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Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 finally released

Microsoft's (in)famous web browser is finally available for download in a new version; Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). Since last Wednesday (Oct 19 '06) the new generation web browser is finally out as a separate download, originally supposed to be packaged with the new and much delayed Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp. realized they had lost such a huge portion of the browser market that they couldn't wait any longer.

This release should bring IE more in line with competing products such as Opera Software ASA's Opera and Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox. Internet Explorer 7 adds features such as tabbed browsing, which lets people open several Web pages without cluttering their desktop with multiple open browser windows (a feature Opera invented 10 years ago).

Microsoft has been heavily testing the new browser, releasing five beta versions over 14 months, and has periodically offered security updates for IE6, first released in 2001.

Still, a lag of more than five years between official releases has cost the company. Web analysis company WebSideStory estimates that Internet Explorer's U.S. market share is about 86 percent, while Firefox commands about 11 percent of the market and smaller offerings account for the rest. Two years ago, IE had about a 93 percent share.

Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft's general manager for Internet Explorer, acknowledged the company could have done more sooner, but he said the new version should address users' concerns.

"We did have active development," he said. "The question is whether it was enough."

Now, to be able to download and install IE7 you do need to be running Windows XP Service Pack 2 or be one of the handfuls of folk running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition or Windows Server 2003; and for the moment it is only available in English; other languages will be added over the coming weeks.

You can download IE7 from Microsoft's site here.