Internet Explorer 7.0

[pbray]

Windows automatic updates keeps prompting me to install IE 7.0 for Windows XP. Any thoughts on whether or not this is a good thing? I've had bad experiences in the past when it comes to migrating between versions of IE, and so far IE 6.0 is working just fine for me.

Looking for the collective wisdom of my friends list--hoping someone out there will know if this is a really bad idea or not.

Thanks.

ETA: Well it was an overwhelming thumbs-down from those who commented. Thanks for the advice.

Comments

[rkbwrites.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'd migrate over to Firefox and never touch IE with a ten foot pole, evvvvvverrrrah again.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been considering switching, but I don't want to make any major changes while I'm days away from finishing up a book. I'm superstitious, having had not one but two computers die on me during final book finishing and/or revisions days, so now I just sacrifice chickens and hope for the best.

I'd still need to keep a version of IE around, though, so I'd be able to tell how my website looks to someone browsing it with IE.

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

I just posted about my experience with this very thing not too long ago.
Stick with IE 6.

IE 7 was all sleek and sexy looking but it was also different/odd to navigate through. It was a little awkward, I thought but that's not the horrid part. The horrid part had to do with loading the Windows Live toolbar or something called Windows Live. It locked up and I had to keep reboot (about a zillion times) and then I couldn't uninstall IE7 with out a BIG fight and several hours of troubleshooting.

Wait for 6 months to a year for them to work the bugs out of 7. Even then, I think I'll stick to 6.

If it ain't broke, don't fix/upgrade it. :-)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Your experience sounds like exactly what I was trying to avoid. I'll stick with 6 now, and let other people live on the bleeding edge.

[jtglover.livejournal.com]

This might be useful (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer#Version_7) in deciding whether to upgrade.

I haven't kept up with all of the release details and aftermath, but I would agree with the other poster about using Firefox. Some of the "cool new functionality" of IE7 is simply an emulation of Firefox's features, or tweaks to things that don't work so well in IE6. Thus far it appears to be safer, but I personally would wait a little longer before downloading it. While they haven't found so many bugs yet, presumably they will be coming out with a patch soon for the first few problems.

[clarkesworld.livejournal.com]

DANGER! DANGER! Never use a new version of a Microsoft product until at least six months have passed since it's release. They have a horrible track record when it comes to testing their products and even if you wanted to uninstall it later, that rarely works as well as it should.

In all honesty, IE should be abandoned in favor of Firefox. It's a much better product.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Good point. As someone who only upgraded from Win98SE last year, you'd think I'd know to be more cautious.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Heh--when I reached the point where I finally had to abandon Win95 on the desktop, I switched to Macs.

Folks at the dayjob were advised to not upgrade to IE 7 on their home systems if they planned to use some online meeting functions. IE 7 apparently clashed, and badly.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hee. Technology's great when it works, but there are days when I'm (nearly) ready to go back to the typewriter.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Here's Mike's 2 cents:
Internet explorer 7.0 is very much like Firefox. If you've used Firefox, then you'll have no problems with IE 7. If however you haven't used Firefox, then it will be a major learning experience. I tested 7.0 on my machine and this version is very stable, didn't crash for me once. My advice is this; if you are a user who uses an up to date anti virus scanner, knows what adware and spyware is and does not fall for phising scams...you don't need it.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Yeah, makes sense to me. I'll stick with IE 6, and maybe try Firefox when I've got time over the holidays.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

2 more cents from Mike:


If you decided to try Firefox, get yourself the add ons Fasterfox, No Script, and Adblock. Fasterfox speeds up your web browsing, no script lets you shut off Java script for certain web sites (To avoid annoying pop ups or the traveling pop up window) and Adblock allows you to block images on any web site and each time you come back, they'll still be blocked.

[larryhammer]

At work, we're emphatically not upgrading to IE7 because it breaks several applications.

---L.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Lovely. It's always one thing or another with Microsoft stuff....