Windows 7 and IE8

Windows 7 Beta shipped with a version of Internet Explorer 8, The final release of Windows 7 will ship in Europe without Internet Explorer in order to satisfy EU competition rules. Read more here

The reasoning goes that Microsoft gains unfair advantage by integrating its own browser with the operating system. Fair point, you might think. Until you think some more.

Imagine the ordinary Joe (or Jill) who installs Win7 and tries to access the internet. No browser. No problem, he (or she) can download Firefox, Opera, K-Meleon or any one of a number of independent browsers.

Except it is a little difficult to download a browser when you have no browser to access the internet ...

Windows 7 Beta and Windows 7 RC both shipped without an email client. No problem there, I had the choice of installing Outlook (from the Office 2007 suite) or an independent program. I chose Mozilla Thunderbird. That was easy because I had a web browser (IE8) installed.

The inclusion of IE8 (which isn't a bad browser by any means) would allow people who use a computer in the same way as a DVD player or a TV set to surf the net. Anyone with a little knowledge will realise they can install a different browser (or indeed any number of browsers) should they so choose.

And here is a little secret many IE bashers seem to forget. There is no need to jump through hoops trying to uninstall Internet Explorer. You just don't use it. Simple as that. It takes up no resources apart from a bit of disk space but it's still there should you ever need it.

As I said above, I set up Thunderbird for my email, but I know many people who wouldn't know where to start searching for a program, downloading it, installing it, configuring it and then teaching themselves how to use it. They just want a simple, familiar solution.

Though I sincerely believe Windows 7 is by far the best version of Windows yet, I can't help thinking it will lack something in the usability stakes for the non-technical user.

IE8 Arrives

Internet Explorer 8 has finally been released. As expected, this latest version builds on previous versions and exhibits some useful features. And it is a more secure browser than IE7, though remember that no browser is completely secure.

New features include:

• Colour-coded tabs
• Option to reopen closed tabs (a la Firefox)
• Isolated tabs - if one tab crashes, the rest are not affected
• InPrivate browsing, where private data is dumped on exiting the session
• Protection against clickjacking (where a mouse click acts on an invisible layer above the intended target, intended to redirect the user to a malicious site)
• Compatibility mode to render IE7-optimised sites correctly (this feature should really be automatic)

Sadly, those using Windows 7 Beta will not be able to upgrade to the full version of IE8 as the IE8 Beta included with the Windows 7 download is optimised for that operating system. Still, if you run IE7 under Win 2K, XP or Vista then upgrading to IE8 is the only sensible choice.

Internet Explorer 8 is currently only available as a separate download. Let's hope it is soon included in Windows Update.

Download IE8 from here
Read more here