Microsoft Corporation yesterday rolled out its first beta releases of its forthcoming operating system Windows Vista (formerly known by its codename "Longhorn") and Internet Explorer 7, the latest version of its long-standing Web browser.
The Beta 1 release of Windows Vista was released to approximately 10,000 beta testers and software developers to begin testing compatibility and under-the-hood performance of Microsoft’s forthcoming operating system, expected to be finalized by the second half of 2006. The Beta 1 release does not feature the final Windows Vista user interface, but includes a number of features designed to enhance Windows security, networking capabilities, and user account management. This beta release is not available to the general public from Microsoft, but has already appeared on peer-to-peer file sharing services.
The beta 1 release of Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP, conversely, is available to both the Windows Vista testing pool as well as approximately half a million members of Microsoft’s TechNet and MSDN programs, although Microsoft doesn’t plan to release a beta of IE7 to the general public until later in 2005. Internet Explorer 7 is designed to bring IE’s feature set closer to those of popular alternative browsers such as Opera and Firefox, including tabbed browsing, integrated RSS support, and a seamless inline search. IE7 will also include enhancements to the browser’s oft-punctured security model, including a whitelist-based "Phishing Filter" which alerts users to possible scams (and can report the information back to Microsoft) and a protected-browsing mode whereby users can surf the Web but not modify settings or data.
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