IE7 Beta 3 worth the download

If you’re a web developer who is using Beta 1 or Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 7 for testing purposes, I recommend taking the time to upgrade to IE7 Beta3.

I am in the process of developing a site using 100% valid XHTML and CSS. The site renders perfectly in IE6, Firefox, and Safari. I fired it up in IE7 Beta 2, and to my dismay my layout turned to spaghetti before my eyes. Hmmm, I thought to myself, that there is a browser bug for sure. I headed over to Microsoft, downloaded Beta 3, and after installing and rebooting I was pleased to find my page rendering perfectly. Phew!

I had heard tell of systems hanging during Beta 3’s installation procedure, and I must say that the application took a loooong time to install. Don’t let that put you off though, it got there in the end, and the outcome was worth the wait. If you have encountered rendering issues in IE7 Beta 1 or Beta 2, don’t assume that your markup is at fault – IE7 itself may well be the culprit, and an upgrade may see you right.

I must say it concerns me a great deal that Microsoft have been offering versions of IE Beta as their default browser download. Clearly the Beta’s are far too buggy for use outside of the web development community, and the general public should be left unaware of IE7’s existence until it’s been deemed stable enough for a 1.0 release.