Internet Explorer 7: It Ain't All That

I just installed IE (Internet Explorer) 7.0, Microsoft's latest version of it's ubiquitous web browser, on my computer at work because we need to test some websites in it. After using it for a while now it's painfully obvious that Microsoft simply isn't capable of creating good software anymore (there are those who would argue that they never did). IE 7, much like their new version of Windows, called Vista, seems to be a perfect example of corporate design-by-committee crapola. They tried to please everyone, in the end they satisfy no one, and still offer nothing new and compelling. It's hard to believe Microsoft took this long to come up with a warmed over version of Firefox. With their resources, you'd think they'd at least attempt to rethink and reinvent the browsing experience. Perhaps come up with something — anything — new and groundbreaking or at the least, original. But that's never really been their style. Instead, they appear to have merely copied features from Firefox, such as tabbed browsing, built-in pop-up blocking, anti-phishing tools and advanced add-on (extension) management and twisted them to fit the ugly Microsoft GUI (itself, a ripoff of the Macintosh OS). Granted, these were all enhancements they needed to make years ago so I'm glad they did, but they're hardly compelling reasons for Firefox users to switch back to IE. I understand there are many welcome enhancements "under the hood", but I'm really only concerned with the front end usability of IE. Most users, especially those who think the "'E' icon is where the internets is", will upgrade (whether they want to or not) when they buy a new computer so eventual mass adoption is inevitable. But this will not put out the Fire(fox), if you will. Eventually, I'd guess up to 25% of Internet surfers will use Firefox exclusively over IE (with an additional 5% to 10% using Apple's Safari). This is a wonderful thing. Anything that keeps MS in check is good for the consumer, as a monopoly only benefits the monopolist. Choice is good. Competition is gooder. Since Microsoft had no real competition for IE for several years, there was no reason to improve it so they stopped development at version 6. It didn't matter that it had awful standards support and, since it's so tied into Windows (hardly a bastion of stability and security itself) it proved to be a virtual red carpet for virus', spyware and whatever other malware every little geek criminal could dream up and infect people's PC's with. Microsoft, of course, could give a shit, since, unless you were using a Mac or Linux, there were no other viable alternatives. It was IE or nothing, suckers. I find it funny that now that people are switching to Firefox and Apple, MS suddenly cares about security. Additionally, I.T. professionals secretly love the inherent crappiness of both IE and Windows. It's built-in shortcomings keep them employed and in demand. It's the best explanation I can think of as to why businesses stick with Windows. Why else would I.T. departments continually torture themselves with endless patches, irate phone calls and unnecessary hardware upgrades. It puts money in everyone's pockets and keeps the home team happy. Were I in their shoes, I'd feel the same way. It's understandable. Don't rock the boat. They've spent years building giant infrastructures just to keep the Windows house of cards standing. Why give all that up? Hell, since Microsoft still refuses to fully adhere to common CSS standards, I'll still need to retest everything I've worked on in IE 7 that functioned properly IE 6. So it even keeps me busy at my job. You never know what site's broken and what's not. Initially, when the Mozilla Foundation released Firefox, I'm sure it was assumed this upstart would whither on the vine much like it's distant ancestor, Netscape Navigator, did as soon as MS started including IE as the default browser in Windows. Thankfully, that hasn't happened. Currently, it's estimated that Firefox now commands a 14% market share, concurrently, IE's has dropped below 80% for the first time in years (market share stats, it should be noted, vary wildly depending on who is providing the stats, so the figures will be greater or smaller for everone depending on the provider). Thus, Microsoft "rushed" out IE 7 ("rushed out" is relative - giant companies never move fast, they simply can't: too many layers of bureaucracy) to try to respond to the growing Firefox problem. But it's too late. The cat got out of the bag before Gates and Ballmer had a chance to drown it. I couldn't be happier. You can prove how cool you are by downloading the latest version of Firefox here.