Getting  Along With Your Computer Column Archive

Browser Updates and Computer Waste Roundup

By Cate Eales

Appeared October 26, 2006 on castanet.net

Microsoft and Mozilla both released major browser upgrades this week.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7 after two years of development. If you want it right away, you can download it here. You need to be able to validate your copy of Windows in order to get it.

Internet Explorer 7 will be part of Windows Update in November. If you have Automatic Updates turned on, you will receive IE7 by default in the download. However, Microsoft says it won't automatically install IE7. You'll be offered the opportunity to install it, and you can just say no by clicking on the "don't install" button.

If you would prefer not to receive the download at all, go get the blocker toolkit from Microsoft. This kit will prevent the download as part of Automatic Updates, but will not stop you from downloading or installing IE7 manually. The Toolkit is here.

Microsoft recommends installing IE7 because they have worked hard to improve security over IE6. They have also redesigned the look and feel of the browser, including features such as Tabbed Browsing, which has been available to Firefox users for quite some time now. They have changed the user interface to feature frequently used controls and bury some that are not so often used. In a great leap forward, they have fixed "Print" so that the right side of every page printer from the browser isn't cut off.

Proponents of IE7 like it because it incorporates features and functionality previously found in Firefox and Opera. Detractors don't like it because it doesn't incorporate enough of those features and functionality. Regular readers of this column will know that I prefer Firefox. I will try IE7, of course, but it will take some convincing to convert me to IE7. Are any of you using it? What do you think? Send an email with what you like and what you don't like about IE7 to cate@rlis.com and I'll share those comments with the readers.


Mozilla Firefox
Firefox released version 2.0 this week. Coincidence?

I have just started "exploring" this version. Most of the improvements seem to be under the hood, incorporating features into the browser that had been available previously as extensions, added on to the browser.

Mozilla promises an improvement in speed. I'm not sure I've seen an improvement in speed, but I certainly haven't seen any degradation, and Your Mileage May Vary.

If you're running Firefox 1.5, you will receive an update notification. (These are being phased so as not to overload Mozilla's servers.) If you want it now, get it here.

If you're using Firefox now or if you are about to try it for the first time, I'd like to know what you like and what you don't. Send an email to cate@rlis.com with your comments so we can share.


Common Sense Advice
If you upgrade either browser, it only makes sense to back up your Favorites/Bookmarks, maybe your cookies, and in the case of Firefox, your extensions and themes if you are using them. Upgrading either browser is supposed to preserve this information, and most of the time it will. But yours may be the odd case where it won't, and you'll thank yourself later if you have a backup.


Regional District Computer Waste Roundup
Finally, and off-topic, this announcement from the Regional District:

The Regional Waste Reduction Office is offering its fourth and final computer recycling event for residents of the Central Okanagan next Saturday, October 28th, at the Crown Packaging Parking Lot (2092 Enterprise Way) between 9am and 3pm.

More information is available at the Regional Waste Reduction Office at 469-6250.

You can always recycle computer parts and peripherals at Computer Basics in Kelowna (250-491-3468) on Hwy 33. Please recycle safely! More on how to remove personal information from your computer here, and here.

Thanks to everyone who writes with comments, questions, and constructive suggestions! I appreciate your contributions, so please keep them coming. Also please remember that you can read any of these columns again (or for the first time!) by pointing your browser to the column archives, here.

Links
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx
IE7 Blocker Kit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4516A6F7-5D44-482B-9DBD-869B4A90159C&displaylang=en
Download Firefox 2.0 http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Back up Firefox Extensions http://www.customsoftwareconsult.com/extensions/
Back up IE6 information http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1566851,00.asp
How to Recycle Your Computer Safely http://rlis.com/columns/column61.htm
Tracks http://rlis.com/columns/column65.htm
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives http://rlis.com/column.htm
Get Cate's column by email http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=20618
RSS Feed: http://rlis.com/rlis.xml

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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric, and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions, helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management. Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit the Real Life Internet Solutions website at www.rlis.com.