Submitted by “This evening we released IE7 Beta 2. This release is not the preview or the update to the preview, but the real Beta 2 of IE7 for Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows XP 64-bit Edition. Simply: please try it.”
Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 (and More) Available
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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try it?! no thanks
Well, if you unpack the .exe, delete the subdirectory, and use the registry fix for stand-alone operation, you can still try it out without screwing up your existing install.
http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/archive/2005/12/28/434132.aspx
Important for a web coder like myself who NEEDS both browsers installed and running for site compatability testing.
Interface seems a bit cleaner than previous incarnation, still has the wierd main menu below the address bar thing going on (making the UI inconsistant with every other window – must be a ‘vista’ thing)
Rendering wise it still seems a lot of tags that worked properly in IE6 now no longer function even CLOSE to correctly (like CSS padding an anchor tag puts the bounding box in the wrong place) which on a positive note means they really DID start over from scratch – but on the downside makes it even LESS standards compliant…
What a joke. Beta… Beta 2 at that… More like what I’d call an Alpha.
But then it seems a LOT of things are throwing around the word Beta, to the point I’m tempted to quote Inigo Montoya.
“still has the wierd main menu below the address bar thing going on (making the UI inconsistant with every other window – must be a ‘vista’ thing)”
It’s more of a “Internet Explorer was screwed up and we didn’t want to dix it properly” thing.
Read here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/05/26/422103.aspx
I’m no IE fan, but I do like some of the things I’ve seen in the earlier IE7 releases…that is, until I installed this one. It pegs my processor at 100$ when viewing any web page and has to be zapped from task manager to shut it down. I’m sure it’s environmental, anyone else having this issue? Very disappointing.
Also, the IE team has opened up their bug db to the general public: https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=136
wow 100$ you say….
only made mine go to 100% 
Yeah I fat fingered the % :-P. OSNews, what happened to editing comments? No edit button seen here…
For anyone still reading this thread, the culprit was the IE Dev Toolbar (older version). Uninstalling it fixed my processor peg issue.
The IE 7 Beta 2 that was released at the beginning of the year, the IE 7 Beta 2 that was released in March to coincide with the Vegas event, or the one they released today after telling all of the feedback members they were wasting their time to mention any incorrectly implemented web standards?
I’ll install it on my test box, but I’m already prepared to be disappointed. To sum it up for those who haven’t DLed it yet:
CSS/HTML support for web standards is virtually unimproved from IE 6. A few CSS operators are now supported, some infamous box model miscalculations are fixed, and a few flickery weirdnesses are gone. However, on the issue of supporting web standards left out of IE 6, it’s not fixed.
Microsoft has repeatedly gone on record with us in the feedback area to say they’re irritated with people who expect a major revision release to have, well, a level of support comparable to all other browsers two years ago or longer, and that they’ll consider it for IE 8. These are their words, not mine.
100% CPU?!?! Not true. ~30%
100MB of RAM? True! Now: 81MB (61MB VM mem).
Cool!
Anyway, looks nice. But FF still better! As TabletPC user I want to see:
– “Favorities” on right side, instead of stupid left side
– “Grab and Drag” functionality instead of “aiming scroll bar”
Also I need “AdBlock” functionality in IE.
Edited 2006-04-25 21:51
Maybe they will have a plugin come out to deal with that. THey already have a plugin site up.
Anyway, looks nice. But FF still better! As TabletPC user I want to see:
– “Favorities” on right side, instead of stupid left side
hey thats actually a good ergonomic point, MS why on tablet PC is it on the left? (is Big Bill a left hander)
and to me it doesn’t feel like it’s really getting better. It’s not as bad as sappyvcv claims, but it’s not exactly the best browser. The only good thing is tabs, and the UI sort of ruins the joy of that.
Woahwoahwoah, why bring me into this?!
Last version I tried I installed on a very clean and new copy of XP Pro w/SP2 (at work), a brand new copy of XP MCE (laptop) and an old old copy of XP pro (my main desktop). They all had the same issues. Resizing caused a bunchy of problems in the UI (after I customized the buttons at least), which may have been because I use a third-party theme, but it’s still a bug, or bugs.
The UI is very MEH.
I don’t remember offhand, but I had a lot of other issues.
I’ll keep an open-mind about it, and try this beta at work maybe, but I’m not expecting much. I’d say that I’m happy that they’re fixing some old bugs and improving the CSS support a little, to make my life easier at work, but it’s not true. It’ll just make my life harder of course, having to support both.
What the hell are you guys talking about?
IE7 beta2 its my main browser now (IE7 and Opera)
and FireFOx in my Recycle bin..
IE7 6tabs(osnews.com)-34mb
Imagine 6 tabs in Firefox, DAMn…
Edited 2006-04-25 22:57
Firefox – 7 tabs open = 43mb
Ooooh! So terrible. Especially for a FREE app. Free in more ways than one, mind you. Free from vendor lockin, any one platform, etc etc etc.
The real world, with it’s millions of colors, can scare one so used to b&w.
Try installing more than a few extensions and keeping it open for a while. That’ll change fast.
Just because it’s “Free”, doesn’t excuse it from anything.
Yep you are right my friend…
Um…I guess your mileage may vary, but I’ve got 7 tabs open right now in Firefox, with Talkback, Adblock, Colorzilla, Web Developer, HTML Validator, Reveal, XPather, and Adblock Filterset Updater extensions installed, and I only see ~55MB.
Maybe it’s the extensions you use…I don’t know. Either that, or, judging from your posting history, you really have a grudge against Firefox and Linux for some reason.
Dude, look around the web. Tons and tons of people have problems with memory usage.
And yes, it is certain extensions that are worse than others. Also, if you disabled or limited the new fastback cache system, that’ll help keep down memory usage.
If you think I have a grudge against Firefox, that’s your own problem, but I am speaking the truth. I use Firefox all the team, and there are a few extensions I use that are invaluable to me for stuff at work. But I am honest about it’s flaws.
> I use Firefox all the team, and there are a few extensions I use that are invaluable to me for stuff at work. But I am honest about it’s flaws.
Sounds like me to an extent, for my moonlighting work I have Opera 8.5, 9.0, Firefox 1.0 and 1.5, IE 6 & the latest 7 Beta all under XP, and use Konqueror inside a VM for KHTML testing, just to be sure the websites I design and maintain are accessable to all.
Which gives me a REALLY good handle on all the different browsers, and to be honest – Firefox is buggy, unstable, hogs memory and CPU… to the point of making the computer unusable after a mere 20 minutes… and that’s with no plug-ins or extensions installed; What really gets me is I can replicate this in under 30 minutes on other people’s machines when they claim there’s nothing wrong with it – meaning it’s got to be my browsing habits.
You hit on the most important thing, and something many people put their heads in the sand on – Be honest about it’s flaws. IE6 with ActiveX turned off is a halfway decent browser (Ever use it on CE?), and certainly more stable than Firefox OR ANY GECKO BASED BROWSER has EVER been (so long as IE doesn’t get hijacked; no ActiveX, deny all plugins, no hijack) – but it’s web standard support is piss poor and with activeX on it’s a security nightmare from hell. Firefox tries to support web standards but has such piss poor error handling I don’t even want to THINK about the hacks they did to make it pass Acid2 instead of ACTUALLY fixing error handling… Much less that it leaks memory like a sieve and is slower than Molassas in February at running javascript. Opera is a great browser that is the origin of most every ‘innovation’ in browsing – but is completely quirky about page refreshes and handling of the cache. KHTML (Konqueror/Safari) despite being the most compliant browser in terms of web standards (well, except for Amana, but Amana is near useless for actual BROWSING) still doesn’t render half the web correctly… Though that might actually be because KHTML follows the standard, and the internet hasn’t caught up yet.
EVERYTHING has faults, and I get more than a little annoyed when it’s ok to bash everything MS but god forbid you say anything bad about anything else. Grow the {censored} up people.
My bad. Amaya. Brain fart.
Amana makes microwaves, Amaya is the browser.
Yes. I think it definitely has to do with browsing habits. I watch other people use IE or Firefox, and they seem to be going so slow, always single tasking on pages. I’m kinda hyperactive when it comes to browsing.
Firefox does not pass Acid2
>> Firefox does not pass Acid2
One of the development reflow branches does…
http://flickr.com/photos/dbaron/126886608/
Which I thought I read on this site oddly enough, but can’t find the corresponding article about it now…
Just installed it on my laptop and checking it. I have to say I’m using it to write this comment. Let me just said that for first time in 2-3 years Maxthon is not my “default browser” anymore.
IE7 BETA 2 is *extremely* lighweight. Tabs preview page is *extremely* useful, expecially when many tabs are opened (6-7+). It is *very* fast. And it’s just a BETA…
Other than that (and beside standards-compliance), I was using Maxthon which uses IE6 engine so revolutions here.
I suggest that Windows users try it: you won’t be disappointed.
Actually… *yawn*
Why is the text on soooo many web pages in italics under IE7? I’ve checked the code of some of these pages and it’s not due to non-closed [i] tags….