Like the other browsers, IE7 supports RSS feeds — services that feed or download information such as news updates, sports scores, special discounts from e-commerce sites, and more, directly to the browser. By integrating RSS capabilities into IE7, you can more easily find out when new information is available on the Web.
In use, when a site offers a feed, IE7's RSS Feed icon illuminates and flashes. The program lets you subscribe to RSS Feeds by clicking an Add/Subscribe icon and lets you later review pages in the Favorites Center. If you're accustomed to using the RSS feed features in other browsers, you'll find that IE7's implementation works in much the same way, even sporting a similar icon.
In something of a concession, IE7 offers a built-in search function that lets you hunt for information via major search function engines and without having to open a search provider's page. You can set the search provider that you want to use as your default and compare results against those of other search providers by choosing them from a list. You're also free to add search providers that are not provided with the program.
Security
An ever-present necessity, Microsoft has beefed up security in IE7. To start, IE7 alerts you to potential "phishing" sites — underhanded sites that appear legitimate but encourage you to enter personal and financial information so it can be stolen and used for nefarious means. The function works by referencing a site against a database of known sites and looking for certain features that indicate phishing.
The program monitors for unwanted and malicious programs that may be installed from questionable Web sites. It also indicates when a site has a valid secure sockets layer (SSL icon SSL) certificate or if there are irregularities in its certification.
The new Delete Browsing History button offers options for removing a browsing trail. You can choose to delete passwords, cookies, or temporary Internet files, or any combination of the three. There's also a convenient "Delete All" that will take care of everything.
IE7 continues to support ActiveX, often the means by which hackers perform their dirty deeds. Opera and Firefox lack ActiveX support, which does eliminate
some risk but limits their functionality to a degree.
While IE7 is adding decent security measures, there's still arguable safety in using a non-Microsoft browser that isn't the number-one target of hackers throughout the civilized and uncivilized worlds.
Beyond Skin Deep
IE7 offers modifications that are designed to make it more attractive to the eye, more intuitive, and more efficient to use. To accomplish this, Microsoft has consolidated menu items, redesigned and displayed smaller icons, and decreased the toolbar's height to optimize limited screen space and show more of each Web page. To help users troubleshoot, IE7 offers a safe mode that prevents add-ons and plug-ins from loading.
Overall, in this latest iteration of Internet Explorer, Microsoft is mostly playing catch-up. But the features to be found in Internet Explorer 7 are good ones. We look forward to seeing the next pre-release version, if there is one, as well as the final version, which is expected in late 2006. As it stands, IE7 will be available for Windows Vista and Windows XP with Service Pack 2.
Pros: Tabbed browsing and integrated RSS support finally added to IE, built-in phishing filter and other security enhancements, better standards compliance
Cons: Preview release lacks finalized feature-set and polish of official release, only available for Windows XP SP2 for now (as well as Windows Vista upon final release), still the most frequent victim of security vulnerabilities in terms of popular browsers
