Future of IE 7

Last Friday, September 2 (2005), proved to be a busy day for beta testers and some Microsoft employees. On that day, Microsoft scheduled an Internet Explorer 7 chat for Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7 beta testers. It was a chaotic scene. In a matter of fifteen (15) minutes the chat room was filled with more than 400 beta testers, MVPs (Most Valuable Professional), Microsoft experts and Microsoft moderators!

It was a blast! Questions were being “punched” and “shoot” at the experts on the Microsoft Internet Explorer team. On average, a question was asked every split second! You can imagine the confusion and hectic scene.

The first question which was asked was probably on every beta tester’s mind – “Will there be a new build before beta 2 (Internet Explorer 7)?”

The answer was “YES”! Jason Watters, Program Manager on the Internet Explorer team, stated that there will be a refresh of the “stand-alone” Internet Explorer 7 beta 1 build. The build will be released before beta 2, of IE 7, is shipped. However, no one knows the exact release date of IE 7’s beta 2 build. One might ask – “Will beta 2 of IE 7 be released this year?” There’s a high possibility that indeed it will be released this year, probably the same time as Windows Vista Beta 2. Folks, we are looking at a possible December Beta 2 build for both Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7 and an October/November refresh release of Internet Explorer 7.

Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 7 will indeed support Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server 2003 SP1 (possibly R2 support too) and x64 support. Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 7 will also support English, German and Japanese. However, on the final release Internet Explorer 7 will support the same languages as Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2003 SP1. The Internet Explorer team might have a surprise for beta testers. They (IE team), mentioned that a new user experience or user interface can be expected in Beta 2 of Internet Explorer.

On the other hand, the Internet Explorer team emphasized that there will be less builds released until Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 7. No comment was made on the final release of Internet Explorer 7 nor the Beta 2 release of Internet Explorer 7.

Dave Massy, Senior Program Manager over at the Internet Explorer team had this to say:

There is plenty of change. The first beta is focused on infrastructure so many of the changes are not so obvious at this stage. There is a great focus around security in IE7 some of which is obvious and some not so obvious. We also have some enhancements to HTML and CSS on the way as well.


Jessep Bangham continued with Dave’s answer:


Yes, we have made a number of changes involving both the UI and on the back-end. Features such as the phishing tool that is currently built into the IE7 beta for Win XP SP2 make it much easier to identify potentially harmful sites and avoid possible identify theft. Our tabbed browsing makes surfing the net even by allowing you to view multiple web sites without losing valuable desktop real estate.


Below is a run down of some facts regarding Internet Explorer 7, which was mentioned in the chat:

1. There are no plans in having “active desktop” support for Internet Explorer 7.

2. No “download manager” will be included in Internet Explorer 7. The “download manager” first appeared in early alpha builds of Windows Vista (previously known as Windows Codename Longhorn). Jason Watters had this to say – “It is not “too hard”, we just are not able to implement a download manager with the level of high quality that we want in the timeframe of this release.”

3. Internet Explorer 6 will not run alongside Internet Explorer 7

4. A Parental Control feature might be also implanted in Internet Explorer 7.

5. More customize features for tab browsing.

6. There won’t be any custom skins or styles.

7. No Mac support.

8. Web Developer tools might be included in the release of Internet Explorer 7.

9. The installation of Internet Explorer 7 will not be optional during a clean or upgrade of a Windows Vista installation.

10. Internet Explorer 7 won’t include Java.

11. Internet Explorer 7 won’t support Windows 2000.

Above were the main facts which were discussed during the Internet Explorer 7 chat.

One user asked the Microsoft experts their opinion on the top three features found in Internet Explorer 7. Dave Massy replied:

1 – Security - Especially Protected mode in Windows Vista.
2 - Tabs and the great new User experience that you’ll see in beta 2.
3 - Printing that really works instead of cutting off the right hand side of the page. That’s a personal list of the things I like.


Another user commented about the immense downloads FireFox has been getting lately. Jessep Bangham answered with the following:

While our competitors do hold a noted share of the browsing market, we are sure that IE7 will always be relevant due to the integration between all of our products as well as new features. Some of the new features we are integrating into the next generation of IE are advanced security elements like our phishing tool. Also our adoption of industry standards such as tabbed browsing, not to mention the number of developers that specifically develop .NET certified pages that are designed specifically for IE. All in all, there will always be people who prefer certain browsers (there are still hundreds of thousands of people who choose AOL) but we are sure that by the time of release we will have a far more feature rich application than Firefox can offer.


Dave Massy also replied with an excellent answer:


Dude, They may have that number of downloads but that is very different from having that number of users. Recent stats actually show Firefox growth has slowed and is even declining. We’re looking forward to supplying a great user experience in IE7.


Internet Explorer 8 – The Future

The chat also included interesting answers about the next version after Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8. The Microsoft experts from the Internet Explorer team hinted that “Avalon” - Windows Graphics Foundation (WGF) might be used for might be used in future versions of Internet Explorer. Since, the Internet Explorer team stated that there won’t be any download manager in IE 7; we suppose that it will be included in Internet Explorer 8.

Hint – Windows XP SP3

One user asked whether Internet Explorer 7 will be included in Windows XP Service Pack 3. The answer was NO. Simply the reason that Service packs for Windows operating systems do not include new products. The final release of Internet Explorer 7 will be made as available as a download via Microsoft’s download website.

Conclusion

I would like to end of with two awesome questions and answers. One user asked where Internet Explorer 7 would be in the next few years. Jason Watters gave his answer:

“Where we see ourselves individually in the next decade or so I can’t comment on as I’m not in a position to speak for anyone other than myself. However, the internet has grown from a niche to a true global marketplace. Designers and developers are continually adding network and internet access features to a growing variety of devices from the home to the workplace and even to your appliances and vehicles. We foresee internet access ultimately becoming a standard of life like radio and television here in America. To address the 3rd part of your question, we see ourselves at the forefront of this new era of communication and are already working to help bring access to the world. As more and more of our products from our Office suite to games and utilities all start using more online features, we are developing IE with this in mind.”

Lastly, a humorous question and answer:

Question: If the FireFox offered to merge with IE Team, would you guys do it?

Answer: Due to different development styles, completely different architecture and such, I don’t think that would be a really workable situation. But maybe if they were willing to bring the punch and pie.

More information regarding Internet Explorer 7 will be released in a few months time or even during this year’s PDC (Professional Developers Conference) 2005. I’ll keep you all update with the progress of Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista!



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