I realize that not all of us have the ability to pick and choose what browsers the IT gods allow on our work computers, however that doesn't mean we shouldn't be aware of what new things (cool and not so cool) the updates will bring to our world. Additionally there is nobody telling you what you can and can't install/upgrade on your home computer.

Just recently two popular browsers have released two big upgrades: Firefox 2.0 & Internet Explorer 7.0. These upgrades have been talked about extensively in the blogging world. David Rothman who hasn't "needed to use" Explorer in over a year gives his views on Firefox 2.0 and its IE Tab extension which will let you open a page in a Firefox tab using the IE rendering engine. The Librarian in Black directs us to two different sites, Forever Geek which looks at IE 7.0 beta and eyblog which looks at OpenSearch, IE7 and the OPAC.

The tech pages have been poking and prodding at the two browsers as well. CNET which reviewed IE 7.0 on 10/18/06 and Firefox 2.0 on 10/23/06 gives the Good, Bad, and Bottom Line information as well as a nice in depth look at both browsers. Wired's 10/26/06 article, A Tale of Two Web Browsers, compares both IE 7.0 and Firefox 2.0.

Here is some information for those of you looking for some quick notes about the two browsers.

Internet Explorer 7.0 New Features:

• New look and new toolbar
• Tabbed browsing (already present in Firefox)
• Built-in RSS feed reader
• New favorites center
• Phishing blocker
• Enhanced printing
• Attemps to fix many bugs in 6.0

Interenet Explorer 7.0 Not So Happy Things:

• Only for Windows XP SP2 users -You must upgrade your operating system if you aren't using Win XP SP2.
• Security -CNET does not find "IE 7 to be substantially more secure than IE 6"
• IE 7 is still a slower browser than Firefox
• Does not comply completely with web standards designers use
• Still missing many cool features and widgets found in FireFox and Opera such as live feeds within bookmarks, spell checking, and the ability to read web pages aloud.

Firefox 2.0 New Features:

• Antiphishing protection
• Enhancements to browser tabs
• In-line spell checker for multiple languages
• Search engine suggestions
• Session restore in case your Windows crashes
• Live Titles (microsummaries) allows sites to stream updated data to your bookmarks
• Security -opens a dialog box informing you of cross domain scripting

FireFox 2.0 Not So Happy Things:

• Some of your 1.5 extensions may not work in 2.0
• Thumbnail previews of tabs still requires an extension
• Uninstall very yucky -so don't remove it
• Does not comply completely with web standards designers use

Personally, I haven't installed IE 7.0 or Firefox 2.0 at home or at work. I tend to wait a while before I update these things on my home computer, partly out of laziness and partly out of the belief that the bugs will be fixed by the time I get to it. Right now I do have both old versions of IE and Firefox on my home computer. I tend to use Firefox more often at home because I think it works a little better in than Explorer.