Friday, 25 August 2006

Microsoft Releases First IE7 Release Candidate For XP, Firefox 2.0 Slips

Microsoft has released a 'near final' beta of its Internet browser IE7. The new build apparently has improvements in performance, stability, security, and application compatibility. Support for CSS has been enhanced and there is an auto-uninstall feature to help punters who've got earlier betas on their machine to get RC1 up and running.

IE7 Release Candidate 1 is available in English only for now. Additional languages will be added in September, including the first Spanish and French versions.

Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott says, "It's a required update for any users who installed IE 7 Beta 3 or earlier. As for IE 6 users, I think it's both safe and prudent to migrate to IE 7 now." However, Thurrott also says: "I don't think there's enough there to sway Firefox users quite yet."

FireFox 2.0 Beta 2, the next version of Firefox, which is now estimated to have more than 15% market share, is due to release FireFox 2.0 Beta 2 on August 30, thus slipping seven days behind its original August 23 schedule. Firefox 2.0 release candidates are due in September with final release due on October 24. With the current slippage of Beta 2, it is unclear whether Mozilla will hold to the October 24 deadline.

The final version of IE 7 is slated for release later this year. It will be distributed as a 'high priority' update through the automatic update feature built into Windows