. Now of course we are glad that Microsoft finally gets the idea that they need a more safe, standards driven engine under the hood. But will they keep at it?

It’s good that IE7 has more CSS support, however, I fear that Microsoft will release this version, and then leave it at that, without continuing to update it. CSS is only advancing, and I can only hope that Microsoft wants its browser to keep up with the times and not let it turn into another IE6 fiasco. I just hope that Microsoft isn’t putting on a front, and that they actually care about the advancement of web standards.

Another concern that I have, is what happens with IE6 now? Back in April when I first tried out one of the early beta versions of IE7, I was no longer able to use the previous version. And because of the fact that I have to develop for the new version, how will I be able to make sure my sites work in IE6 and before. I think it’s out of the question to stop developing for them so early because of the heavy usage of them still, but there has to be a solution to this issue. It’s about time to see if my sites all work in IE7, and if not, it might be a long weekend.

Right now this release is just got download, and not yet inside of the XP update, so I am hoping that people begin to latch on and upgrade their browsers. This will be very interesting to observe between now and the end of the year, and see how many people make that change.

This new version of IE7 finally has tabs! Welcome to the party Microsoft, you’re still behind. Aside from that, the browser is supposed to be alot more secure, can read RSS feeds, and the UI has gotten a much needed upgrade.

To say that I’m excited about this release would be an over-statement, because it adds yet another browser to develop for. But it’s good to finally see Microsoft take a step in the right direction. Being a designer/developer, it seems that I have no choice but to download this latest version, but I will still stay loyal to my beloved Firefox. I can’t see IE7 being better than Firefox, but only time will tell.