Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 7 RC1

The First Release Candidate for Internet Explorer 7 or IE7 RC1 has been released by Microsoft, squashing numerous bugs from the Beta 3 version and topping up with several improvements.

According to Microsoft, this release candidate is run mainly to help website developers ensure that their sites are compatible with the coming final release.

I was browsing using IE7 Beta 3 when it crashed and I opted to report that to Microsoft. Then I was directed to download IE7 RC1; that’s how I came to know about it. It is purported to be more stable, so I downloaded it straightaway.

IE7 has been completely rebuilt from IE6 which came out in 2001 and has not been significantly updated. This version 7 gives tabbed browsing to compete with Mozilla Firefox, together with anti-spoofing and anti-phishing protection, a search box with several search engines to choose from, and also support for RSS feeds.

Enhancements include a simpler user interface, customizable search box and an improvement in how favorites are organized.

Another big change is the addition of new Web technologies that have surfaced since five years ago, notably Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 2.1. Microsoft’s statement announcing the release said that more than 200 behavioral changes have been made to CSS between Beta 3 and RC 1.

Microsoft is offering the Internet Explorer Readiness Toolkit, which provides a developer checklist, testing guidance, and links to resources such as technical articles and helpful blog posts to website developers.

The other offering is the Internet Explorer Compatibility Evaluator, which analyzes the underlying code of various websites and highlights necessary changes to make the site fully compatible with the different versions of Internet Explorer.

With all these done, you can be almost sure of a pleasant and most comfortable experience in the use of Internet Explorer 7.

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The 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.homewebbiz.com . You can also visit his other website at: http://tinyurl.com/jcsqs .