Following on the heels of the final IE 7 CSS support & fixes list is the announcement of the release of IE7 RC1.
The best piece of advice in the post is to use the now free MS Virtual PC to install IE 7. Now, you might say, “Who, Wyatt! I don’t have a copy of windows to install on the VPC!” Well, there are a few options. Easy and free one is to download the trial edition of Windows Server 2003 R2.
Another, more interesting option, is to join the Microsoft Partner Program and subscribe to the Microsoft Action Pack. While $300 is folding money, it is a very, very good deal overall, considering Office Professional alone runs $500 plus.
Enjoy and happy browser compatability testing.
PS: Also, see my previous IE7 post for links to some compatibility tools.
August 25th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
The partner program looks like a good idea. For $300 you get access to Windows XP, Office, Windows 2003 Server, SQL Server and more. If you develop websites or applications for Windows platform, it’s a no brainer.
August 26th, 2006 at 12:56 am
Now if we could only get IE5 and IE6 users to use IE7.
August 26th, 2006 at 1:29 am
The IE5 folks are a hopeless cause (and few and far between based on the stats I see).
Regarding the IE6 users, at least those running XP, it has been announced that IE7 will be pushed down as a critical update. So it will have a very rapid uptake. Unfortunately, there are many corporate sites still on 2000 with no immediate plans to upgrade, so there still will be a signficant number if IE6 users around depending on your sites’ demographics.
Actually, I see the bigger problem here as compatibility testing as you will need a virtual PC, or some hacks, to run IE6 side-by-side with IE7.
August 26th, 2006 at 1:49 am
I hope that was intended ironically. :S
August 26th, 2006 at 1:54 am
It’s already been taken care off http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/26/678149.aspx
August 26th, 2006 at 3:54 am
well you have to think, that is only going to be for WinXP SP2 users thought. There will still be Win2k, 98 and others out there who will be stuck on using IE6 until they upgrade their OS which probably is not likely given that they haven’t done it yet.
August 26th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
microsoft action pack - isn’t that $300 _annually_??? This makes it a less good deal than I originally thought - or have I got my wires crossed?
August 29th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Hmm.. I have to say I’m quite contented with IE7 (even though I only looked it at briefly). I had a big laugh though (yes, at Microsoft) as they have clearly copied Firefox functionality and design into IE7 (even CTRL+T (for new Tab) is the same in IE7 as it always was in Firefox). Nevertheless it sure looks promising!
August 30th, 2006 at 9:51 am
That’s just called good decision making. If you don’t have your own pre-existing standard for something, it’s silly not to go with one that is already well-established out there.
Frankly, I’d be putting a rocket up them if they chose anything else.
September 1st, 2006 at 3:19 am
So when they do something different they’re the enemies of standards, but when they do something the same then they’re clearly copying. Ok, I get it now.
September 15th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
Hey y’all. Is it possible to have two IE browers on XP, one is IE6 and the other is IE7? If so, how?
September 23rd, 2006 at 10:17 pm
It’s not possible to have two IE browsers on XP. You can use any one version of IE on XP. If you are interested in IE browser then I would recommend you to go for IE7.
September 25th, 2006 at 10:13 am
Not true. Currently the best way of running IE7 Beta 3 that I’ve found is Tredosoft’s free patch app.
http://tredosoft.com/IE7_standalone
October 12th, 2006 at 5:19 am
Does anyone know how IE-7 will handle OE stationery? I use and know of a LOT of people who create and use OE stationery that uses DHTML, ActiveX, VBScript and JavaScripting in their creation. I’ve heard there are problems with some of these and IE7
Thanks.
Margaret