Bloggers are a tough crowd when it comes to IE 7
Microsoft releases first IE update in almost five years, and the blogosphere immediately responds with lively--and critical--discussion.
Blog discussions are swirling around comparisons between IE 7 and rival products, security problems and speed of use, among other topics. Some have taken on Microsoft's approach to competing with other browsers that offer more features and reliability. Others question whether Yahoo's releasing its customized version of IE 7 prior to Microsoft's official product release was formally planned, or a surprise marketing move. Still others weighed in generally in favor of the new browser version.
Bloggers' reactions
• All I can say is that it is about time. For all of you that have stuck with IE through security risk and outdated technology, you can finally upgrade. The upgrade will allow you to have some of the features that Firefox users have been using for a couple of years. I hope that the time between releases of Internet Explorers is shorter this time around.
Geek News Central
• I just did a little "start up test" of both browsers (Firefox and IE 7). I set both browsers' home page to TechMeme. Then I started both up. Then I closed both. Then I started them both up again. Both times, Firefox noticeably beat IE 7 on completing the page load. So, my No. 1 wish for IE8 is already "more speed please."
Scobleizer
• (Among) the top "Really nice things" about IE 7: Installing it does not break my Firefox browser...(Among) the top 'caveats' about IE 7: Explorer itself took ten minutes before it froze up and caused me to force it to quit. On its face, I'm a little underwhelmed by this effort.
ChaosScenario
• My first thought post-download was, so what's next for Firefox? 2.0 is due out any day now, though its improvements appear incremental rather than any leapfrog past IE 7 at this point. Given (that) the products--IE 7 and FF 2.0--are relatively on par, where is the Firefox community going to find additional growth, and through what arguments?
seattleduck: kevin briody
• What if IE 7 isn't the be all and end all of browsers? What if it's simply a much-needed improvement from IE 6, which was still using Spyglass technology from late-1990s? What if Firefox 2.0 is just as good and user-friendly? Surely, this wouldn't mean Microsoft would still have to deal with competitors (Firefox, Opera, Flock, Maxthon, etc.) that encourage innovation. What if all those Firefox users and all those Firefox developers just keep on doing what they're doing?
Mark Evans
• If you are an IE6 user, I highly recommend you grab IE 7 and start using it. It's finally up-to-date with the features expected in a modern-day browser, most notably tabbed browsing (multiple pages in a single browser window, accessible via tabs), the ability to find and display RSS feeds, and a built-in Web-search field, including a simplified process for choosing the default search engine. But most importantly, it's got much better security (than the previous version), including a built-in phishing filter to help detect rogue Web sites.
San Francisco Chronicle's TechBlog
• Is there any doubt that IE 7 was a knee-jerk reaction to Mozilla's Firefox and Opera's Web browsers stealing significant market share? Microsoft's latest reincarnation of Internet Explorer catches up to Firefox and Opera on some features, falls short on others, and in general offers nothing that the others don't.
"imguessing" on CNET News.com's Talkback