Entered CNET Catalog: 06/28/2006
SKU: CNETMSINTERNETEXPLORER7BETA3
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/29/2006
Security
Internet Explorer 7 beta 3 includes all the recent Internet Explorer security patches issued through June 13, 2006. Perhaps the most significant security enhancement is the new antiphishing component. Using heuristics, or algorithms, rather than white lists, Internet Explorer can analyze a given page and determine whether it's the real McCoy or a spoofed page. Should you land on a suspicious site, you'll see a golden bar across the top of the page. You'll have a chance to correct any errors, saving pages you know are not frauds but that may appear so within IE. Microsoft has also raised the security bar within Internet Explorer, making the default security-zone setting medium-high. If you ever need to lower the security zone settings--say, to install new software via download--you'll see a golden bar across the top of the screen, reminding you that you are now surfing under less-than-secure settings. You can use a one-click menu option to change the zone settings back. And with IE 7 beta 3, Microsoft has neutered all but the most essential ActiveX Controls. If you need more, you'll be asked to activate them on a case-by-case basis. This should limit criminal-hacker attack vectors within IE 7.
More eye candy
With Beta 3, you can add the e-mail button back to the vastly simplified toolbar if you want. The address bar remains on the top and is not movable, as relocating the bar is a common ploy among spyware and adware vendors. Also, the Favorites sidebar now has three tabs: one for Favorites, one for History, and one for RSS feeds. Continuing from beta 1 is the ability to use tabs within Internet Explorer, and beta 3 allows you to move the tabs as you can within Firefox. Microsoft has also added the ability to visually display all open tabs, but in a separate page not via mouseover as you can within Opera. Another feature borrowed from Opera is zoom. You can wheel in or wheel out on a page, which is perfect for those with less than 20/20 vision.
RSS
Internet Explorer 7 beta 3 allows you to automatically update all your RSS feeds at once. Continuing within this beta is a complete Really Simple Syndication (RSS) substructure introduced in beta 2 (note: you'll have to reboot when you install this new IE 7 beta). However, the payoff is nice. Now, whenever you subscribe to a new RSS feed, you'll no longer see a page of HTML but a fairly basic representation of all the current feeds for that page, plus any categorizing the site has done regarding specific topics. Also, Microsoft has joined with Mozilla in using the same icon from RSS, making it easy for users to switch between Firefox and IE 7.
Shrink to print
IE 7 will automatically size a page so that when it goes to your printer, you won't lose the content on the far right side of the page. The text may be smaller, but the text will be whole. You also have the ability to print only the highlighted section of a Web page.
Built-in search
Although MSN Search is the default search setting within IE 7, Microsoft does link out to Google and other sites, so you can quickly change that. If your default search is currently set to Google, however, no need to worry: when IE 7 imports your data from IE 6, it'll preserve your search engine preference. Also, IE 7 will lock that preference so that installing toolbars won't automatically--and sometimes without your permission--change that preference.
Address bars in every window
A new feature within IE 7 adds an address bar to every pop-up window, allowing you to determine whether you want to view that content (advertising, for example). This feature is currently available in Firefox.
IDN support
Another way a criminal hacker can attack Internet Explorer users is to substitute characters from one character set into another within a domain name. For example, if you set English as your native language, all URLs will display characters from the English character set. If someone decides to use a Cyrillic character in a fraudulent domain name, you'll see a warning across the screen.
One-click cleanup
Although Firefox and Opera have offered this for years, Microsoft has finally made it easy for anyone to delete their browser history and personal information with one click.
Be sure to check back for a full review once the final version of Internet Explorer 7 is released in the fall of 2006.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
User Rating: 
9/10
Very Good - better then firefox
Pros: Tab control is very good.
Cons: It can be slow at times
User Rating: 
2/10
Great if it does not misplace normaliz.dll
Pros: great feel
Cons: It's a Microsoft product
User Rating: 
7/10
nicely done
Pros: changes are good
Cons: Some web sites don't work. There web masters are not keeping up to date with the changing tech!
User Rating: 
3/10
What a Dog!!!
Pros: None - Couldn't install it
Cons: (See Pros!)
User Rating: 
6/10
Better than int 6 but still can not compete with firefox
Pros: Tabs, security features
Cons: We have been using tabbed browsing since 2 years or more
User Rating: 7/10
as we used to do...
Pros: it's the browser you are used to
Cons: not like the avant browser...
at first we they lack a lot, but when the time went by, even the originator of firefox must admit that they were becoming as avanced as the firefox. so what to choose?
User Rating: 7/10
Overall Very Good
Pros: Ease & Safety improved
Cons: Not All Programs Work
User Rating: 2/10
Disappointed yet again!
Pros: Attempts to protect the user
Cons: Still not standards compliant! Seperate versions for XP and Vista
Same hold true with IE7 Beta 3. Sure it looks new and shiny and has a been given a couple of new tricks, but its still IE.
Its still not standards compliant (W3C). As a web developer, I and my team spend waaay too much time dealing with IE quirkiness.
I and my colleagues would love to simply do our CSS once and according to standards...and we do...and then we have to do an IE version. *groan*
While IE7 is a little better than IE6, its not by much.
I think that users should send a strong message to Microsoft by not using their browser.
I am not telling anyone which browser to use, but I would recomend any that are standards compliant.
User Rating: 
8/10
Works well... needs work
Pros: Simple, loads quickly
Cons: Does not work with Juno e-mail
User Rating: 3/10
Delete and go back to Beta 2
Pros: Wish I had a Pro
Cons: Does not work with Outlook, 2003
After rolling back to beta 2, they worked fine.
User Rating: 9/10
You Have Done it Microsoft!
Pros: Safe! Now people may not change browser to competing browsers.
Cons: To change security settings, it would be better if you could do that also with the mouse.
User Rating: 6/10
Much better than Beta 2 of IE 7
Pros: Everything is improved in some way like: search box in top right corner, page zoom now allows you to scroll anyway, slightly faster than Beta 2, renders better and less bugs might consider keeping IE
Cons: Not many but there are some or little performance issues, not that fast as some people claim and security is a bit strong on trusted websites in my opinion but generally much better than Beta 2.
Basically Microsoft has improved, tweaked and made browsing the internet much easier as if I would in beta 2 I really like how you can make Google the default search provider in the search box in the top right corner before I couldn?t do that it just didn?t work for me so I was stuck with MSN search that is I don?t know if you experienced that problem but I did, other things improved are rendering capabilities are much improved, page zoom now allows you to scroll sideways or top to bottom before you couldn?t do that, I didn?t notice anything different about the tabs but really there is nothing wrong with the tabs.
There were some issues that I encountered upon first using IE 7 Beta but these soon will be fixed I hope, some people claim that the browser is faster than previous versions of IE and IE 7 beta well I don?t believe so it is quite slow on my machine despite using 1 gigs of ram but overall this is vastly improved and is almost ready for widespread use.
I give it 6.7 out of 10 might sound a bit high but considering the nightmare beta 2 was this is almost a savior .
Please reply with your feedback I like to read your opinions!
User Rating: 
1/10
IE7 B3 appears to log user keystrokes and is a threat to user privacy
Pros: good features such as tabs and phishing filter
Cons: a threat to user privacy
User Rating: 8/10
Have not had any problems
Pros: Works with ease
Cons: I like having the refresh button close by
User Rating: 3/10
Better than IE6 ONLY IF it can be installed
Pros: don't know yet
Cons: Installation can't be completed
User Rating: 
5/10
Not Ready for Primetime
Pros: Looks Cool. Good ideas.
Cons: Doesn not work with napster, money, some secure sites. Some media streaming sites.
User Rating: 6/10
still slow
Pros: Major improvemnet for navigation and "look and feel"
Cons: extremely slow compare to Firefox
computer (older P4 - 1.4 Ghz); takes a while
to startup and load all tabs; duplicated home pagetabs; page loads slow (even after caching)
User Rating: 
4/10
Slower than beta 2
Pros: Clean, quickly familiar design
Cons: Unstable. Freezes, Images fail to load in a timely manner.
Secondly, the phishing filter runs continuously on certain pages, as you may sometimes notice with cnet. I had not noticed this within beta 2, but perhaps I overlooked it.
All things aside, IE 7 is the unwanted child of Microsoft, after they claimed that XP would not see a significant browser update.
I do not suspect my computer to be the cause of such activity: Intel Prescott 630, 1 gig DDR2. Mozilla based browsers work perfectly.
Firefox Address Bar = about:mozilla
User Rating: 6/10
Still a work-in-progress, apparently, but promising
Pros: Installed "secure" (I suppose)
Cons: Too many sites don't work and/or render properly for a beta 3 release
As for the user interface: tabbed browsing is indeed good though it certainly took long enough for MSFT to incorporate the feature, which I suppose is better than not doing so at all. Including a browsing history deletion function in the Tools menu is better than what it was in IE6, but I'd still prefer it if ALL browser makers would put the function right out at the browser main interface level, rather than having the user reach for the pulldown (it's not just an issue exclusive to IE).
The anti-phishing routine is DEFINITELY cool, and one-ups the Mozilla clan's so-far tepid response to one of online's biggest problems. And as for RSS feeds...all I can say is that it's finally built-in, and seems to work pretty good.
All in all, it's been a promising first-look for me, but I do wonder about IE7's balkiness at loading some common websites, like CNET and amazon.com. In fact, I had to use Firefox to write this since the Javascript login procedure wouldn't work when I tried to log into CNET. This certainly ISN'T proving to be a 'gold' release as I recall reading some pundit claiming elsewhere (I think it was zdnet). Maybe in beta 4, perhaps, but I think these foulups I've had are why these releases ARE considered betas in the first place.
That's my two cents. Perhaps with its REAL release, I'll have to stop referring to IE as Exploder...but I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, beta 3 shows real progress, and for everyone, including Firefox fans such as I, that's a good thing to see.
User Rating: 1/10
Still IE and Still a Microsoft Product
Pros: Tabbed Browsing
Cons: Stole Features of Firefox, Same ActiveX Crap
User Rating: 9/10
Firefox/Opera user switching to back to IE
Pros: Explorer webpage compatibility, clean look and feel, on par with competition.
Cons: "Favicons" still disappear from favorites menu.
Well, IE7 beta 3 has brought me almost completely back into the IE fold. Opera still has it beat for simple customizability (searching for Firefox add-ons is anything but simple) but all other features (now including movable tabs) are satisfactory to the point that I'm switching back to IE as my main browser. In fact, I no longer even have another browser installed.
I can always count on webpages rendering properly in Explorer, and that trumps the now insignificant advantages of Opera and Firefox.
The only thing MS still needs to fix on my opinion is the mysteriously disappearing favicons in the favorites menu. I can't figure out why they ever made it automatically delete them in the first place!!!
I've since gone back to Opera. I just got tired of all the goofy things the beta is doing (like logging me out of my email, poor rendering, etc.) and went back to old reliable. I also really missed Opera's "wand" feature and its general flexibility. I do prefer the sleek, simple look of IE7, and I hope the next version will match it.
User Rating: 9/10
Much better than Beta 2
Pros: Faster than beta 2, other tweaks
Cons: Installing errors need to be solved
Still wish you could totally remove the search since I use Google toolbar anyways. Also wish I could move the back and forth arrows to the right side of the screem where I wuld prefer them to be.
Yes installing was a pain as it was with beta 2 which MS should have fixed. But I'm here to review the browswer itself not it's installation. Problem is with the registry.
This should help;
First make sure you have anti-spyware and anti virus turned off completely. Also turn of Automatic Updates.
Also you HAVE to have SP2. Computer with SP1 cannot use beta 3.
To solve the registry problem make sure you have FULL permissions here
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT go to the folder called "gopher", right click, click PERMISSIONS, make sure you have FULL CONTROLL
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE go to SOFTWARE then to Microsoft folder then to Internet Explorer folder then look for a folder called SeacrhUrl and make sure you have FULL CONTROLL permissions on that too.
User Rating: 9/10
Wow! I'm impressed,
Pros: Much faster than previous IE.
Cons: Non yet that I have found.
I really like the Tools options, especially the deleting browsing history. Much easier interface.
I hope the final release continues to shine with better improvements.
User Rating: 7/10
Getting there
Pros: Nice interface, Hardened security settings, Antiphishing
Cons: Antiphishing is slow
The downside is, as "doggarn" pointed out, that the antiphishing feature is very slow. Often I would be done browsing a website before the anitphishing results were loaded. Also I've gone back to IE6 for now because some sites (like news videos on MSN) would not accept IE7 and tried to get me to download IE6. I didn't include this in the "Cons", of course, because IE7 is still in beta. I encountered the same thing when I would try to stream videos using Windows Media Player 11 Beta. Sites would demand that I use WMP 10, but, again, this happens with beta testing. My suggestion would be to set a restore point, try out the betas, and then roll your PC back after a short trial. All in all I think MS is headed in the right direction with IE7.
User Rating: 5/10
ie 7 b3 favorites now don't work
Pros: love the ideas it gives... but
Cons: Most of my link I try to use just go to win explorer instead of ie 7
User Rating: 4/10
Don't do it while it's a Beta
Pros: It's OK except for the comments below
Cons: See Below please
User Rating: 3/10
There are better browsers out there!
Pros: Nice interface, loads pretty fast.
Cons: Doesn't look as slick as other browsers
Use those two instead of IE7. Unless they decide to rework the interface slightly.
User Rating: 9/10
Better than last beta
Pros: faster, more refined
Cons: no links button you have to add it on another line
User Rating: 8/10
Great clean and minimalist look
Pros: simple, clean
Cons: loss of the use of key strokes
User Rating: 9/10
Far better than IE 6, with easier to use interface and needed one click options
Pros: This newer version IE 7 is very user friendly, with easy access to multiple web sites for researching or comparison shopping. The one click option to approve activeX or pop-ups is great.
Cons: IE 7 will not work at this time with many online banking service and my wireless provider.
