# The Internet Explorer 7 interface is horrendous **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 19, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057 "2006-10-19T04:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/21 "2006-10-19T16:02:55Z")
[QUOTE=threemae] I guess we’ve proved some 8th law of the Straight Dope or something: Dopers will hate on a Microsoft product for no good reason. [/QUOTE] The 9th law, of course, being that genuine and warranted criticism of Micrsoft products will always elicit accusations such as “Dopers will hate on a Microsoft product for no good reason.” Personally, i agree with the OP about the aesthetics of IE7. It could be that those aesthetic issues can be mitigated via customization of the toolbars, etc., and if that produced a product that was noticeably more functional than the browsers i’m using now, i’d be happy to make the switch back to MS. But i have two browsers on my computer right now that will do everything that IE7 promises, and more. Opera is stable and excellent, and i haven’t had any crashing problems with Firefox since 1.5.0.x was released. I admit that i might have a certain amount of animosity towards Microsoft products for certain specific things. For example, i don’t like the fact that IE can’t be uninstalled on a Windows computer. I also think that Word, while very useful, is also awfully designed in many ways. I don’t like the way they sneak things like Windows Genuine Advantage onto your computer without disclosing exactly what it does. And, per **slortar** ’s comment, above, i am annoyed by Microsoft’s persistent, petulant and selfish refusal to properly implement CSS in their browser. On the other hand, i think Windows XP is a usable and stable operating system, one that i like quite a lot and am happy to pay for and use. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/22 "2006-10-19T16:22:00Z")
I’ve been waiting for the “real” release and I will download IE7 when I have the time to. I really like the tabbed browsing of Firefox, and the latest release of Yahoo Toolbar added a tabbed browsing feature for IE. Not perfect but not bad and better than nothing. I read a review of Office 2007 and the reviewer noted that he particularly hated the “ribbon” thingy, whatever they call it. After getting accustomed to it, however, it’s now his favorite feature. My point being, I’ll download it and install it, try it out for a while. I’ll get used to it and everything’ll be all swell. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/23 "2006-10-19T19:48:54Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Did you know you can turn that taskbar feature off. [/QUOTE] No, I didn’t. Thanks for sharing - it’s one of the few features of WinXP that I’ve genuinely disliked. Now that I knew to look for a way to turn it off, it wasn’t hard to find; the thought never crossed my mind that one could. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/24 "2006-10-19T20:18:46Z")
I tried IE7 Beta, and was underwhelmed. I’m sticking to Firefox. And yes, tabbed browsing rules. The deciding factors for me were: 1. Firefox tabs are better. The close tab thing is in a set location so you don’t have to fiddle around to find the thing. The IE7 ones you have to wait for them to even **appear** before you can close the tab. 2. Firefox is faster. 3. The font enlarge on Firefox works by enlarging the font, the one in IE zooms the entire page. The IE solution, while novel, doesn’t really accomplish much and just means I have to deal with two scrollbars. 4. I can access the File, View, Options, etc. bar in Firefox. Inexplicably, these are hidden in IE7. 5. There’s a **Refresh** button in Firefox. Inexplicably, IE7 removed the ability to easily refresh pages. Overall, nothing is better, but a lot is worse. Maybe it blocks more popups, but I don’t visit popup friendly webpages so… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/25 "2006-10-19T20:24:16Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] No, I didn’t. Thanks for sharing - it’s one of the few features of WinXP that I’ve genuinely disliked. Now that I knew to look for a way to turn it off, it wasn’t hard to find; the thought never crossed my mind that one could. [/QUOTE] Adding in a quickstart bar and putting everything you run 90% of the time in it is also wonderful (if you haven’t.) The only annoying bit being when things try to add themselves to your quickstart. Windows Explorer Firefox Thunderbird iTunes World of Warcraft I rarely have to go through Start. And I never got why they always hide Windows Explorer. All that results in is everyone using “My Computer” and going the long way around to their files… _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/26 "2006-10-19T20:32:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] 5) There’s a **Refresh** button in Firefox. Inexplicably, IE7 removed the ability to easily refresh pages. [/QUOTE] Try the **F5 key** , a marvelous little key I use all the time. As far as Windows Explorer try the **Windows Key with the E** to open explorer. Windows D reveals the desktop, like the shortcut in Quick Launch. Windows F brings up Find Ctrl+X = Cut Ctrl+C = Copy Ctrl+V = Paste Ctrl+Z = Undo Ctrl+A = Select All Ctrl+Esc or the Windows Key brings up the start menu. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/27 "2006-10-19T20:47:22Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Badger] I think there’s a plugin for Firefox that will automatically reload the last open set of tabs on restarts. [/QUOTE] [Tab Mix Plus](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1122/). Its Session Manager allows users to save multiple different browsing sessions as well as restore tabs after crashes (either with or without user confirmation). IMHO, an absolutley essential extension. Does anybody know if IE7 includes mouse gestures? That feature is another deal-breaker for me. Or how about plugins or extensions like Firefox? ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/28 "2006-10-19T20:54:25Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] I don’t like the way they sneak things like Windows Genuine Advantage onto your computer without disclosing exactly what it does. [/QUOTE] And incidentally, those of us who have refused to install WGA until now won’t be able to install IE7 until we “comply”: > [@](#): > > Also, even people using automatic updates will have to agree to let Microsoft check whether their copy of Windows is pirated before they can get IE7. [AP Story](http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/10/19/microsoft.webbrowser.ap/index.html) I’ll stick with Firefox. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/29 "2006-10-19T20:57:22Z")
[QUOTE=Marathon] And incidentally, those of us who have refused to install WGA until now won’t be able to install IE7 until we “comply”: [AP Story](http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/10/19/microsoft.webbrowser.ap/index.html) I’ll stick with Firefox. [/QUOTE] So what are you hiding? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/30 "2006-10-19T21:05:32Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] So what are you hiding? 😉 [/QUOTE] Ha! I just had read that installing it was screwing around with a bunch of legitimate versions of XP. I put off installing Service Pack 2 for the same reason (I think it was on this board that I read various nightmare scenarios about how SP2 was causing people to wipe their hard drives in fury and start from scratch), but eventually relented. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/31 "2006-10-19T21:15:34Z")
[QUOTE=Hodge] Does anybody know if IE7 includes mouse gestures? That feature is another deal-breaker for me. [/QUOTE] Nope, but (and prepare to love me) have you heard of [this](http://www.tcbmi.com/strokeit/)? Oh yes, mouse gestures in any windows app. And you can disable it on a per-application basis (or do finer customisation) so it won’t interfere with Opera or FF mouse gestures. The only problem is that I miss it enormously when using a computer without it. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Sweet\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/32 "2006-10-19T21:17:37Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] And I never got why they always hide Windows Explorer. All that results in is everyone using “My Computer” and going the long way around to their files… _sigh_ [/QUOTE] They sort of merged Windows Explorer with My Computer in XP. In any My Comp window, there’s a “Folders” button that opens or closes a left-hand, explorer type sidebar, with collapsable folders and all those Explorer features. The only thing the “Windows Explorer” icon opens is a My Computer window with the “Folders” button already clicked (which if you then click of, you go back to a My Comp window anyway). In reality, “Explorer” no longer exists as an independent app for file organization, it’s just a feature of My Computer now. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/33 "2006-10-19T21:20:27Z")
I “upgraded” just now. I love how the status bar during the installation doesn’t go from 0% to finish, it just scrolls and scrolls and marquees or whatever, with no indication of your progress. It took nearly 30 minutes to install the damn thing, thrashing my HD like a rented mule the whole time, and at no point did I know if it was nearing the end. The interface is ugly and worthless. I want it gone. Really, I can’t say much more. I see improved features but at the cost of usability. I’m staying with the Fox. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/34 "2006-10-19T21:22:43Z")
[QUOTE=Hodge] Does anybody know if IE7 includes mouse gestures? That feature is another deal-breaker for me. [/QUOTE] Me too. I didn’t mention mouse gestures because i’ve gotten so used to them in Firefox and Opera that i can’t imagine using a browser without them anymore. **Dead Badger** , that looks excellent. I often try and use mouse gestures when i’m using Windows Explorer, just through force of habit, and then get frustrated when it doesn’t work. I’ll have to give StrokeIt a go. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/35 "2006-10-19T21:40:50Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Can someone please explain to me why tab browsing is so exciting? I have been using Netscape and/or IE forever with multiple windows and using the wonderful built in since windows 3.0 feature of Alt-Tab to change windows. What is so spectacular about tab browsing? [/QUOTE] In addition to what others said. Tabbed browsing comes into it own when combined with mouse gestures. You just do everything with the mouse, move between pages, back, forward, close, open etc. Firefox all the way for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/36 "2006-10-19T21:48:47Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] **Dead Badger** , that looks excellent. I often try and use mouse gestures when i’m using Windows Explorer, just through force of habit, and then get frustrated when it doesn’t work. I’ll have to give StrokeIt a go. [/QUOTE] It took me a little while to get it set up appropriately with my various apps, the main issue being that the default Opera-style “close” gesture is set to CTRL-F4, i.e. it closes MDI windows (which is what it does in Opera). But this means that it won’t close explorer or IE windows. However, you can just define a new “app” for all your SDI programs, reassign the “down-right” gesture to ALT-F4 for those programs only, and just add all your SDI programs to that one “app” (using the nifty drag’n’drop tool they provide). That sounds like gobbledegook, but it will (hopefully) make sense once you’ve played around with it. Really, this is pretty much the best program I’ve discovered all year; it only takes up about 160K of memory as well, which is frankly obscene given how useful it is. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/37 "2006-10-19T22:48:11Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] 5) There’s a **Refresh** button in Firefox. Inexplicably, IE7 removed the ability to easily refresh pages. [/QUOTE] There’s one in IE7 too. It’s to the right of the address bar, with two green arrows on it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/38 "2006-10-19T22:53:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] And I never got why they always hide Windows Explorer. All that results in is everyone using “My Computer” and going the long way around to their files… _sigh_ [/QUOTE] That one annoys me on a daily basis; sometimes several times a day. Part of my job is IT support and I will often have to talk people through copying or moving files about on their system. I tell them to open Windows Explorer (“Open Windows Explorer,” I say, “Just hold down the Windows key and press E”). I then instruct them to expand one of the items in the left hand pane of the Windows Explorer window, and it all goes quiet. After a few seconds, I say “When I told you top open Windows Explorer, you double-clicked on ‘My Computer’, didn’t you?”, and the answer is always yes. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/39 "2006-10-19T23:09:40Z")
[QUOTE=slortar] I’d just be happy if they finally implemented CSS properly. [/QUOTE] Well, it’s gotta be better than the CSS support in IE5/IE6, if for no other reason than it’s damn near impossible to get _worse_ (and the only browser to manage _that_ feat is the now-dead IE5 for MacOS). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057/40 "2006-10-20T01:43:21Z")
I bet it won’t forget my bookmarks like Firefox though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-internet-explorer-7-interface-is-horrendous/377057.md?page=3)