Some 18 months after Bill Gates pledged to revamp Internet Explorer, Microsoft is ready with the final production version of IE 7. The new Web browser, which has been in testing for months, is now available for download from Microsoft’s Web site.

On the feature side, Microsoft is playing catch-up in many areas. It has added support for Web standards, RSS Web feeds and tabbed browsing. The new browser also offers protection against phishing sites–malicious Web sites designed to trick users into handing over their personal information.

Those who have been beta testing IE7 will begin receiving the final version via automatic updates this week. Microsoft plans to push down IE7 via automatic update to IE6 users starting next month, though they will get to decide whether they want to install it.

Although Microsoft will begin making the browser available through Automatic Update next month, it could take many more weeks to get the application to all PCs in the United States. The software maker is staggering the release, in part to make sure it can handle the support calls. It will make free phone support available, as it has done since the Beta 2 version of IE 7 was introduced in April.

Read the whole story at ZDNet

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