Internet
Explorer 7 is not yet out but there are already a bunch of flaws and
Internet Explorer bugs being reported.
In response, Microsoft has
set up a new website so people can give
IE7 feedback.
This article from Joris
Evers (ZDNet) sums up the situation pretty well..
By
Joris Evers,
Special to ZDNet
02 February 2006 10:36 AM
People didn't lose any time in finding bugs in the latest preview
release of Internet Explorer 7.
It's been but a day since
Microsoft publicly released a test version of Internet Explorer 7, but
Internet news groups and blogs are already teeming with bug reports.
Also, one security researcher claims he found a security vulnerability
in the new Web browser.
Issues reported several
times include compatibility problems with McAfee security software and
trouble installing the browser due to unnamed anti-spyware and antivirus
tools. Some testers also said using certain features or surfing to
specific Web sites caused the browser to hang or crash.
Microsoft made a preview
version of IE 7 beta 2 publicly available on Tuesday, but the product is
not fully baked, the company has said. The release is meant to give
developers and IT professionals a chance to test-drive the software and
give feedback to Microsoft so that the final version, expected later
this year, and upcoming test releases, will have no, or at least fewer,
issues.
The public preview release
of IE 7 includes many of the features Microsoft has been touting for
months. Among them are new security and privacy protection capabilities
such as mechanisms designed to combat phishing attacks, spyware and
other threats.
But browser testers may
already be at risk, according to security researcher Tom Ferris. Late on
Tuesday, Ferris released details of a potential security flaw in IE 7.
An attacker could exploit the flaw by crafting a special Web page that
could be used to crash the browser or gain complete control of a
vulnerable system, Ferris said in an advisory on his Web site. Microsoft
had no immediate comment on Ferris' alert.
Also, the preview version
of IE 7 clashes with some security software. Users reported that after
they had downloaded and installed the beta, McAfee security software
failed to display any text or graphics in their Windows when opened.
Reinstalling the applications had no effect, according to the user
reports.
"I have McAfee Internet
Security Suite on my system, and when IE 7 is loaded, neither work," one
tester wrote in Microsoft's news groups. "Surely...getting the system to
work with an industry leader is a small price to pay."
Microsoft acknowledged the
compatibility issues with the McAfee software in a response on the IE
team blog. "The McAfee issue is known, and we'll work on this for a
future build," a Microsoft representative wrote on the blog.
McAfee also said it is
working to fix the problem with IE 7. "While the issue affects the way
in which users view the McAfee interface, McAfee's automated protection
is still running and protecting the user's systems," a company
representative said in an e-mailed statement.
Other people had trouble
installing IE 7 altogether, reporting an error during installation that
stated a file called "msfeeds.dll" could not be found. This problem
stems from compatibility issues with unnamed security applications, a
Microsoft representative wrote in a blog post.
"Some anti-spyware and
antivirus software is known to interfere with IE 7's ability to
install," a Microsoft representative wrote. The software maker offers a
work-around and otherwise recommends users wait until a future IE 7
release that it hopes will address the problem.vv
