Time to Check In on IE7

Astute observers of Microsoft's progress on Internet Explorer 7 will note that the team has reached a significant milestone, and that means it's probably time to get serious about checking out the latest versions. Most of us who hack around on websites probably haven't invested too much time in trying it out so far, but there's a couple things that make the latest build worth installing.

First, this is the real Beta 2. Having installed some older versions, we could have sworn they used that name before, but those were apparently previews of this beta. If only there were a greek letter that somehow preceded "Beta"! Nitpicking aside, the IE Team's blog has a surprising but exciting announcement that with the release of Beta 2 there's now telephone support available for IE7 users. For free. That's a pretty cool thing to do for beta software, and great to see.

There's also a really great readiness toolkit, which has the essentials for installing the latest builds, but also has some real time-savers like a compatibility checklist, links to developer blogs that talk about IE, and tools for checking your site's compatibility with the new browser. It's a must-have if you're looking to save time in preparing for the new browser.

Just as important, the IE team has provided a system for feedback where you can submit bugs or issues that you find with the new browser. If you haven't been keeping track of Microsoft's progress in trying to be more open about these kinds of things, you might be pleasantly surprised how good the IE team is at incorporating this kind of feedback.

Last but not least, Microsoft partnered with the folks at CNET's Download.com to start up a new IE Add-Ons site. A lot of the items there so far look like general system add-ins or old-fashioned plugins more than the kind of browser enhancements in Firefox's extensions directory, but that'll probably get better over time. For now, it's a good sign that Microsoft is caring again about making their browser of use to power users and web developers just as much as to people who just use the browser that came with their computer.

That leads to the best example of that new commitment, as well as the one must-have download for people using IE7 today: The web developer toolbar for IE7. Those of you who are as addicted to the Firefox Web Developer extension as we are will definitely appreciate having this new resource available.