Going through the article on ZDNet Web 2.0 Explorer , I really found some interesting tid-bits.

“On behalf of Microsoft and the IE team, we messed up – and we’re sorry”. [ Tony Chor, Group Program Manager of Microsoft's Internet Explorer team]

First thing they wanted to do with IE7 was “make everyday browsing easier […] make the simple things better”. They made the UI a lot simpler, to make the content more accessible. Mentions an “overdue” feature they’ve introduced in IE7, tabbed browsing. Mentions other new features, such as page zoom and more printer-friendly options…..

On standards, he says he was relieved to hear Firefox is so big on standards – because they are too. MS will support “not only official standards, but defacto standards”.

So what’s next for IE? Today IE7 is available in beta form and will be released as a final product in “the second half of this year”. Then they will go to the next version of IE. He promises they’ll ship regularly …. Security and standards compliance will be an ongoing investment. They are working on enabling developers to install multiple versions of IE on the same machine

Okay. The “Sorry” thingy, as per me, is the understatement of the year. 5 years !!! Damn ! But then, some says better late than never. And I say .. c’mon, bring it on.

Though I have not used IE7 Beta release [neither I see myself doing that in near future], but reading through all the good/bad things people have said and the amazing people that are associated with IE7 initiative [read The Web Standards Project] I really am all pumped up and looking forward to it.

TAGS: Firefox . Browsers . Internet Explorer . IE . Microsoft