ie7 - should I get it?

greggustin

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Joined
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166
just rebuilt a broken laptop
doing all the upgrades from MS
it has winxp pro sp2 on the restore CDs
one suggested fix was IE7
I use firefox 2.0
any reason/benefit to Ie7?
 
always best to get the latest updates even if you don't use it
 
As i personally use IE6 IE 7 and firefox. IE7 is more like firefox . I primarily use firefox for browser but my office web application only works with IE6 ( little with IE 7 ) . and there are some sites which require IE ( old style sites ).. so if u need IE then i suggest u to upgrade it.

IE7 is more like firefox if you like firefox you will like IE7 too with some IE flavour which is necessary for some sites ( they are designed for IE )
 
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I use IE7.... One hint stay away from IE8 for now.. Very buggy
 
Yeah, agreed IE8 isn't worth checking out yet.
I am a big fan of IE7 tho.
 
It isn't even beta - isn't it alpha still? What would you expect? At best it's "Developer Beta".
 
IE8 == pants right now.

I am in a total HATE FF2 mode right now just because of the hoops I have to jump through to authenticate and then dl from my MSDN subscription. So annoying.

IE7 == a dream comparatively and it's faster in almost all things for me. But, FF2 does have extensions.

On the flip side, I use Opera more and more now because it does everything and much faster and cleaner than the others.
 
As previously said, I would update all components of Windows including IE7, even if it's intended to use another browser most of the time. As far as performance on most web sites, IE7 is definitely slower than IE6, and both are slower than Firefox, Safari, and I'm sure Opera too (been a while since I used Opera, but I did use Opera 3.60 under Windows 3.11) :D
 
Sure, you should get it, but there's no need in using it, if you've got Firefox or Opera. IE7 (and IE8 for that matter) are memory hogs, and they don't clean up the RAM memory after you've used them.

I once read a memory comparison of browsers, including IE7 and Firefox 3 beta 5, and IE7 ended up using five times the memory Firefox used.
 
yep..... [sarcasm] IE7 is SUCH a memory hog [/sarcasm]

do you even look at usage stats, or do you just blurt out what every Firefox fan says? 90MB of memory usage with IE7. wow. that's SUCH a memory hog. and that's even using Vista.

edit: and look at that.... i close IE... and start it up again, loaded up to no homepage at only 9MB of memory usage. started going to different sites, and it's at just under 50MB.

Started up FireFox 3 beta 5..... was at 18MB of usage just going to the Firefox start page with the google search bar. Went to my Guru3D User CP, then to the OSNN.net homepage, and it's at 38MB.

Yeah..... 5 times more memory usage my a**. would LOVE to see where you read that it has up to 5 times more usage than Firefox 3 beta 5.

oh, and IE7 64-bit seems to have a bit better memory usage than the 32-bit version.
 
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Try opening 50 tabs in both IE7 and Firefox 3 beta 5, and then check the memory usage.
 
Maybe you should have checked that for yourself before requesting it?

IE7 64-bit, 50 tabs all open to this page = 329MB at first, jumped to around 750MB when all the flash ads loaded.

FireFox 3 beta 5, 50 tabs open to this page = 221MB.

Still..... nowhere remotely even close to 5 times the usage.... which would be around 1105MB. Guess i should also mention that IE7 has a bit lower CPU usage when doing nothing.

Seems to have a bit of an issue freeing up memory from tabs that have been closed though. going from 50 tabs down to only one, IE7 is using 337MB, while FireFox is only using 81MB. still not 5 times..... but either way, with one tab, closing IE and opening it again starts out with a fresh, low number.

Now.... if you were talking about basically 49 blank tabs, and one tab opened up to a webpage (as another example... this one).....

IE7 64-bit = 58MB
FF5 beta 3 = 42MB

Sooooo.......... yeah...... how is it such a memory hog? Yeah.... at 50 in-use tabs, it's using 750MB, even though on a webpage with no ads it would probably still sit around that 329MB mark.... maybe slightly higher, maybe slightly lower depending on exactly how much is on that page, but seriously..... has ANYONE actually USED even 15-20 tabs at the same time? highly unlikely, and if so, extremely rarely. If you do so on a regular basis.... you've got some issues.
 
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If FF 3 is still a beta wouldn't a better comparison be to FF 2? As far as I know IE 7 is not a beta.:)
 
well... i'd say i'd try comparing FF3 to IE8... but i don't feel like installing IE8 since it's kinda buggy last time i tried it. FF3 is actually quite good at this point (although i don't use it. can't freakin stand Firefox.). Besides.... Mizzle brought up what he read about concerning FF3 beta 5 and IE7.... and i happen to have both installed.

Keep in mind though for those usage tests i just posted..... they're on Vista 64-bit.
 
I can't remember where I found the comparison I was talking about, but your own seems to be resulting in almost the same thing, even though you've got excuses for IE and flash ads. 221 MB is about 30 % of 750 MB.
 
Sure, you should get it, but there's no need in using it, if you've got Firefox or Opera. IE7 (and IE8 for that matter) are memory hogs, and they don't clean up the RAM memory after you've used them.

I once read a memory comparison of browsers, including IE7 and Firefox 3 beta 5, and IE7 ended up using five times the memory Firefox used.

here is my comparison of memory usage between IE7 and FF3 Beta 5

Visa Business (32-bit) SP1
all current patches
Same number of tabs open
Same sites open in both browsers
IE7:
Fresh start and opened tabs
Phishing filter disabled
No toolbars at all

FF3Beta5:
Had been browsing already for over an hour
Had the following Plug-ins enabled:
* Header Spy
* IE Tab
* LogMeIn Plugin
* NoScript
* Web Developer

but seriously..... has ANYONE actually USED even 15-20 tabs at the same time? highly unlikely, and if so, extremely rarely. If you do so on a regular basis.... you've got some issues.

Umm.. this current test had 22 tabs open.. at any given point in time I have 2 or 3 firefox windows open with about 10-15 tabs in each window. :p
 

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