Internet Explorer 7

2009-02-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

Windows Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) is a web browser released by Microsoft in October 2006. Internet Explorer 7 is part of a long line of versions of Internet Explorer and was the first major update to the browser in over 5 years. It ships as the default browser in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 and is offered as a replacement for Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Estimates of IE7's global market share place it between approximately 31% and 47%.

Large portions of the underlying architecture, including the rendering engine and security framework, have been significantly reworked. New features include tabbed browsing, page zooming, an integrated search box, a feed reader, better internationalization, and improved support for web standards. Security enhancements include a phishing filter, stronger encryption on Windows Vista, and a "Delete browsing history" button to easily clear private data.

In 2001, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 6 as an update to Windows 98 and included it by default in Windows XP. With the release of IE6 Service Pack 1 in 2003, Microsoft announced that future upgrades to Internet Explorer would come only through future upgrades to Windows, stating that "further improvements to IE will require enhancements to the underlying OS."

On February 15, 2005 at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced that Microsoft was planning a new version of Internet Explorer that would run on Windows XP. Both he and Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager of the Internet Explorer team, cited needed security improvements as the primary reason for the new version.

The first beta of IE7 was released on July 27, 2005 for technical testing, and a first public preview version of Internet Explorer 7 (Beta 2 preview: Pre-Beta 2 version) was released on January 31, 2006. The final public version was released on October 18, 2006. Interestingly, that same day but prior to Microsoft's launch of IE7, Yahoo! provided a post-beta version of Internet Explorer 7 bundled with Yahoo! Toolbar and other Yahoo!-specific customizations.

In late 2007 Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer 7 would not be included as part of Windows XP SP3, with both Internet Explorer 6 and 7 receiving updates.

On October 8, 2007, Microsoft removed the Windows Genuine Advantage component of IE7 and opened it for all users of Windows.

Within a year after IE7s release (end of 2006 to end of 2007) support calls to Microsoft had decreased 10-20 percent.

On 16 December 2008, a security flaw was found in Internet Explorer 7 which can be exploited so that hackers can steal users' passwords. The following day, a patch was issued to fix the flaw, estimated to have affected around 10,000 websites.

With this version, Internet Explorer was renamed from Microsoft Internet Explorer to Windows Internet Explorer as part of Microsoft's rebranding of components that are included with Windows.

Version 7 is intended to defend users from phishing as well as deceptive or malicious software, and it also features full user control of ActiveX and better security framework, including not being integrated as much with Windows as previous versions, thereby increasing security. Unlike previous versions, the Internet Explorer ActiveX control is not hosted in the Windows Explorer process, but rather it runs in its own process. It also includes bug fixes, enhancements to its support for web standards, tabbed browsing with tab preview and management, a multiple-engine search box, a web feeds reader, Internationalized Domain Name support (IDN), and antiphishing filter. On October 5, 2007, Microsoft removed the 'genuine software' validation before install, which means that all versions of Windows, whether able to pass validation or not, are able to install the browser.

On Windows Vista, Internet Explorer operates in a special "Protected Mode", that runs the browser in a security sandbox that has no access to the rest of the operating system or file system, except the Temporary Internet Files folder. When running in Protected Mode, IE7 is a low integrity process; it cannot gain write access to files and registry keys outside of a user profile's folder. This feature aims to mitigate problems whereby newly-discovered flaws in the browser (or in Add-Ons hosted inside it) allowed hackers to subversively install software on the user's computer (typically spyware).

Version 7 supports tabbed browsing, a popular feature in competing web browsers. Also new is a feature called "Quick Tabs" which displays a thumbnail preview of opened tabs. The user can rearrange tabs by dragging and dropping them as desired. Tabbed browsing could be added to previous versions using an add-on such as the MSN Toolbar, but it was not part of the browser itself until version 7.
Version 7 adds support for internationalized domain names (IDN) with included anti-spoofing protection. If the user visits a website whose name is in a foreign language (non-Latin characters), it will be displayed in punycode if the user does not have support for the language installed. Also, non-Latin characters can, with certain restrictions, be mixed with Latin characters. In the latter case, punycode is used if support for the non-Latin script is not installed. This helps prevent phishing scams, where some characters are replaced with a similar looking character from a different alphabet.
A search box has been added to the top-right corner. The default search engine is inherited from Internet Explorer 6's settings, which various search engine toolbars override to provide search capabilities on the address bar, but additional providers may be added (Google, Altavista, Yahoo!, Live Search, Wikipedia, etc). Microsoft supplies a list of common providers. The search box uses A9.com's OpenSearch technology to import search providers. The use of an open standard makes it easier for websites to include their pre-defined search queries in the search box. Also available is a comprehensive list of popular search providers that can be added to the search box. With the release of Windows Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft updated its list of common providers with a tool that enables users to manually create and add a search provider to the search box.
An integrated feed reader is included, so that users can read web feeds (RSS or Atom) without a separate RSS reader. Features include automatic feed discovery and the ability to retrieve feed updates even when the web browser isn't running. The web feeds feature set is also available to third-party developers through API's, so that the list of subscribed feeds (as well as their current contents) can be used. An add-on to IE7, Feeds Plus, provided by Microsoft itself, provides enhanced notification capabilities for the RSS platform.
A Page Zoom selector has been added to the bottom-right corner of the user interface. Unlike the "Text size" feature, this will zoom the complete contents of the web page, allowing for easier reading on larger displays. Fonts are rendered at higher resolution.
ClearType can be enabled or disabled separately from the rest of the operating system.
The menu bar can be hidden to allow more space for webpages.
Improved text selection.
Contextual Go/Refresh button. When any URL is typed into the address bar, the button changes from "Refresh" to "Go" and when "Go" (or keyboard Enter) is hit, the button changes from "Go" to "Refresh". In this way the space taken by the toolbars is minimized.
The "back" and "forward" menus have been combined into one menu which shows the users current position in their history with a bold entry. In most cases, the current page will be at the top, with a list of pages to go "back" to, but if the user has just gone back one or more pages, there will be additional items above the current page to which they can navigate forwards.
The known problem of having the right-hand portion of a web page cut off when the page is printed has been fixed. Page content can also be "shrunk" to fit more text on a single page. The revamped "Print Preview" interface will also let users drag the page margins around and see the results immediately.

The redesigned user interface was considered unintuitive by some critics.

For security reasons, Internet Explorer is no longer integrated with the Windows Explorer shell. Local files typed in IE7 are opened using the Windows Explorer shell and websites typed in Windows Explorer shell are opened using the default web browser.
Since it is tightly integrated with the operating system, Internet Explorer makes full use of the accessibility framework provided in Windows. Internet Explorer is also a user interface for FTP, with operations similar to that of Windows Explorer. However, with version 7, FTP sites are rendered in a hyper linked page, with the folder-like view available if the site is accessed from Windows Explorer. IE7 can itself launch Windows Explorer for FTP sites.
Protected Mode (available in Windows Vista only), whereby the browser runs in a sandbox with even lower rights than a limited user account. As such, it can only write to the Temporary Internet Files folder and cannot install start-up programs or change any configuration of the operating system without communicating through a broker process. IE7 Protected Mode relies on the User Account Control technology.
ActiveX Opt-In blocks ActiveX Control unless it allowed to be installed. This feature improves security from unverifiable and vulnerable controls. ActiveX controls can be chosen to be installed on Information Bar. User can turn on and off ActiveX Control by using Add-on Manager.
The new Phishing Filter offers protection against phishing scams and other websites that may be considered dangerous for a user to enter their personal information into. When enabled, every website the user visits is checked against a master list of known phishing sites. If a site is listed, the user is informed. In light of the privacy implications of this feature, it is not enabled automatically; the user is asked when they start Internet Explorer 7 if they want it enabled. Microsoft is working in conjunction with companies that specialize in identifying phishing schemes to ensure the list of known sites is accurate and quickly updated.
The address bar and status bar appear in all windows including popups which helps to block malicious sites from disguising them as trusted sites. Also the address bar features a color code to visually indicate the trustworthiness of the page. The address bar turns red when a page, with invalid security certificate, is accessed. In case of sites not using any encryption, the address bar is white. And if the page uses high security certificate, the bar turns green.
Modal windows such as dialog boxes are shown only when the tab that has generated them is selected (in such situations, the tab color becomes orange). On the other hand, the save window is modal and when saving the page shown in a tab, the user cannot browse other tabs.
The address bar no longer allows JavaScript to be executed on blank pages (about:blank). This feature is still supported on other pages though, which enables bookmarklets to work properly. A reason for the change has not been given.
The status bar no longer allows custom text to be entered (e.g.: "Formatting C:\ 10% Complete |||||||") and will always show the URL of any link hovered over, for security. It now also shows the target URL of form buttons to help identify forms which submit their data to suspicious sites.
The ability to limit scripting functions, such as those that modify the status bar or adjust the size or position of the browser window was introduced with IE7.
"Delete Browsing History" cleans the complete browsing history in a single step. Previously this was a multistage process requiring users to delete browser cache, history, cookies, saved form data and passwords in a series of different steps. This is useful for improving privacy and security in a multiuser environment, such as an Internet café.
Fix My Settings checks at startup or when a setting is changed, if the current settings are unsafe it notifies the user. The user can also press a button in order to fix the settings to a safe state. There is currently no way to disable these warnings.
Old protocols and technologies removed: Gopher, TELNET, Scriptlets, DirectAnimation, XBM, Channels (.CDF files) also known as 'Active Desktop Items', etc. The DHTML Editing Control is being removed from IE7 for Windows Vista to reduce surface area for security attacks.
No Add-ons allows IE7 to launch without the installed extensions.
IE7 cipher strength: 256-bit (Only for Vista, IE7 for XP and Server 2003 only supports 128-bit).
The address bar turns red when the certificate presented by a secure site has some problems. In that case navigation to the site is blocked by default, and can only be accessed after the user explicitly confirms the navigation.
IE7 includes support for Extended Validation Certificates (EV). When sites present an EV certificate the address bar is shown in green.
New Group Policy's Administrative Templates (.adm files) for IE7 are loaded automatically onto the Domain Controller when a Group Policy is opened from a workstation where IE7 has been installed. These new administrative templates allow for controlling the Anti-Phishing filter state, for example.
Reset Internet Explorer settings Deletes all temporary files, disables browser add-ons, and resets all the changed settings to factory settings. It can be used if the browser is in an unusable state.
Microsoft has addressed security issues in two distinct ways within Windows Vista: User Account Control, which forces a user to confirm any action that could affect the stability or security of the system even when logged in as an administrator, and "Protected-mode IE", which runs the web browser process with much lower permissions than the user.

The first vulnerability exclusive to Internet Explorer 7 was posted after 6 days.

Some users have criticised the phishing filter for being too easy to circumvent. One successful method of bypassing Internet Explorer's Phishing Filter has been reported by redirecting a blacklisted web page to another, non-blacklisted page, using a server-side redirect. Until the new page is blocked as well, the attack can remain active.

This flaw means that phishers can keep links from previous emails functioning by simply moving to a new server when their original web page is blacklisted and adding a redirect.

This has been criticised as doubly serious as the presence of a phishing filter may lull users into a false sense of security when the filter can be bypassed.

Phishing filter went on to be developed into and renamed Safety Filter and then SmartScreen by Microsoft, during the development of Internet Explorer 8.

Minor improvements to CSS, DOM, and HTML support have been made. Microsoft's stated goal with version 7 was to fix the most significant bugs and areas which caused the most trouble for developers, however full compatibility with standards was postponed.
Support for per-pixel alpha channel transparency in PNG images has been added.

The Windows Vista and XP version of Windows Internet Explorer 7 additionally feature an update to the WinInet API. The new version has better support for IPv6, and handles hexadecimal literals in the IPv6 address. It also includes better support for Gzip and deflate compression, so that communication with a web server can be compressed and thus will require less data to be transferred. Internet Explorer Protected Mode support in WinInet is exclusive to Windows Vista.

Internet Explorer 7 has been criticized for its lack of support of open standards. Although Internet Explorer 7 is more compliant than previous versions, according to all figures it remains the least standards-compliant compared to other major browsers of the period. It does not pass the Acid2 test, a test case designed by the Web Standards Project to verify CSS compliance.

It is also claimed that lack of support in Internet Explorer is responsible for holding back the widespread adoption by webmasters of several new open technology standards (SVG, supported elsewhere since 2001, and as of yet unsupported in Internet Explorer without a 3rd party plugin).

Internet Explorer 7 is supplanting Internet Explorer 6. Estimates of IE7's global market share place it between approximately 26% and 47%.

Internet Explorer 7 was met with mixed reviews. While it was widely agreed to be a significant improvement over the previous version, critics noted that most of the new features in Internet Explorer 7 were already available in competing web browsers such as Firefox, Safari, and Opera. They also noticed the large installation time required for Internet Explorer 7 compared to other browsers.

source: Wikipedia

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Internet Explorer 7