With Internet Explorer 7, all browser windows require an Address Bar. Because hackers often have abused valid pop-up window actions to display windows with misleading graphics and data as a way to convince users to download or install their malware, the requirement of an Address Bar in each window will help ensure that users always know more about the true source of information they are seeing.
Internet Explorer 7 natively delivers full IDN functionality and display protections. The Internet incorporates a global community, and browsers must be able to handle non-English characters and domain names. Operators of malicious Web sites have used international character display issues as a mechanism for phishing attacks against users and as a way to hide the true Web site domain name. The problem derives from international alphabets; many characters in certain languages (e.g., the letter “a” in English) can resemble entirely different characters in other languages (e.g., the letter “а” in Cyrillic). As a result, an individual with malicious intent may register a similar domain name to fool users into submitting their content to a false site. Previous versions of Internet Explorer did not have IDN support and thus were not vulnerable to this attack. Internet Explorer 7 not only delivers native IDN support but also provides extensive security mechanisms to protect users from attack. One of the core security features of IDN support in Internet Explorer 7 is the multiple language display in the Address Bar.
tags. (More information about these bugs can be found online at
http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/peekaboo.html and
http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer/guillotine.html). Internet Explorer 7 will be shipped with improved CSS 2.1 support. Specific problems addressed by Internet Explorer 7 include the following:
Ability to hover on all elements
Fixed positioning
CSS 2 selectors
HTML 4.01 improvements
Windowless Select Element
Transparent PNG Support
Internet Explorer 7 also adds support for alpha-channel transparent PNGs. A PNG is a typographical file format that may include an indication of the exact degree of transparency a picture should have through a measurement called the alpha channel. With an alpha channel, designers can use special effects that were not previously supported. For instance, they can create Web page images that have shadows but do not obscure the background image behind them.
RSS Feed Platform
The Windows RSS Platform will be included as part of Internet Explorer 7. This platform provides rich functionality for downloading, storing and accessing feeds across
the entire operating system, and will enable more users than ever to embrace RSS. This means that once a feed is subscribed to in one application, that subscription and associated content will be made available for all applications across the operating system. The days of having siloed RSS data in different applications are over.
The Windows RSS Platform provides this rich data layer through two primary components: the Common Feed List and the Common Data Store. The Common Feed List — accessible through either the Windows RSS Platform APIs or the file system — provides a common storage location for all subscribed-to sites. Any application can add or delete sites and can share information about the feeds, such as how subscriptions are organized in folders, for example. The Common Data Store — accessible through either the Windows RSS Platform APIs or the file system — handles downloading, storing and managing read and unread status of feed data.
Microsoft expects that the use of RSS enclosures will increase substantially over the coming months. The Common Data Store is an ideal tool for ensuring that the most updated content — such as text, calendar entries,
pictures, podcasts and many other types of files — is delivered and accessible to anyone who subscribes to it. Further, because the platform does all the hard work of synching, parsing and storing RSS feeds, application developers will have a much easier time building applications that use RSS for their synching strategy. Microsoft believes that this platform technology will help enable a major increase in the number of applications that use RSS.
The primary initial users of the Windows RSS Platform will be technical enthusiasts who already use and subscribe to RSS as well as application developers who are looking for a new technology to help them share varied content between applications. As RSS adoption grows and Internet Explorer installations increase, Microsoft expects general users to begin using RSS ubiquitously, without even knowing it. Microsoft believes that this is a win-win situation for developers and end users.
OpenSearch
Internet Explorer 7 supports OpenSearch 1.1, the latest Creative Commons release of the standard from A9.com Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc. that enables syndication formats such as RSS and Atom to be used in search applications. Further, the Toolbar Search Box in Internet Explorer 7 adopts OpenSearch extensions, permitting search engines to plug in to Internet Explorer simply by supporting OpenSearch.
Internet Explorer 7 improves the implementation of the XMLHTTP Request as a native Javascript object for rich AJAX-style applications. While Internet Explorer 6 handled XMLHTTP requests with an ActiveX control, Internet Explorer 7 exposes XMLHTTP natively. This improves syntactical compatibility across different browsers and allows for clients to configure and customize a security policy of their choice without compromising key AJAX scenarios.
Administration Improvements
With Internet Explorer 7, administrators have centralized control over settings via Active Directory
® Group Policy, which makes the browser more manageable. All previous and new features are manageable via Group Policy, including the Phishing Filter and all browser add-ons, to help administrators ensure that browser users comply with company standards. Further, fully customized Internet Explorer deployments will be possible with the enhanced Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK 7). Customers can confirm compatibility of their key applications with Internet Explorer 7 using an updated version of the Application Compatibility Toolkit that was included in Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Even
with all these improvements, Internet Explorer 7 is still a browser on which enterprises can depend. Internet Explorer will continue to be supported as part of the Windows platform, with continuous incident response support provided by the Microsoft Security Response Center. Further, there will be no change to Windows support life-cycle timelines with this new release, so administrators can be assured that Microsoft is standing behind the new release.
Conclusion
Internet Explorer 7 provides a safer, more personalized and more productive browsing experience for users and a richer, more compatible platform for developers and IT professionals. Microsoft encourages all Internet Explorer users running Windows XP SP2 or later to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 today.
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