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idn1234
29th June 2006, 09:49 AM
The "second half of 2006" (the period in which
IE7 will be released) will offically start the day after
tomorrow.

Now, I know there's supposed to be another Beta
on the way, but does anyone have any thoughts on
when in the "second half" it might be released?...

Regards

Rubber Duck
29th June 2006, 10:07 AM
The "second half of 2006" (the period in which
IE7 will be released) will offically start the day after
tomorrow.

Now, I know there's supposed to be another Beta
on the way, but does anyone have any thoughts on
when in the "second half" it might be released?...

Regards

Well, it is difficult to say, but I believe the roll-out team have a rolling programme of work. Beta 3 probably won't be launched until the major languages have been covered by Beta 2. From what I have been seeing lately, we are only really missing Hindi now. A lot will depend on whether any significant issues have been unearthed and how long it takes to fix them. Much will depend also on how long Microsoft believe that a Beta needs to run to gather such information.

My personal belief is that Beta 3 is more about testing the automatic update routines than it is about adding functionality or correcting errors. Note Beta 2 has already been updated with a significant number of new builds. We are not talking minor tweaking and we cannot be talking about major architectural changes. In my view, the only real justification can only be a dry run of the final release, which will be fully automated. It is not clear to me whether Beta 3 will be rolled out language by language or in one big hit. My guess is will be phased, but the phases are likely to be fairly close together. I am guessing that Beta 3 will be auto updated to those that already have Beta 2. If that is the case, the whole thing could be over and evaluated in a matter of days rather than weeks. After that it only requires the boss to put out the command "Get the Show on the Road".

There is likely to be some TV publicity associated with the final roll out. It may well be that they have to book this sometime in advance and it is likely that they have also would purposely avoided clashing with the World Cup.

I think Rhys was probably fairly correct in his assessment of early Septemberish for the full release, although there will be some dirty tricks going on as Firefox are also releasing their Beta of Firefox 2.0 very soon. My guess is that soon after Firefox release their Beta, Microsoft will steal their thunder with Beta 3. If Beta 3 is an auto update version, it will cause quite a stir.

idn1234
29th June 2006, 10:15 AM
Ok, that's quite helpful. Thanks

bwhhisc
29th June 2006, 11:05 AM
Thats a good analysis RD and optomistic view. A more near term release IE7 could tip the cards for takeoff of IDN use by sheer market forces, not waiting on ICANN to decide if this indeed is "a very complicated issue".

Rubber Duck
29th June 2006, 11:53 AM
I have to say that I am surprised how low key things are at the moment.

I can only put it down to a general lack of ambiition or a complete lack of understanding of the tightness of the window of opportunity.

A lot of people that have read the content on this forum and then sat on their hands, instead of remortgaging the house, are going to have plenty of time to go over the things, after the opportunities have long gone.

alpha
29th June 2006, 12:03 PM
RD, is the release of IE7 beta 3 or final, in anyway shape or form related to the release of Vista?

as we are all assuming that vista needs to hit before Xmas to maximum their impact and on their resellers

Rubber Duck
29th June 2006, 12:08 PM
RD, is the release of IE7 beta 3 or final, in anyway shape or form related to the release of Vista?

as we are all assuming that vista needs to hit before Xmas to maximum their impact and on their resellers

Vista can only be released with a fully functional Version of IE 7.0 incorporated into it.

There will be further development work required on this Version. So yes you are correct, the Final version of IE 7.0 XP has to be sandwhiched somewhere between Beta 3 and the release of Vista.

alpha
29th June 2006, 12:18 PM
Vista can only be released with a fully functional Version of IE 7.0 incorporated into it.

There will be further development work required on this Version. So yes you are correct, the Final version of IE 7.0 XP has to be sandwhiched somewhere between Beta 3 and the release of Vista.

... so if it HAS to be sandwiched between the two, and the "for Xmas" deadline of Vista is fixed and cannot move, then it has to be between now and the start of the Xmas buying season (September/October?)

Rubber Duck
29th June 2006, 12:21 PM
... so if it HAS to be sandwiched between the two, and the "for Xmas" deadline of Vista is fixed and cannot move, then it has to be between now and the start of the Xmas buying season (September/October?)

Well, that is the big question. Is Bill going to play Santa Claus or do Microsoft go down the tubes?

Drewbert
29th June 2006, 04:48 PM
Stop teasing me, RD.

idn1234
29th June 2006, 04:57 PM
... so if it HAS to be sandwiched between the two, and the "for Xmas" deadline of Vista is fixed and cannot move, then it has to be between now and the start of the Xmas buying season (September/October?)

Yes, I had thought around late October/early
November time; that gives them enough time
to get the hype-mobile cleaned up and running.

IDNCowboy
29th June 2006, 04:59 PM
RD, is the release of IE7 beta 3 or final, in anyway shape or form related to the release of Vista?

as we are all assuming that vista needs to hit before Xmas to maximum their impact and on their resellers
A great way too... Dabsi was so nice to split his idns among us.

Christmas time will be stellar

Rubber Duck
29th June 2006, 05:08 PM
Yes, I had thought around late October/early
November time; that gives them enough time
to get the hype-mobile cleaned up and running.

If Microsoft want they can get this wound up to fever pitch in two weeks. Vista has been awaited longer than Christ Child himself! You may depend that the Advertising material has been prepared in parallel and is probably already set to roll.

November is definitely too late. If this is going to be installed on boxes in China prior to shipment, it needs to be done a lot sooner than that. Most people buy items of this magnitude 4-6 weeks in advance of Xmas at least. It could take 6 weeks from manufacture to delivery on average, and I would say they need to roll out IE 7.0 XP a good 4 to six weeks before that.

I think that gives us early September.

alpha
29th June 2006, 05:32 PM
If Microsoft want they can get this wound up to fever pitch in two weeks. Vista has been awaited longer than Christ Child himself! You may depend that the Advertising material has been prepared in parallel and is probably already set to roll.

November is definitely too late. If this is going to be installed on boxes in China prior to shipment, it needs to be done a lot sooner than that. Most people buy items of this magnitude 4-6 weeks in advance of Xmas at least. It could take 6 weeks from manufacture to delivery on average, and I would say they need to roll out IE 7.0 XP a good 4 to six weeks before that.

I think that gives us early September.

I agree it makes sense not to ship IE7 XP after vista has shipped, but what's stopping a parallel release?

Rubber Duck
29th June 2006, 06:28 PM
I agree it makes sense not to ship IE7 XP after vista has shipped, but what's stopping a parallel release?

Well, I would see the IE 7.0 XP release as being regarded as a Beta for IE 7.0 Vista which carries additional features. Presumably any last minute changes that are made to the former then have to be incorporate into the latter, or the additional bits of the latter added to the former. Either way, I would Vista coming out after IE 7.0, otherwise Vista itself is still going to be very much a Beta. Aside from this, I also image Vista has a lot of other outstanding issues to be snagged.

I would imagine the Vista team is under huge pressure, and already asking the IE 7.0 team to cut them some slack by at least getting their bit of the package finished ready for bundling.

wassi
29th June 2006, 07:00 PM
Hi IDN1234,

here are the RIGHT news:

June 29, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Microsoft today posted a mildly revised and more secure Beta 3 version of Internet Explorer 7 free for public download.

New features and functionality in the Beta 3 release include:

* All security updates for IE7 released through June.
* The ability to drag-and-drop reorder browser tabs in the tabbed-browsing bar.
* The reappearance of the optional read e-mail button for the customizable "Command" bar, or main toolbar.
* The Web page zoom-in scaling feature adds a horizontal scroll bar automatically.
* A global RSS feed settings dialog.
* A global RSS "refresh now" function (which wasn't evident in the preview build).
* Additional work carried out since the Beta 2 release aimed at improving Web-site compatibility.
Missing from the what's new list, and perhaps the most significant change since the Beta 2 release, is Microsoft's publicly stated commitment -- first articulated by Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates on May 24 at Microsoft's WinHEC conference in Seattle -- that IE is being placed back on a fast, 18-month development cycle after IE7 ships.

"If it takes longer than 18 months to ship the next version of Internet Explorer, then we're not doing our jobs right," said Gary Schare, Microsoft's General Manager of Internet Explorer.

In response to a question about why IE7 isn't expanding features and functionality more aggressively, Schare acknowledged that the goal of IE7 wasn't to win back market share from Mozilla, but merely to update IE7 to currently expected levels of browser functionality. The shorter development track could mean that browser users will see a far more advanced IE some time in 2008.

Computerworld obtained a late "preview" version of IE7 Beta 3, which did not have all the bug fixes and refinements Microsoft projected would be evident in the version now available for public download. The added usability tweaks are welcome, but the preview code did exhibit some minor performance and reliability issues.

The preview of Beta 3 takes up 12.8MB of hard drive space. IE7 requires Windows XP Service Pack 2. It's important to uninstall any previous version of IE7 before installing this one. Installation of beta software is not recommended in production environments.

IE7 does install some operating system components; it may be uninstalled from Add or Remove Programs.

touchring
29th June 2006, 07:14 PM
No mentioning of IDNs in the Beta 3 press releases.

Question: Are the IDN features still included in Beta3? Anyone download it and try?

Explorer
29th June 2006, 07:22 PM
No mentioning of IDNs in the Beta 3 press releases.

Question: Are the IDN features still included in Beta3? Anyone download it and try?


Of course IDNs are there. That Beta 3 version is based on Beta 2 plus some bug fixes, that's all.

Rubber Duck
29th June 2006, 08:17 PM
Well, there you go. There is no double guessing Microsoft. Out much earlier than expect, but to date only English and no Automatic updates. The new one won't even over write the old one. Seems like fairly minor modifications. Frankly, I wonder why they bothered. Still at least now we can look forward to Beta 4!

blastfromthepast
29th June 2006, 08:29 PM
Still at least now we can look forward to Beta 4!

That's a joke, right? Its full release after 3.

idn1234
29th June 2006, 08:55 PM
Wassi: Thanks a lot for that, good bit of info
there.

Rubber Duck
29th June 2006, 09:00 PM
That's a joke, right? Its full release after 3.

I through trying to make predictions about this lot, but 3 Betas would already appear to be farcicle.

I suppose it is just possible that Beta 3 actually is some kind of internal milestone, that had to be achieved. Could it be where they had to get IE 7.0 before handing it over to the Vista development team for the production of IE 7.0+?

I have to say I am a bit disappointed that it will still not over write itself. That is a real disappointment.

hanidn
29th June 2006, 11:41 PM
That's a joke, right? Its full release after 3.

"final candidate" coming....

alpha
30th June 2006, 04:23 AM
"final candidate" coming....

Yeah, don't MS usually then do the RC1, RC2.. versions next (RC=Release Candidate)