Internet Explorer 7.0
Davis D. Janowski - PC Magazine
Oct. 26

Those of you who've followed our coverage of the development saga that is Internet Explorer 7 know that I and others at PC Magazine haven't been easy on the Softies for their laggardly development and the various shortcomings we've noted in beta builds. I've lived with the various preliminary versions of Internet Explorer 7.0 for almost a year now, using it on a daily basis. What I said in my beta 3 review still applies: I think it's solid overall and a big improvement over the patchwork quilt IE6 has become. At the same time, when I'm in a mood to really try new things and push the envelope, I like the current Firefox and Opera more.

I'm constantly surprised that Firefox—an underdog that originated as a passionate open-source response to lack of innovation throughout the graying years of Internet Explorer 6—has wholly stolen the development momentum (as well as considerable market share) from Microsoft. But it has. Still, Microsoft has the vast majority of the market. Those who purchase a new PC next year will find IE7 on it. That alone will make it the default browser of choice for millions of people by the end of 2007. Depending on whose statistics you believe, 80-something to 90 or so percent of consumers use IE, mostly version 6. Millions of XP users will be downloading the IE7 to replace their very-long-in-the-tooth-patched-to-the-hilt versions of IE6. If you're in that camp but on the fence, let me push you over: Upgrade. The rest