My IE7 Experience

Yes, I have finally joined the ever-increasing numbers of computer users who have Internet Explorer 7. I was prompted on November 1 for permission to download IE7 and promptly clicked the button to authorize the download. Several days passed and no prompt to install. Being on dial-up, I was not really surprised.

Then, finally, yesterday came the prompt again to download IE7. Again, I gave permission. A little while later, up popped the gold shield asking permission to install. Since it was getting late and I had to get up for work today, I decided to forgo the installation last night. Today, however, I took some vacation time from work. After some pre-Thanksgiving preparations were completed, I powered up my computer. Sure enough, there was the gold shield waiting to go. This time, I was ready to give the go-ahead.

First things first, of course. I created a restore point -- just in case. Then I disabled the firewall, A/V and dear Scotty. I was ready then and gave the go-ahead. After completing the validation, I clicked the Install button. I knew I was near the end when SpywareGuard popped up. Yes, that was one I forgot to disable. I allowed the new settings and was then prompted to restart. While the system restarted, I took the dogs outside. I figured it was best to walk away rather than sitting anxiously to see what would happen when my computer started up again.

It was needless to worry. Everything went smoothly. Of course, I was anxious to see the new interface and immediately clicked on the IE icon in the Quick Launch Bar. IE7 was all set to go through the "run once" operation and I hadn't even started my dial-up connection yet. After doing that and a refresh, I was able to follow Sandi Hardmeier's advice and activate the Phishing Filter and deactivate Clear Type.

Comments

• I like the interface for adding additional search sites.

• I decided to dump all my old favorites and import the bookmarks from Firefox, knowing they were more up to date. That went very smoothly. (Go to File > Import and Export > Next and select Import Favorites)
  

• An attempt to import cookies from Firefox only seemed to half work. Some logon cookies were included, but many were not. (Go to File > Import and Export > Next and select Import Cookies)

• What I really want to find is a way to add the Links Toolbar. That is my primary means of navigation. Everything I need has always been nicely organized in the Links folder. I also want to find out if more customizing is possible. I don't need an address bar that goes most of the way across the screen. There's other things that would provide a greater value added to me.
  
  Edit Note: Strangely, after closing and relaunching IE7, my attempts at moving the Links bar into place seems to have registered. That is a major time-saver for me.
  

Except for more personalization, IE7 seems to be a nice interface. The pages still load a bit slow on my dial-up connection, but building up a history will help that. So do I like IE7? Its a bit too soon to tell. I first need to do some more reading of Sandi's IE7 Posts at her "Spyware Sucks" blog site. I'll also be checking her IE-Vista site. I know she has instructions on removing the search bar.

The bottom line is that it goes smooth as silk if you follow the instructions.