The Beta Machine
Internet Explorer 7 Beta.... Check
Windows Defender Beta 2... Check
Windows Media Player 11 Beta... Check
My work machine just got a new HDD (last one failed completely) and I've taken this opportunity to completely patch, shield myself from spyware, and get a little daring.
First up:
IE 7 Beta:
First off, it looks incredibly slick. They've streamlined the toolbars to take up a fraction of the space they used to, and crammed even more functionality into that space. They've stolen the tab idea from Firefox, I can't comment on whether or not it functions better than Firefox in that regard, but I have a feeling that it is easily on par.
It has a built in RSS Feed reader, which is actually VERY well designed. I think google's reader edges it out just a little in terms of User Interface (more a matter of preference), but I was pleasently surprised that it is so nicely integrated.
But Kudo's to MS for including a quicksearch box. Unlike the myriads of "toolbars" you can download that take up a tremendous amount of space, often add malware or spyware, and provide this functionality, MS includes in a very unobtrusive box. What impressed me is not that they included it, but that it is user controlled... MS could easily have forced their own search engine on the end user, necesitating downloading those other toolbars, but they allow you to use the box with ANY search engine.
They've apparently also reworked all keyboard shortcuts so that users who prefer to stay away from the mouse can navigate very quickly from the keyboard. I'm not one that would be able to validate those claims. All in all, I personally think IE7 is VERY well worth the download. I'd especially like to hear the review from an avid firefox user... Cataclyst? What're your thoughts?
Windows Defender:
Also highly recommendable. Very solid anti-spyware software. From experience, beta 2 still struggles with some of the most evil of malwares, but seems to offer very good real-time protection and some nice user controls (similar to powertoys) as far as what boots when windows boots, damn those pesky registry based startup programs. I think between IE7 and Windows Defender, spyware just got a kick in the nuts. I'm sure they will find new holes to exploit, but in the mean-time, I'm popup and virus free.
Media Player 11:
No clue yet... never been a fan of this player as it is a huge memory and CPU hog, had horrendous playlist support, but I'll mess around with it and provide feedback later. It looks completely different at the very least, but I have no idea if that's just skin deep.
Windows Defender Beta 2... Check
Windows Media Player 11 Beta... Check
My work machine just got a new HDD (last one failed completely) and I've taken this opportunity to completely patch, shield myself from spyware, and get a little daring.
First up:
IE 7 Beta:
First off, it looks incredibly slick. They've streamlined the toolbars to take up a fraction of the space they used to, and crammed even more functionality into that space. They've stolen the tab idea from Firefox, I can't comment on whether or not it functions better than Firefox in that regard, but I have a feeling that it is easily on par.
It has a built in RSS Feed reader, which is actually VERY well designed. I think google's reader edges it out just a little in terms of User Interface (more a matter of preference), but I was pleasently surprised that it is so nicely integrated.
But Kudo's to MS for including a quicksearch box. Unlike the myriads of "toolbars" you can download that take up a tremendous amount of space, often add malware or spyware, and provide this functionality, MS includes in a very unobtrusive box. What impressed me is not that they included it, but that it is user controlled... MS could easily have forced their own search engine on the end user, necesitating downloading those other toolbars, but they allow you to use the box with ANY search engine.
They've apparently also reworked all keyboard shortcuts so that users who prefer to stay away from the mouse can navigate very quickly from the keyboard. I'm not one that would be able to validate those claims. All in all, I personally think IE7 is VERY well worth the download. I'd especially like to hear the review from an avid firefox user... Cataclyst? What're your thoughts?
Windows Defender:
Also highly recommendable. Very solid anti-spyware software. From experience, beta 2 still struggles with some of the most evil of malwares, but seems to offer very good real-time protection and some nice user controls (similar to powertoys) as far as what boots when windows boots, damn those pesky registry based startup programs. I think between IE7 and Windows Defender, spyware just got a kick in the nuts. I'm sure they will find new holes to exploit, but in the mean-time, I'm popup and virus free.
Media Player 11:
No clue yet... never been a fan of this player as it is a huge memory and CPU hog, had horrendous playlist support, but I'll mess around with it and provide feedback later. It looks completely different at the very least, but I have no idea if that's just skin deep.
posted by Gigaflop at
7:21 AM
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