I visited the public library today with the intention of checking my email, when lo and behold, I discovered IE7 was installed on each computer on the second floor. Since IE7 officially can't be installed on my home computer (it can only run on versions of Windows XP with SP2), I seized the opportunity for a quick post.

Note: This entry is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the new Web browser Internet Explorer 7, but rather my first reactions and initial complaints.

My friend S-chan once told me that IE7 was "a bastardized version of Mozilla Firefox." Somewhat true, although the graphical user interface forcibly reminded me of Opera 9.

Promising new features:

• Improved security
• RSS support
• Browser tabs (finally!)
• ClearType — smooths the appearance of text on the screen, eliminating pixellated font
• 1px dotted borders, instead of erroneous dashed borders
• Support for transparent PNGs
• Support for max-width, min-width, etc.
• Improved CSS support overall, apparently (including corrected bugs that plagued previous versions of IE)

Some caveats:

• IE7 cannot be installed on Windows XP operating systems without the Service Pack 2
• IE7 "fixed" some common CSS hacks, including the Tan Hack (* html). This'll definitely complicate my existence as a simple Web designer…
• The ClearType font, although easier on the eyes, is a little disconcerting…
• IE7 messes up this blog's layout (the current Orange Jellies theme) because of my dependence on the Tan Hack.

Other than that, I now agree with S-chan's "bastardized" comment. IE7 doesn't score much points on originality, since much of the touted "new features" were already implemented long ago among its competitors. And the new IE logo is just a twist on the old one, which frankly looks a bit cheesy.

My mother is stupid. When it comes to computers and technology, her thinking and reasoning are akin to that of a Neanderthal.

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