Internet Explorer Comes of Age

A web browser is one of the most commonly used programs in this day and information age. The most popular browser in the world is Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 that comes with Windows.

However, during the past five years since the advent of IE6, a lot of innovations and improvements have been made by competing browsers like Opera, Mozilla Firefox and Crazy Browser.

Internet Explorer is playing catch-up. It has been five long years between IE6 and the coming IE7, so there is a lot of catch-up to do. Nevertheless, it looks like Microsoft is doing it very well.

Three days ago I downloaded the IE7 beta 3 and found it to be wonderfully and pleasantly different from IE6 which I had been using. (They ask for validation of genuine Windows XP.) The first thing I notice is that IE7 beta 3 has a very streamlined layout and you see more of the webpage being viewed.

Also, significant progress is in the offering of tabbed browsing, an ability to accept RSS feeds and the claimed better security when you do e-shopping.

When IE7 opens, your homepage appears in the first tab window. To view another page you click on New Tab button and load the next page, and so on. Each tab page acts like another browser where you can go forward and backwards. The tab can be closed by clicking the X on the side of the tab.

One convenient feature is the Quick Tabs button which opens up a window showing all the open tab pages in thumbnail images. You can click on a thumbnail image to view the full page or you can click on the X to close the tab page.

I find that tabbed browsing increases efficiency and saves time. It enables one to work faster. You can open multiple web pages (about 8 will still be manageable) in a single browser window and view each of them in turn by clicking on the respective tabs. It is like switching between worksheets in Microsoft Excel.

Tabbed browsing facilitates daily tasks, like checking your affiliate earnings from different websites, or accessing several email accounts to check your mail. These websites can be saved in Favorites in separate groups and each group can be opened with all the component websites with one click.

It is also very useful in situations when you are checking prices on different websites, or comparing opinions and various angles in articles on different websites.

It is particularly useful when you surf traffic exchanges to promote your websites. By saving all your traffic exchange programs in one group, they can all be lined up ready with one click on the group and accessed by simply clicking on the respective tabs. Imagine how much time you can save and how much more credits you can chalk up if you line up say 5 or 6 traffic exchanges at one go.

All in all, I would say well done to Microsoft in coming up with IE7 beta 3 which is the final beta before the IE7 product is released. Tabbed browsing is indeed an exhilarating experience.

About the authorThe author is Dale Ng, an Internet entrepreneur enthusiast who shares tips, info, news and articles on Internet marketing. Feel free to visit his website on Internet home business at: http://www.freewebs.com/homewebbiz . You can also visit his other website at: http://tinyurl.com/jcsqs .