COSIMS Blog

I used Microsoft Internet Explorer all day long, every day. I had arranged all the settings how I liked them, and I don't like change. I'm the kind of girl who just wants technology to work when I need it; I'm not into installing all the latest gadgets and upgrades so I can one-up my friends. So when I heard there was a new version of Internet Explorer, my first reaction was, "I don't need that."

1. Find what you need more quickly with tabbed browsing:

When you've buried something in a file cabinet, tabbed files are a life saver. A quick glance at each tab lets you know what lies beneath it so you don't have to open every file. When I'm doing research online, I'm insane with how many Web windows I have open. Nothing is more irritating than having a half dozen windows open and not knowing which one has the information I need. I waste a lot of time opening and closing windows.


Tabbed browsing lets you manage multiple Web sites within one browser window.
Two sub-features in tabbed browsing are worth mentioning. The first is Quick Tabs, which gives you a thumbnail view of up to 20 open tabs at a single glance. If your comprehension is better with visuals, this is the tab feature you'll like best.
Quick Tabs let you view thumbnails of up to 20 open tabs at once.
Internet Explorer 7 eliminates this problem with a feature called Tabbed Browsing. It enables people like me to manage multiple Web sites from within one browsing window. Just like opening a paper file drawer to see a row of titled files, now I just glance at the tabs across the top of my Internet Explorer 7 window to see the window I need, and I select it.

Two sub-features in tabbed browsing are worth mentioning. The first is Quick Tabs, which gives you a thumbnail view of up to 20 open tabs at a single glance. If your comprehension is better with visuals, this is the tab feature you'll like best.
The second is Tab Groups, which lets you organize multiple tabs into a single group and then save that group as a Favorite. This is basically an updated twist to the standard Favorites menu. Let's say you have saved all of your vendor Web sites into a vendor Tab Group in your Favorites menu. In the new Favorites Center (an addition to the old Favorites menu), a single click opens all of the sites in the Tab group.

2. Eliminate printing mishaps with advanced printing features:

Remember the last time you tried to print a Web site page? Remember how annoying it was to see that half the information was cut off on the right or left margin?

That problem is gone with Internet Explorer 7. The default shrinks a Web page's text just enough to ensure that the entire page prints properly. Plus, from within Print Preview, you can now adjust Web page margins, change the page layout, remove headers and footers, and increase or decrease the print space as desired.

Sure, this one saves me time. But it saves me money, too; no more wasted paper!

You can adjust margins, change the page layout, and more in Internet Explorer 7 Print Preview.

3. Search the Web directly from the Internet Explorer 7 toolbar:

In Internet Explorer 7, if you look for the little Windows flag icon in the upper-right corner that sometimes waves endlessly as Internet Explorer 6 works away, you won’t find it. That's because it's been removed to make room for the Instant Search Box. This handy new feature saves time, trust me. It enables you to choose a search provider from a drop-down list (MSN is the default search engine) and lets you add new providers to the list.

The new Toolbar Search Box makes searching the Web faster and easier.

No more opening new windows or sites when one search engine doesn't return a satisfactory search. Instead, you just select another provider from the menu and Internet Explorer 7 remembers the search term and transfers it to the new search engine you've chosen.

4. Save time with improved RSS feed support:

If you like to surf the Web for news or other changing information, this next Internet Explorer 7 enhancement can also save you a lot of time. Chances are that you've seen the little buttons such as "Get your RSS feed now!" on your favorite news or sports Web site. If you don't use one of these feeds yet, you probably will at some point because it's becoming popular.

RSS feeds enable you to have personalized news, sports or shopping links, headlines, and summaries delivered directly to your desktop. You can subscribe to as many feeds as you want, and then read them at your leisure all in one place without visiting individual Web sites.


Earlier versions of Internet Explorer didn't make it easy to use RSS feeds, but Internet Explorer 7 improvements let even mere mortals like me read the RSS feed directly in the browser. Instead of surfing individual Web sites for information, just scan the feed for stories that interest you.
When you're on a site in Internet Explorer 7, if the RSS Feed icon is illuminated, it means the site offers a feed. Click the icon, and you can subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the Add/Subscribe button .

RSS feeds are integrated into Internet Explorer 7.
Come back to the page later by opening your Favorites Center. Now you can read news when it arrives and click headline links to get the complete Web page.

Have a quick view of all of your RSS feeds.

Personally, I can see using RSS feeds now a lot more as I get used to them and as more Web sites offer them. It's going to be a good way for those sites to push their information out to the masses, so don't say I didn't warn you that these feeds will become more and more prevalent. And, hey, if it saves me time, I'm all for it.

Note to tech support If you're part of the technical team supporting a business, the Windows RSS Platform is included as part of Windows Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista and Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP. Once a feed is subscribed to in one application, that subscription and associated content is made available for applications across the operating system.

5. Stop being bait with the new Phishing Filter:

One of the latest buzzwords on the Internet is "phishing." Anyone who has e-mail and uses the Internet is a potential victim, so listen up. Phishing occurs when an e-mail is sent falsely claiming to be an established, legitimate enterprise. You've probably gotten one of those e-mail messages already: It directs you to visit a Web site, often has an official logo, and asks you to update credit and other personal information.

The motive behind it? To trick you into visiting a bogus Web site that you think is authentic and scam you into releasing personal information to be stolen and used for illegitimate purposes. The sender is sending bait to thousands, hoping a few fish take it. Hence, the term "phishing," a variation on the leisure sport.

In Internet Explorer 7, a new Phishing Filter consolidates the latest industry information about fraudulent Web sites several times an hour and warns you when you attempt to visit a potentially untrustworthy site. A security status bar at the top of the Internet Explorer window pops up in yellow to notify you of potential problems, and in red if the Web site is a confirmed phishing destination. If the threat level is red, you are automatically navigated away from that site.

Phishing Filter helps limit security problems.

This is primarily a good thing for individuals but businesses benefit as well: Employees are less likely to accidentally share business financial information with nefarious sources in the course of their job. With so many of us doing business online these days, it's a good bet that businesses are at high risk for phishing attacks. Busy employees could easily see one of these e-mail messages as a quick request from a vendor, for example, and poof! There goes your business information. If you upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 for no other reason, let this be the one.



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Author Bio: S.E. Slack

S.E. Slack is a lifestyle and technology writer with more than 10 books to her credit. She co-authored Breakthrough Windows Vista and Office 2007 Solutions to help you easily use Windows Vista and Office 2007.