Look MAMA I LOOK LIKE FIREFOX - Internet Explorer v7.0 A Review!!

Well, a Long Wait I guess.
From 2001 to the Mid of 2006. Microsoft has been hiding it's IE7 till this time.
But one might say its quite a wait for such a meagre (?) update. Ok lets see it a
little elobrate,

The Evoluion History Of IE: I've been using IE form the first version (1995) v. 1.0
Those days Browser's were only Shareware. It was a pain to live with these shareware applications. It was Microsoft that initiated this FREE thing, though it was not Opensource. Unless for the Free Shipping of IE v1.0 in its Windows Plus! Kit, today we would all be using shareware or paid for browsers. Before IE, connection to the "NET" was not that easy, only techies could make it up to browsing. IE packed its TCP/IP connectivity and rest of the cumbersome process in a easy to use package!! Kudos Microsoft! I've fallen fan for IE and
microsoft from then!

Then came the support for Multimedia, or media rich browsing. IE was the fore runner in this arena too. They came up with Animation support in the v3.0. I remember the days I used to be up in the night in my Lab, working with both the versions of IE in different systems(cherishable days!!). More over Flash and DHTML support made it a big market for IE. I remember IE v.2.0 used to have Cookies and VRML Support. I still cherish my first VRML code, it was a tunnel
through which you can cruise and then go to a small shopping mall, where you can touch and see the products. Well well .. I', swaying off topic !! Back in track, now., IE3 made further improvements to these, made some fixes and it supported Mail.

1. Mail Was Integrated
2. Address Book was included
3. News
4. Net meeting
5. Gif, JPEG, Midi support in web pages was a major development.

Incorpotation of multiple Scripting languges was welcomed by fellow coders.
And I thought the CSS introduction was a major improvement. before we used
to do some crooked programming to achieve CSS kinda effect. But overall, it
was developer centric, and I could say that Loud and clear because I was in the
middle of the turmoil then.

IE4.0 Changed the way we sent and received Mails. Outlook Express was
installed with IE4.0 This was a major leap in terms of Internet usability.
Although there were many technical corrections in IE4.0 no big change to the
usability and Look and Feel were shown unless for the Cute Multi-Colored Icon
with a better depth and animation.

IE5.0 was shipped with Windows '98. This version had nothing to mention other
than the support for developers. Like the XML support, the MSXML was part of
the shipped IE. So coders were happy with how they were treated with this
Chocolate!

It was 2001 that IE.6.0 was announced. This version of Internet Explorer was Security centric(thats what Microsoft claimed!) and so they made some internal modules to pep up the Security beefs we have had with the previous flavors. Overall IE6.0 was a clean install, least clumsy, there was a Pop-Up Blocker(Ha, see we too have a pop-up blocker!!). Priority was the highlight on the P3P technology that was attempted by both Microsoft and the WWW Consortium [W3c]. Nothing much to rabmle here.

IE v.7.0 Here Comes the Latest Flavor of Internet Explorer :
[With roasted pista nuts and chocolate chips plus and extra dash of Cinnamon]
Well. I felt Good. That is the 1 word i have for the First Impression. It wasnt
bulky. It did not do much gimmic like the IE4 version for Windows '98. It
installed smoothly, gave a corporate look to itself. This flavor is rich and carries
some Self Esteem, that said I would not give the full ratings for this baby. I
would have expected more than this for a long wait of 5 damn years. First lets
look closely at the features offered in this version.

1. Tabbed Browsing, Tab List
2. Quick View [Ctrl + Q]
3. It's faster
4. Better Favorites Management [Alt + C - Favorites Centre]
5. Menu Management/Placement [Look where your File> Menu is?]
6. Recent Pages Menu
7. Search Management Menu [manageable]
8. Export To Excel Context Menu
9. Best use of Available Screen Space - Kudos to the IE team [INDIA]
10. RSS [See mamma we too have RSS]
11. Zoom Settings
12. Pop-Up Blocker, Anti Phishing Efforts

So lets briefly look into each feature:

Tabbed Browsing, Tab List: No doubt this was an effort that a lot of other
companies tried and tested well before IE could adopt it. Everyone knows this is
not an effort from IE, not any innovative either. But the result is appreciable, it
looks good, feels good, works well. As far I can say its better late than never.
Welcome "Tab" to IE. Tabs are not new to IE, it was not a complicated goal for
MS to achieve. But there must be a reason why MS suffered this time to bring out our baby. I like the way the space is managed all through the IE7.0 experience.

Closing Multiple Tabs prompts if the same set of tabs need be opened the next
time IE7.0 is invoked. This is a small function to be noticed[did u notice? - write in
comments], but saves a lot of time and its placed in a niche manner.




Quick View [Ctrl + Q]: Ctrl+Q is a compliment to tabbed browsing. We have seen this as an Add-On in firefox, but its good that IE incorporated it into the basic software.
It's good that many essential Add-Ons are part of the software. I noticed one Niche feature in tabbed browsing[that only Microsoft can think off!!]. When there are many tabs open, if you click on a link from the first tab, the new tab does not open up as the last tab. It opens just next to it's parent Tab. Which how many might notice and appreciate?

Better Favorites Management [Alt + C - Favorites Centre]: Like FF2 favorites open in a new tab. You have the option to open a certain "Favorite Folder" with n-number of links into multiple tabs. The menu does not open as a Sidebar, which I think is clumsy. This pulldown menu type idea is better, it comes down and goes back once the job is done.

Menu Management/Placement [Look where your File> Menu is?]:
The menu bar is now optional. It's there for the ones who want to have a retro feeling. Menu is strategically placed, less protruding, less bothering and saving a lot of space indeed. With just One bar - the Address Bar, the IE7.0 is totally wacky. Yet you can access and do everything with unbelievable ease and style.

Recent Pages Menu: This is a pull down menu form the back/Forward button to the left of your address bar. Although its nothing new, its strategically placed, saving space. I will be highlighting this all along my review because this might look very meagre, but as a Interface Designer it is a great achievement. Kudos to the IE team again.







Search Menu [manageable]: Though we have seen this a long time back in Firefox, this is a welcome feature. It's manageable and you can add more search engines like you wish. You can add custom engine of your choice too.







Export To Excel Context Menu: Did you notice this?[leave your comment] I was thrilled
to see an Export-To context menu. This exports a Query to the MS Excel directly. Still to probe more on this...

Best use of Available Screen Space: I can keep talking about this cool feature of IE7. I don't know how many of you would have noticed this and appreciated it. The Back/forward buttons are placed strategically The refresh and stop buttons are small and visible The tab header it done well to accommodate everything from the menu bar to the favorites button, Quick view button, new tab button. Almost everything is in 2 rows. The full screen window is "Truly Full Screen" [i think i should be in the advertising department for IE7!!] When in Full-Screen the menu auto-hides, making the full screen experience beautiful.
Fonts are smooth and catchy. Icons are flat and flashy, yet corporate. The IE7 icon has a new color to it, the orange/yellow ring.

RSS [See mama we too have RSS]: I was jus kidding, it ain't like we too have a feed, but its quite wonderful for a feed reader. Well formatted, and searchable. RSS reader is quiet and smooth. It formats the feeds very beautifully. Overall 3/5 for the RSS reader. It's very easy to look for feeds, unlike FF. You don't have to search for the feed link form the page. Just click on the feed button on the top right bar, and you can see all the available feeds in the page. Click on
them to subscribe, and to read a feed you can use the favorites centre. You can open many feeds in a single click to multiple tabs.

Zoom Settings: do you have a scroll mouse? Try this trick, press Ctrl+Roll up and down your wheel. If you are a keyboard freak like me, just try the Ctrl+Up arrow or Ctrl+Down arrow. This sets the zoom + or - 100% Too easy that, a flick robbed from FireFox. But nice to have it in IE too.

Pop-Up Blocker, Anti Phishing Efforts: Just another pop-up blocker and a White list Anti Phishing tool. Not much to rant about it, its easy to use, it looks neat. I don't vote for these features 2/5 form me.