Web developers don't like Internet Explorer. It's pretty much a rule; to be a hip web developer, you have to profess a hatred for IE. Some of the hatred is a bit irrational, but most of it is based on the fact that Internet Explorer is out-of-date software that should have disappeared three years ago.
So it was with a sense of masochism that I downloaded the new release candidate of IE7 today. (The phrase "release candidate" means that it is 99.5% finished, but that the developers will still go back and fix a few bugs here and there before declaring the product finalized.) A few minutes and several warnings from my anti-spyware and anti-virus software later, and IE7 was running.
The user interface is completely different from what users have come to expect from a web browser. I think it will confuse a lot of folks right off the bat. On the plus side, the IE crew fixed a ton of bugs related to how websites display. In my quick tests, Lincolnite, for example, displays pretty much as intended in IE7, whereas I have to feed IE6 a bunch of fixes to get the site to display passably.
I'll keep trying IE7 over the next several days to see how it works out. Have any of you given IE7 a try? If you're brave, you can download it yourself.
Comments
See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.
I’ve learned my lesson with Microsoft beta stuff.
Does it allow for extensions? That’s my favorite part about firefox.
I *heart* Firefox, and I have no desire to try anything different. I only use IE for sites that only function and look properly with it (Outlook Web Access - provided by Microsoft Exchange Server, of course - and the business directory on LCOC.com).
Not to mention, does anyone else recall when IE7 was announced with a new logo AND new name? (It was Windows Internet Explorer 7… A name which disappeared from Microsoft’s web site a few months later… Clearly a flop.) The old comments on this post [J-Walk Blog] have since been removed, but the readers had a heyday with this: “Let’s call it WIE, pronounced why. In other words, WIE would anyone use it when they could be using Firefox?” (hehe)
Personally, I am patiently waiting for Firefox 2.0 (that a few users are also privy to reviewing right now… not I) which even has a built-in spellchecker, for text boxes like the one I’m typing in right now. Woot!
Mr. Masochist,
Will you use your shiny new IE7 to put something on the “Why register?” page? I’m looking for an answer to that question.
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