Microsoft: No Public Beta 1 of IE7

By Nate Mook | Published July 27, 2005, 5:14 PM

Contrary to some expectations, Microsoft says Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 will not be publicly available for download. Only invited beta testers and Microsoft TechNet subscribers will be provided access to the bits. The company did not say whether a public beta would follow, and has no timeline for a final IE7 release.

"Windows Vista Beta 1 and Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 are available for support through the MSDN download center. Unsupported access for Windows Vista Beta 1 and Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 are available to TechNet Subscribers," a Microsoft spokesperson told BetaNews. "There will be no public access to Windows Vista Beta 1 or Internet Explorer Beta 1."

Comments

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I downloaded a copy of IE 7 Beta1 from MSDN today.

I installed it this morning and have used it for most of today.

I think it's horrible. Instead of leaving everything out of the tabs like Opera and Firefox they have pushed the Menu and the buttons into the tabs. You cannot move the address bar or the back/forward or refresh button.

I like the tabbed browsing but I think that this will make me continue to use Firefox.

Also, if I am on one tab typing in an address and I go to another tab to look at something and then come back my typed address is reset to the current page. Firefox does not do this.

It's really funny actually. It's easy to tell that Microsoft thought it would be easy to keep up with Mozilla. This beta is not even close. Some of the first versions of Firefox were better than IE 7 Beta 1.

They better make some real changes before this thing goes public.

I'll be more than happy to hand this out if folks want to try it. It's only 10MB.

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10mb? Wow, I wonder if it upgrades from IE6.

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I've managed to get my hand on one of the floating copies. I must say that this thing stinks. The tabs are totally out of place. The Go and refresh button have become one button, not such a bad thing. If this piece of junk is what IE is going to become, I'll just stick with Firefox.

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i would like to try internet explorer 7 if someone has it.

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Hey, the version I downloaded from Kazaa doesn't install right... All I get are black boxes with a lot scrolling text and some pop-up ads... I thought IE7 was supposed to get rid of pop-ups.

Damn MS.

Yeah, If it wasn't me posting this, someone else would. :P

lmao

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Niiiice. . . Really enjoy this version. . no bugs tother than I am unable to move the address bar below the menu bar - - FIXED i
belive - - Also no refresh button - - but right click availible - - Java seems to run fine, a little faster than before - - Have not tested Flash or anything of that yet but - - soon . .

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Refresh is to the right of the address bar. It only shows up after the page is loaded, during loading of the page, a red X (cancel) is shown. I assume this replaces the 'go' button.

Buggy

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Just downloaded it via MSDN.
Looks good, works well....appart from one snag, it won't by-pass the damn proxy server for certain addresses. Bug there i think.

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Here is the real thing instead of that Maxthon stuff.

http://www.9down.com/mod...le=article&sid=5259

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The fact that you post this at all makes you less than trustworthy... I'll stick to downloads from microsoft.com.

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Don't post links to 9Down here! 9Down is not a news site!!

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Well to be honest, I'm actually glad someone posted this link because I really wanted to try it out. I know what you're saying about files being more trusted coming from microsoft directly but this one seems pretty official. Besides, what does Microsoft have to lose by making it publick? I mean really, if people would just understand that there is a risk involved in beta testing any software then I think they can handel testing IE7. It's really not a big deal. It definitely won't crash your system. Yes there are miner issues here and there but I seriously doubt it's anything that people can't handel. And the ones that can't handel it are probably also the ones that wouldn't even know to look for a publick beta of IE7 when it's available anyway. Just my thoughts.

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Not public?? Well officially maybe. ;)

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All software from retail is "public beta" that you have to pay for. Real, non-beta is like what you find in, say, a 757. Or maybe your cell phone. The anticipation of patching anything these days just makes publishers rush to market, and who can blame them?

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why you need a beta version.

here is the final version.
download it free at http://maxthon.com/

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Beta 2 will be public. As to older OS support, cry me a river.

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No public beta??
Well, just a few words for that: Emule, Limewire, Shareaza...

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OMG!!! Why do they have to have a public beta????

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Isn't Windows XP SP2 just a public beta?

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OMG HAHAHAHAHA Funny!

[/sarcasm]

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I don't remember them ever implying there would be a public beta... just an awful lot of media speculation that there would/will be. There probably will eventually.... probably around time for the RC's... but still, I'm content with knowing there WILL BE a release for XP/2003 systems.

(Please don't start up on the nonsense gripes about lack of 2000 support... we've been there done that)

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n-o k-i-d-d-i-n-g.... I'm sick of Win2k gripes...lol. Oh well...you live, you learn.

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(Please don't start up on the nonsense gripes about lack of 2000 support... we've been there done that)

Please don't it's old by now. Microsoft doesn't care what you think, get over it. Go get Firefox or Opera. You could also look at a crutch for IE such as Maxthon.

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I abhor the fact that you link to the "pirated" file.

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right, the web is full of "IE 7.0". The only difference is that I link to the right one, downloading it with emule or any other crappy sharing software would bring you tons of fakes bundled with spyware ;)

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The fact that you leak it at all makes you less than trustworthy... I think I will stick to what is released on microsoft.com.

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When I try to install I get an error: "The data area passed to a system call is too small."

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WTF is released on MSFT? _Nohing_! Actually you have to pay for their craps (ie. you must have a MSDN subscription in order to get the beta). Imagine that Mozilla would charge you money everytime you download the latest Firefox trunk.
on a second sight - the "new" IE absolutely sucks, check out the Acid Test 2, is there any improvement except some crappy GUI? And I hoped my life as a webdeveloper will improve after IE 7.

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here is the final version.
download it free at http://maxthon.com/

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