To the overwhelming relief of web designers everywhere Microsoft have finally launched Internet Explorer 7, currently offered as an automatic or optional update to all users of Windows XP.

In service for far longer than anyone thought possible Internet Explorer 6 was not only by far the most used web browser on the market but also widely accepted to be the worst – both in terms of its bugginess, lax security and poor implementation and support for CSS. Although not everything hoped for is included in and fixed in IE7, it is by far superior and we recommend everyone currently using IE6 and meeting the os requirements, upgrade as soon as possible.

Alternatively if you haven’t already done so, you may want to take a look at Firefox 2, Firefox is fast, secure and available for both Windows and Mac OSX. Having won a string of awards including PC Magazine and CNET ‘Editors Choice’ for October 2006, Firefox has been making inroads into Internet Explorer’s user base for some time.

At Propeller, we’ve been running the beta version of IE7 for months and all of our websites developed in the second half of this year were fully tested for the upgrade to IE7.

If you are considering having a site developed either now or in the future ensure that your web developer is working with and testing your site for compatibility with IE7 to avoid costly alterations later. With IE7 being offered as an automatic update and to be included in the next release of Windows (Vista), the uptake rate is expected to be rapid. Don’t get left behind!