Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP Available Now

Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP has been released.

Microsoft Corp. today released to the public Windows® Internet Explorer® 7 for Windows XP, the latest version of the world’s most popular Web browser. Customers can upgrade and browse the Web with confidence knowing that the new browser provides a greater level of security, makes everyday tasks easier, and works well with the Web sites they visit.

“We listened carefully to our customers and are delivering a safer browser that makes the tasks they do every day much easier,” said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft.

Financial institutions and security vendors such as PayPal and VeriSign are lining up to support the newest generation of the browser and encouraging their customers to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7.

“Security is a top priority for PayPal, and we encourage our customers using Windows to download and use Internet Explorer 7,” said Michael Barrett, chief information security officer for PayPal Inc. “The new Internet Explorer 7 browser has significant security enhancements, including features that help customers protect their personal information when browsing, communicating and transacting online.”

Safer and Easier

In response to the increase in and changing nature of online security threats, Internet Explorer 7 provides advanced safeguards that help protect against malicious software and phishing attacks. In Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft has helped reduce the exposure to these attacks by fortifying the browser itself and providing better information to users to assist them in making better and safer decisions online.

“Making the consumer experience more secure is paramount to maintaining consumer confidence online,” said Patrick Gauthier, senior vice president at Visa International. “Microsoft’s security improvements in Internet Explorer 7.0 will certainly further this endeavor.”

“As the industry leader in Web site authentication, VeriSign believes that Microsoft’s new Internet Explorer 7 browser will help increase user confidence and help make consumers more secure when using the Internet,” said Tim Callan, product marketing director at VeriSign Inc. “VeriSign has always been on the leading front of offering the most current technologies to help secure consumers online, which is a concept that Microsoft brings to life with Internet Explorer 7. We encourage users to move to the new browser.”

Internet Explorer 7 delivers a new look and enhanced capabilities that make everyday tasks — such as searching, browsing multiple sites and printing — simple and fast. To help users do more with the browser, Microsoft is introducing users of Internet Explorer to tabbed browsing. With tabs, users are able to view multiple sites in a single browser window and easily switch from one site to another. In Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft extends tab functionality with a new feature called Quick Tabs, which provides an “at a glance” snapshot of all open tabs on a single screen, enabling easier and faster site selection and navigation.

Increased Compatibility and Manageability
While Internet Explorer 7 includes significant end-user advancements, it was also designed with developers and IT managers in mind. Microsoft engineered Internet Explorer 7 for compatibility with existing Web sites by adhering to some of the most important standards for Web site development. Internet Explorer 7 also features improved manageability for enterprises through the enhanced support of Active Directory® Group Policy, which enables IT managers to easily deploy and centrally manage the browser on each of the desktops in their network.

Microsoft to Provide Customer Support

Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP is now available in English and runs on Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows XP 64-bit Edition and Windows Server® 2003 Service Pack 1. Internet Explorer 7 will be made available in other Windows-supported languages over the coming weeks.

Microsoft will continue to provide consumers in North America running Internet Explorer 7 with unlimited phone support for installation and download issues at no charge until November 1, 2007. Free phone support is available in English Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. PDT, and on Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT by calling (866) 234-6020.

Availability Details

Microsoft encourages all genuine Windows customers who want a safer and easier browsing experience to download Internet Explorer 7 free of charge at http://www.microsoft.com/ie Microsoft will also begin distributing Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates in November 2006. Microsoft encourages customers to install Internet Explorer 7 when notified by Automatic Updates.

From the IE blog: "Today we released Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP. I encourage everyone to download the final version from http://www.microsoft.com/ie.

We listened carefully to feedback from many sources (including this blog) and worked hard to deliver a safer browser that makes everyday tasks easier. When I first posted publicly about IE7, I wrote that we would go further to defend users from phishing and malicious software. The Phishing Filter and the architectural work in IE7 around networking and ActiveX opt-in will help keep users more secure. IE7 also delivers a much easier browsing experience with features like tabbed browsing (especially with QuickTabs), shrink-to-fit printing, an easily customizable search box, and a new design that leaves more screen real estate for the web site you’re viewing. IE7’s CSS improvements are incredibly important for developers as many of you have made quite clear. I also think IE7’s RSS experience and platform are important, powerful, and innovative.
In addition to our release of IE7, Yahoo! has a customized version of the browser available today and over the next few days partners such as Weather.com and USA TODAY will offer their own customized versions. These versions will tailor the user experience with specific toolbars, additional search engines, favorites, and RSS feeds.
I want to thank everyone who provided feedback as we developed and fine-tuned Internet Explorer 7. Over the 20 months since Bill Gates first announced our commitment to deliver IE7, we released five betas and a release candidate to millions of users worldwide. With each release, your feedback helped us make IE7 better. Your contributions, ideas, and direct comments were crucial in helping us prioritize and focus our work. I can’t imagine delivering this product without the tremendous cooperation we enjoyed from so many of you as well as developers and partners.
That said, we’re not done. Even as we put the finishing touches on Windows Vista and release all the remaining language versions of IE7, we have already started work on the next versions of Internet Explorer. We’ll post more here soon about our plans for the product and our plans for listening to you. "