After several beta and release candidate versions, the final version of Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) has been released and is now available for download, although the first bug has already been reported.

The bug is documented by Secunia, the company that discovered it, and is also documented by the SANS Institute Internet Storm Centre. Microsoft says that the bug is actually in Outlook Express, but both Secunia and SANS agree that as the bug can be activated through Internet Explorer 6 and 7, it also qualifies to be an Internet Explorer bug, and so therefore is one.

While it is a worry that a bug has been found so quickly, even if Microsoft claims it is technically not an IE7 bug, this should not dissaude you from actually downloading and using the new browser. This is especially true if you are still using IE6, and not another popular browser such as Firefox, Mathon, Opera and others.

IE6 was made much better with the extra security features found in the Windows XP Service Pack 2 update, but IE7 goes many steps better, with tabbed browsing, better security including a new phishing filter, streamlined and modern design, better printing options, web search from the toolbar, compatibility with RSS feeds and more.

Features that I noticed weren’t there is the ability to save your tabbed browser windows as a group, there’s no ’undo’ button to reverse accidentally closed websites (as with Maxthon) and a backup option to re-open IE7 with the pages it last had open if IE7 crashes (another Maxthon feature).

If you rarely use IE6 because you’re a Firefox fan, chances are you won’t be racing to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7. However for everyone else that still uses IE6, which is still being used by millions around the world, IE7 is defiitely worth downloading.

Finally, IE7 works with Windows XP, XP 64bit and Windows Server 2003 versions. Vista users already have access to IE7 as part of the operating system, and no doubt the final release version of Vista will include the latest IE7 code for us all to enjoy.

Related: