Originally published August 22 2005
Microsoft races to catch up with Mozilla
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Internet Explorer 7 is on its way, due for release in 2006, possibly bringing Microsoft up to speed with newer programs from Opera and Mozilla.
Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser has been showing signs of aging.
That's about to change as Microsoft prepares IE 7, a major update that, in its early incarnation, plays catch-up with newer browsers for the Windows operating system, including Opera Software ASA's Opera and the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox.
The early version of IE 7, called Beta 1, was released largely for software developers to test for compatibility, so it lacks many planned features.
More will come in Beta 2, expected before the end of the year.
What Beta 1 does sport is tabbed browsing, a long-overdue feature that lets you open several Web pages without cluttering the computer desktop with separate windows.
All other major browsers have this feature.
A real-time anti-phishing tool was built in to address scammers who try to trick people into revealing passwords by posing as legitimate banking or e-commerce site.
When IE 7 encounters an unfamiliar site, it gives users the option of passing that address to Microsoft to check against a database of known phishing sites.
Even when there isn't a match, IE 7 will display a pop-up "yellow" warning when it sees telltale signs of phishing.
IE 7 also displays a padlock at the top of the screen--before, it was less visible at the bottom--when you visit secure, encrypted sites.
The browser adds a feature for instantly deleting private data--"cookie" files, browsing history, passwords and the like--though the tool doesn't offer as much flexibility as Opera's for choosing which data to toss.
IE 7 requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and should be available in final form by early next year.
It also will come packaged with the coming Windows Vista operating system, due late next year.
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