IE 7 Beta 2 Preview Released

For those of you who are finally settling in to your FireFox hole you may want to peak at the IE 7 Beta 2 Preview. The interface is a pleasant change from the IE standard.

Some of the features include a built-in RSS reader, enhanced tab functionality “New Tab” tab, all tab screen preview (”Quick Tab”), a new side bar and two of my fundamental favorites…Zoom and Shrink to Fit/Print (fits all of the actual content on a print page). Do not forget about the planned support for alpha transparency for Portable Network Graphics (PNG), this means the icons on my blog actually look normal without the PNG CSS hack.

Becareful though, as with other IE/Microsoft installers this will replace your previous version of IE.

If you have a secondary box I suggest installing it there unless you just have to have it on your dev machine.

Tip: Run IE 7 Preview along side your IE6 install (Microsoft says they have blocked this hack…if it works let me know.) 060406 Followup: Try this method for IE7 Beta 2
I will be previewing this version to see if it includes the Native XMLHTTP Object. This will allow users to disable ActiveX controls but still retain use of XMLHTTP for web applications.

For more information on this release see the FAQ.

For more on the features go to the feature tour.

IE 7 Beta 2 Preview Download

rob.