Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 for Windows XP (and more) Now Available

This morning we released IE7 Beta 3 for Windows XP. This version includes improvements in reliability, compatibility, security, and a few end user features. Give it a try at https://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx.

Based on your feedback, we’ve made some changes to IE7. Beta 3 returns the email button to the toolbar customize dialog (one of the most requested features), and enables reordering of tabs by dragging them to the left or right. In this version you can also scroll horizontally while zooming.  To improve the RSS experience, IE7 now allows you to update all your RSS feeds on-demand as well as mark them all “READ”.

Beta 3 also contains all the security fixes addressed in the June IE security bulletin, so we encourage all Beta 2 users to upgrade to Beta 3.

Please remember to uninstall any previous IE7 builds before installing this one. IE7 Beta 3 runs on Windows XP SP2, Windows XP x64, and Windows Server 2003 SP1. This beta does not install on Windows Vista Beta 2; a new version of IE7+ in Windows Vista will be available with the next public Windows Vista release soon. IE7 still replaces IE6; if you’re a developer and need to have both IE6 and IE7 on a single machine, I recommend Microsoft Virtual PC (here’s a link to their 45-day free trial version) or Chris Wilson’s post on the subject.

As with Beta 2, we’ll release German, Finnish, Arabic, and Japanese versions in the next few weeks.

I’m looking forward to reading the feedback - positive and negative - as it comes in. I also want to encourage developers, web developers, designers, and IT Pros to use Readiness Toolkit to help you deliver the best possible experience to your sites’ IE7 visitors.

Today’s release is the final beta for IE7. Our next steps are the Release Candidates followed by general availability in the second half of the year.

Thanks,
Dean Hachamovitch
General Manager