Readers reveal the secrets of IE 7  | By Brian Livingston Microsoft’s new browser, Internet Explorer version 7.0, will ship sometime soon with updated features and better security — so of course our contributing editor Woody Leonhard explained on Sept. 14 how to prevent version 7 from automatically downloading to your PC. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with IE 7, mind you. Woody just thinks other people, not you, should be the first to get bitten by any point-oh bugs. |
Disable IE 6 plug-ins before upgrading
Woody’s Sept. 14 story stimulated a great number of readers’ tips on the current beta version of IE 7. While I don’t recommend that you install IE 7 on a mission-critical machine, it’s certainly advisable to start testing the new browser on some separate, sacrificial machine. We’ll report on the good and the bad of IE 7 as soon as the final build is released and we can thoroughly scrutinize it.
In this issue, I’m bringing you the best of the tricks that have flowed in since our last newsletter. First up is reader Keith Swartz, who explains that IE 6 plug-ins and toolbars can conflict with IE 7 — but he has a fix:
- “One thing that I think is worth mentioning, because I’ve been bit by this on several attempts to test the beta: if users do decide to accept the IE 7 upgrade (or even if they are testing the release candidates), they should DISABLE all plug-ins and toolbars in IE 6 BEFORE they upgrade. This will avoid crashes due to incompatibilities that may prevent the browser from even starting up.
“I don’t know of any specific toolbars that are causing problems in the most recent drops (like J2SE, Acrobat, or Google), but I wouldn’t doubt there are still some problematic ones out there.
“The best way to disable toolbars, in my opinion, is with a free tool called BHODemon 2.0. It has a very simple interface that shows you all your browser helper objects (BHOs — plug-ins or toolbars), and lets you simply uncheck a box to disable them the next time you start up IE.
"The tool is available at MajorGeeks. The program was originally designed to aid in the reporting of and disabling of spyware BHOs. Unfortunately, the developer stopped updating the tool a year ago, so it’s no longer quite as suitable for that purpose. However, as a means of quickly disabling/reenabling BHOs, it’s as about as simple as you can get.”
IE 7 still garbles many Web sites
There’s a reason that these things are called betas, as millions of testers are finding out at this very moment. Reader Stephen Wolper writes:
- “I just installed IE 7 RC1 and had to uninstall it one week later. The biggest problem is the incompatibility with many Web sites and file-download programs. The fix offered by Microsoft to make your computer appear to be running IE 6 just does not work. In fact in my experience, it did absolutely nothing.
“IE 7 has one improvement and that is a better printed page from a Web site. The tabbed browsing seems not much of an improvement over using IE in the quick-launch toolbar and launching a new IE window when necessaary.
“In fact, the tabbed page system has one major annoyance and that is the increased possiblity of clicking the X in the upper-right corner and mistakenly closing all your IE windows. But MS has provided another annoyance to deal with this. Every time you click on the X in the top right corner, you get a warning message asking if you want to proceed or cancel. This reminds me of being back on AOL with the same annoying questions asking if you really want to exit AOL.
“One good thing is that the add/remove entry in the Control Panel actually does work. I was able to uninstall IE 7 and IE 6 and all my Favorites, etc., were returned unharmed.
“The most serious complaint I have is that Microsoft made the RC1 appear to me to be the likely final version and ready to go. It is far from ready to use and I would avoid it at all costs if it is not appreciably improved.”
Firefox still compares favorably with IE 7
The gotchas that still haunt the beta of IE 7 cause many readers to contrast Microsoft’s new browser with the fast-growing Mozilla Corp. browser, Firefox. Reader Jac Higgins writes:
- “Because I was concerned about the security Swiss cheese that was IE 6, I installed IE 7 in each of its three beta flavors.
"Perhaps my security fears were assuaged in the short-term. But these were replaced by 1) not having access to sites that were not ready for my beta browser; 2) loss of functionality in sites that required Microsoft Virtual Machine, and 3) loss of the full IE 6 FTP folder functions.
"So I switched to Firefox and haven’t looked back.”
We won’t know until the gold version of IE 7 comes out — and is automatically included on every new Windows PC that’s sold — whether IE’s minority status among advanced Windows users will remain true. Until then, our contributing editors are solid in their preference for Firefox. Over course, every Firefox user must make an occasional exception for a few sites (including several Microsoft services) that insist on working only with IE.
Upgrade to IE 7 just to cure IE 6
Whatever your opinion of Firefox may be, it’s hard to argue that IE 7 doesn’t offer any improved features over IE 6. Reader Pete Tirrell makes this point succinctly:
- “I’ve been using the IE 7 betas on Win XP Pro since it was first introduced. Its latest incarnation, RC1, has come a long way from the first betas. Frankly, it’s pretty good.
"Now, I also use Firefox (beta 2 currently) as my primary browser both at home and at work. I don’t think IE 7 holds a candle to Firefox 2, especially after installing a handful of useful extensions. There are so many things that FF can do that IE7 can’t — and tabbed browsing isn’t even on the list. Rearranging the toolbar, the Adblock extension, find-as-you-type, site-specific extensions, and skins are just a few that come to mind that I use on a regular basis.
“What I think is key, though, is that while IE 7 isn’t (in my mind) as good as FF, it is leaps and bounds better than IE6. Therefore, I would encourage everyone to upgrade. I haven’t encountered any OS breaking problems in IE 7, and on all grounds it is better than its previous version.
"For all those people who aren’t willing to give FF a try, forcing them to upgrade to a more secure, more modern Web browser should be mandatory.”
Is IE 7 easy to uninstall? That depends
IE 6 refuses to coexist on the same Windows machine with any previous version of Internet Explorer. By contrast, IE 7 is touted as being capable of working side-by-side with IE 6 (if you choose to keep both browsers rather than replacing IE 6 with IE 7). This harmonious situation is not necessatrily trouble-free, as reader Mitchell Weitz reports:
- “Just read Woody’s warnings about IE 7. I already have had a bad experience with it, and contrary to Microsoft’s assurances, it did not uninstall easily, returning to IE 6.
"I had to spend time on the phone with MS tech support to get it uninstalled, and then reinstall IE 6.
"Incidentally, I was told that the reason I was having problems uninstalling IE 7 was that I had iTunes on my PC, and was instructed to remove iTunes to enable me to uninstall IE 7. (I wonder what the Justice Department would think of that!)”
There’s more in today’s other columns
Elsewhere in this issue’s paid version, Woody tests IE 7′s new phishing filter and compares it with the antiphishing capabilities of the Firefox 2.0 beta. Scroll to Woody’s article
More readers’ tips, on a wide variety of Windows topics, are also included in this issue’s paid version, below. Free subscribers can get the paid version of this issue, plus the next 12 months of new paid content, simply by making a financial contribution of any amount — there’s no fixed fee. How to upgrade
To send us more information about IE 7, or to send us a tip on any other subject, visit the Windows Secrets contact page. You’ll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of your choice if you send us a comment that we print.
Brian Livingston is editor of the Windows Secrets Newsletter and the coauthor of Windows 2000 Secrets, Windows Me Secrets, and eight other books.
