IE7 Beta 2 Preview Available

The information published in this post is now out-of-date and one or more links are invalid.

—IEBlog Editor, 22 August 2012

If you’re a developer, an IT Pro, or just plain interested, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/ to try the IE7 Beta 2 Preview.

What’s a beta preview? It’s a release for everyone involved in making the Internet work.

Before we release a consumer-focused beta, we want to make sure anyone with a website can look at the changes we’ve made to our layout engine and the stricter user experience around security certificates. Developers should try out their toolbars, ActiveX controls, and applications that host or rely on the IE platform. IT Pros have their own concerns when a new browser is coming, as do domain registrars (especially with the IDN support), network operators, and many, many other groups. The site has some checklists we’ve written to help people exercise IE7 with their sites and applications. If we missed items you think we should call out, please let us know. We’re looking forward to feedback that will help us deliver a great, consumer-focused beta.

Should everyone install? First and foremost, all the usual warnings about "beta" software apply. Also, while most of the functionality is in place, the user experience is not done. That said -- we welcome your feedback if you try it. The next post will cover the best ways to send us that feedback.

And in case you haven’t been there, https://www.mix06.com/ is still a good site to check out.

- Dean

P.S. Please remember to uninstall any previous IE7 builds before installing this one: Control Panel, Add / Remove Programs, Show Updates, scroll to the bottom.