I.E version 7.0

Any of you downloaded Internet Explorer version 7.0? It's been released for quite a while but I have just downloaded it yesterday. Microsoft really goes all out this time to make sure that we did not buy a pirated microsoft products. They requested to validate the copy of Microsoft windows twice; First, before downloading it, second, before installing it. Having to go through this process, I was expecting something excellent, and at my first glance, I was satisfied.

They have adopted the tab browsing capability (just like Opera and Firefox). On top of that, they also have a preview panel that allows the user to overview (in small windows) all the tabs. The screen looks bigger since the "file, edit, view, etc.." toolbar is viewable on request (have to press alt key). The buttons on the screen (web browser) are carefully pick and arrange. The GUI is better. I really like the "open new tab" button, very user friendly. The internet explorer's icon is also modified to look more polished.

I've used it a few times, enough to get back to my good old Mozilla Firefox. Though everything looks nice, I don't think IE can handle too much tabs. With Firefox, I can open God knows how many tabs, the processing speed remains the same. With IE, to load each tabs take quite sometimes, especially when you have opened quite a few tabs. I also have a few experiences of IE crashes everytime I open (too) many tabs.

Congratulations Microsoft for the efforts. I give a A- for the look but for the performance, you can do better. Hopefully Microsoft will give a FREE upgrade of this version soon.

P/S My brother told me that even if you are not using a genuine Microsoft Windows, you can still ILLEGALLY install this version of ie. Not really sure how to do it but Microsoft should be prepared for this. Nowadays, what thing cannot be hacked?