Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3

Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 is now available for download.

I’d like to check it out but am a bit concerned that if I don’t like, or it doesn’t work right for me, that it may leave undesirable ‘footprints’ if I try to revert back to IE-6. For example, will it screw up my bookmarks, or my integration with Outlook?

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this?

(I’m putting this in GQ because I’m not looking for a debate on the merits of Firefox vs IE, or an admonition that all M$ stuff is evil, etc.)

Thanks in advance!

I went from IE6 to IE7 beta 2 and upgraded to IE7 beta 3 today. I didn’t have any problems at any point with stability, performance, or integration with Outlook Express (don’t run regular Outlook). I also run Firefox 1.5.0.4.

IE7 beta 3 seems very stable. I’ve had a few stability problems with Firefox, but not many. Each browser has pros and cons.

Just to be extra cautious, before upgrading, I’d suggest backing up any key files, backing up your IE6 “favorites” (bookmarks) folder, and (if running XP) creating a restore point (start->programs->accessories->system tools->system restore). In general the chances of encountering a major problem are probably pretty slim.

Once you get used to tabbed browsing (using either Firefox or IE7), it’s hard to live without them.

I haven’t had any problem with it. I didn’t lose my bookmarks or anything. I don’t use Outlook either, so I can’t comment about that.

And yeah, the tabbed pages are great. I just wish that they’d add a spell-checking feature. That’s the one thing that I miss from Firefox.

You can download and install ieSpell - A Spell Checker for Internet Explorer.
I have been using for the last year. It is free and easy to use.
It probably is not tested with IE7 beta 3 however.

Jim

Thanks for your comments and advice. Very reassuring. I’m going to give it a try.

One reason I haven’t updated from IE 6 is that you apparently can’t use IE 7 as an FTP client. That is, if you enter an FTP address, you can’t manipulate the files (copy, paste, delete, etc.).

Unless I’m doing something wrong.

I don’t know whether you are doing something wrong or not, because I don’t have IE 7, but I just thought I’d mention that the ability to use IE as an FTP client in previous versions was an option that was enabled by default. Maybe it’s disabled by default in IE 7, but still there? I would miss this feature too if it’s no longer there.

In IE 6, the option was under Tools->Internet Options->Advanced->Enable folder view for FTP sites.

You shouldn’t have any issues. If you remove IE7, it drops back to IE6. Even went back to the history that IE6 has, so apparently, it stores it separately.

I’m running IE7 Beta 2 on my Vista machine, and Beta 3 on my XP machine. Neither of them have any trouble dealing with files on FTP sites.

The feature is still there in IE7. There was apparently a problem in beta 2 with password-protected ftp sites. Anonymous ftp sites worked OK. I’ve heard that was fixed in beta 3, but I don’t know a password-protected site to try. Anonymous ftp works OK in IE7 beta 3.