Daily Spin: Building Towards IE 7

From the Labs

Building Towards IE 7

When you think about it, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser has really had an interesting history. It showed up late to the game and in typical Microsoft fashion was a non-starter in its earliest versions. Next, Microsoft got serious and threw in a bunch of junk nobody really wanted -- ActiveX controls and push channels, for example -- until it finally beat the original Netscape browser at its own game by simply performing better (and it certainly didn't hurt to be ubiquitously distributed -- but that's another story).

More recently, IE has completely stalled capability-wise allowing browsers like Opera and especially Mozilla' Firefox to win the feature game (if not exactly the market share war).

Now, with Internet Explorer 7.0, Microsoft is trying to win the tech battle as well. We've already taken several in-depth looks at IE 7 in development, but the latest revie -- of builds 5296, part of Windows XP Service Pack 2; and Build 5308, part of the upcoming Windows Vista -- finds the browser showing significant improvements. So what's new and notable?

Our reviewers, however, found IE7 lacking in some key areas, including lackluster CSS support, limited ability to manage downloads and some less-than-ideal tab management capabilities.Get the whole scoop on the latest IE 7 builds here:

Building Towards IE 7

NWC's Take on the News

Here's what we think of today's breaking news. Read the story and leave your own comment. Let's see if we agree ; >

Novell Launches Linux 10, Mobile ServerNovell launched its next-generation SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and new products GroupWise Mobile Server and Open Workgroup Suite.NWC's Take:Novell keeps the SUSE code base progressing nicely; less certain is whether enterprise users still hunger for new revs (even Linux versions) of its Groupwise product suite.

Microsoft Vows To Keep Pressure On Phishers Microsoft on Monday promised to file more than 50 new lawsuits against phishing scammers before the middle of the year.

NWC's Take:Lawsuits are one thing, but hopefully new anti-phishing tools in the upcoming IE 7 browser will also make the average user less prone to cough up personal details to phishers.

Now Hiring In India: Dell To Add 10,000 Workers, Capgemini To More Than Double With heavy demand for its workers, will India be able to maintain its sizeable cost advantage over the U.S. in coming years?

NWC's Take:

First IBM announces a big push in India, now Dell. Can anything slow the outsourcing juggernaut?

Wireless VoIP Phones Can Learn A Lot from Plain Old Cell PhonesBut they face problems with mobility, authenticating at Wi-Fi hot-spots, and meeting E-911 requirementsNWC's Take:As VOIP services and phones mature, so will the services they can support.