The New Internet Explorer (IE7) - are there any risks?
For some time now the news about the failures of Microsoft Internet explorer has made news around the world. It is well know that Internet Explorer had several bugs that were explored by virus writers to create viruses that could expose your data and make your run slower.
After a few years, it is interesting to see if anything changed to Microsoft IE. In the last months, Microsoft launched the new version of its browser, version 7 of Internet Explorer. We will check if this new version if better than the previous.
A new option arrives
Windows users that were worried about security quickly found a new option that could solve many of the IE problems. Mozilla Firefox is a web browser based on Mozilla, the descendant of the original Netscape web browser. It took many years of development by a large group of web enthusiasts.
The launching of a free Firefox web browser was good news for people tired of the problems with windows explorer. For the first time there was a free and quality-proof web browser that could be used without all the problems that IE had.
Microsoft fights back
Microsoft has never avoided a fight in the software arena. They knew that Internet Explorer had its problems, but the company was engaged in bringing the best web experience to its platform, and went on to fix problems with IE.
Initially, the only thing Microsoft could do was trying to fix the bugs in its software. They did this by sending weekly updates to the IE browser. In the long run, however, the only way to win the competition with Firefox would be the release of a new version of Internet Explorer.
New Features of IE7
The new version of Internet Explorer has several new features that make IE7 competitive with Firefox in several areas. The most visible difference is that it has tabs.
With tabs, one can browse several web pages without leaving the same window. This simpler navigation methods allows users to maintain a less clutered desktop, as well as speeding up the system as a whole.
IE7 also has much better support for internet standards, such as XHTML. This allows the browser to draw web pages in the same way as other browsers, such as Firefox, and therefore improving the quality of page drawing across browsers.
What about security?
IE7 also has show improved security compared to its previous version. The browser now has improved security settings for Javascript, Activex, and other dynamic content that can be a door for viruses and spyware.
First, anything that can present a security threat is disabled initially. Users have to explicitly allow the content to be download, so they have a chance to see if it is coming from a web site that is trusted.
Microsoft has also become more proactive in updating the system, which has seen the number of viruses decrease in the recent months.
With all these changes, we think that, although Firefox is still a great browser for most web users, Microsoft has catch up with most of its features. The browser that anyone will use is a matter of preferences, but IE7 is certainly a great improvement over IE6, and present many of the features of Firefox. The good thing is that users have more choice than ever in the area of Web browsers.
