Justin Cox
Playing with Internet Explorer 7
As I’ve been redesigning this site, as well as a few other projects I’ve been working on, I’ve run into a few stumbling blocks… namely how Internet Explorer handles internet code. In order to make sure my site designs work correctly for everyone, I write the code so it validates under the W3C standards and then I check to see how it looks in FireFox (which displays code as it should) and Internet Explorer (which seems to do whatever it wants). Because Internet Explorer 7 is going to be released in the upcoming months, I thought it would be a good idea to download the beta version and see how the site responds on it as well. In doing so I gave the product a quick run through to see what exactly it does and doesn’t do well.
The main selling point of IE7 that I am happy to see is how it handles CSS code. CSS is basically what makes a modern web page look the way it does. If I were to remove the CSS for this site, it would just be white with black text and no images other then the ones inside the body of this post. Here is what Microsoft says about IE7’s handling of CSS:
[IE7] Addresses many of the major inconsistencies that can cause web developers problems when producing visually rich, interactive web pages.
What this translates down to is “we know our previous product doesn’t work the way it should, but with IE7 we attempt to fix the problem.” 
And fix it they did. IE7 actually outputs the code as it should. It allows :hover tags to just about everything and seems to display pages the same way they display in FireFox. What does all this mean? Well if you are currently visiting this site using IE6 I have to let you in on a little secret, you’re not exactly seeing the whole site as you should. For example, check out this picture of how a proper browser handles the comment form. The dark box is what it looks like normally and then when you place your mouse in the box the color changes. This is thanks to the :hover tag that, until IE7, Internet Explorer did not support.
Another great new feature of IE7 is it’s correct handling of alpha level transparent PNGs. A PNG is a type of image file much like more traditional formats, JPEG and GIF. Also like GIFs, PNGs can be transparent. The difference is that while transparent GIFs are very cloudy and don’t allow for gradient of colors (like in a drop shadow) PNGs do. Beginning with the new design of this site I have started using PNGs in part of the layout. Where? Well, if you are using IE6 and see a dull gray colored image, that is an alpha level transparent PNG. For example, the quote text should look like the image to the left. If you see a gray box, well I’m sorry. I thought about hacking the code to make it work with previous versions of Explorer, but I just don’t think it’s worth it. With IE7 coming out shortly, all the problems will soon be cleared up (or you could just switch to FireFox and view my site — and just about every other web site out there — correctly now).
But IE7 isn’t all roses and balloons. There are still some huge problems with it, namely it’s user interface. What I find remarkable is that at some point a group of designers sat down, looked at this and said, “yeah, this is a winner.” I would have come up with a few other choice words for it, such as horrid or childish — but hey, I wasn’t there. Here, take a look at the IE7 user interface compared to IE6 and FireFox 1.5:
Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 6
FireFox 1.5
What I find hard to believe is that they thought the simple, non-obtrusive look of IE6, which I actually like, could actually be improved upon. As much as I don’t like the Internet Explorer product line, IE6’s user interface is far better then IE7’s. FireFox mirrors the simple “classic” style with small buttons and easy menu options.
IE7 has also added tabbed browsing — the ability to have multiple pages open in the same window at once using different tabs. As you can see with FireFox, this is something that has been done in just about every web browser other than Internet Explorer, so it’s about time they got on board.
Microsoft has also added a search box to the page next to the address bar. This too is something that every other modern browser has had for a while that IE is finally coming around to adding. The difference is that “out of the box” the IE7 search box only searches MSN where as the FireFox box searches Google, eBay, Dictionary.com, etc. Both browsers allow for addition of other engines, though I couldn’t figure out how to do that in IE7 (more on this in a moment).
My final comment on the UI of IE7 is really a question I’d like to pose to the designers. What are all these buttons for? I understand the RSS feed icon, but why have it there for every single web site? Not all pages offer RSS subscriptions and instead of having it grayed out, why not just remove it (like FireFox does).
The other thing all these “buttons” do is make it incredibly difficult to play with the options of IE7. For example, the “Tools” list is badly arranged and it took me awhile to figure out what I was looking for. I was able to find the search box options, but nowhere did I find an option to add additional engines. It is clear that you are able to add them (you are given the option to remove them — except because MSN is the default you can’t remove it) but it isn’t clear at all how to do so. It turns out that after opening a particular page, you are given the option to add it to your search list — simple, so in this regard IE7 gets another point.
The UI is so bulky and poorly laid out that I gave up looking for features. I did see a pop-up blocker and a “phishing filter” though didn’t find any sites to actually test them on before getting frustrated with the program. And I have to mention that this is a public beta version — not the final release. Though the chance that things change between now and the final release are very slim.
I have been an advocate of Mozilla’s FireFox for a long time now. It is safer, simpler, smaller, and over all a better browser then Internet Explorer. All of the features that Microsoft is “introducing” with Internet Explorer 7 are currently available with either the current version of FireFox or through one of it’s thousands of extensions. While I am happy to see that IE7 will handle internet code the way it should, I am disappointed with it’s appearance and functionality. I’ll be sticking with FireFox, and you should too.
And no, I don’t recieve anything from Mozilla to promote FireFox.
4/11/06
WOM
I love Firefox. I have, however, downloaded and installed two of the beta 2 refreshes to be release of IE7. I see that when it comes to the UI, Microsoft and gained some ground although FF has it beat. When it comes to functionality though, IE7 doesn’t cut it for me. I mean shouldn’t the preview have been feature complete? If so, then my previous statement stands.
It’s all my opinion.
to WOM