Internet Explorer 7 Beta Now Available

According to the IEBlog, late last night (Monday) Internet Explorer 7 Beta was released. Here's some more information:

"This evening we released IE7 Beta 2 at http://www.microsoft.com/ie. This release is not the preview or the update to the preview, but the real Beta 2 of IE7 for Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows XP 64-bit Edition. Simply: please try it.

We acted on a lot of the feedback and bug reports from the previous public releases. In particular, I feel good about changes we made based on reports from web developers around some CSS behaviors, application compatibility feedback, reliability data (yes, we do analyze the information that comes when you click "Send Error Report"), and user experience feedback. People on the team will post additional details about changes over the next few days."

For this Beta 2 release, we're taking the extra step of offering no-charge phone support to consumers in North America, Germany and Japan. We're offering phone support to encourage people who usually shy away from beta software to try IE7 Beta 2."

So, if you'd like to try it out (and take advantage of the free phone support), head on over to the home of Internet Explorer 7. A couple things I noticed about IE7 right off the bat:

• IE7 looks a bit like Apple's Safari, what with the biggish icons and silver chrome finish.
• You can subscribe to RSS feeds directly with IE7, much like Firefox Live Bookmarks.
• Tabbed browsing, again like Firefox.
• A really cool Printing options widget that shrinks text to fit the page.
• Nice search engine tool box that allows you to search with a multitude of seach tools.

At first glance I'm not seeing anything wildly innovative, but I do like the new look. I'd like to hear what YOU think of Internet Explorer 7, so try it out and leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

More about Internet Explorer: You can do lots of good stuff with Internet Explorer; learn how to create a favorite, or change Internet Explorer's default search engine setting (both of these tutorials are for previous versions of Internet Explorer).

And more about Firefox: Folks, I'm a former Internet Explorer groupie turned Firefox fanatic. Here's some Firefox goodies:

• Add Search Engines to your Firefox Toolbar: I have at least 10 different search engines and search services on my Firefox toolbar right now.
• How To Install Firefox: So simple anyone could do it. My cat was even checking this tutorial out.
• Setting Basic Security Options in Firefox: One of the best things about Firefox is how secure of a browser it is.
• Firefox FAQ: Some FAQ about Firefox, such as how does it compare with Internet Explorer.
• Firefox Hacks: My review of one of the best books out there about Firefox.