Internet Explorer 7 was released this week with more features that mirror Mozilla Firefox. The popularity of Internet Explorer has declined in recent years, because of other web browsers such as Firefox and Opera. The newly released Internet Explorer 7 has tabbed browsing and a cleaner look and style.

Internet Explorer 7 has a more streamlined interface that has a larger viewing area for webpages. Without the huge buttons for back and forward, less space is taken up by needless tool bars. The new Internet Explorer is similar to Safari in style.

Another new feature is tabbed browsing. When Firefox released their web browser, users could jump between pages with tabs instead of opening multiple windows. Another feature is that users can save multiple tabs into one big tab and save it as a favorite. Users can open tabs that they use everyday with one click.

Printing has always been a problem with Internet Explorer. In the past, many times users wanted to print out a web page, but it never fit in one page. Sometimes a webpage that would be 3 pages normally printed 9 or 10 pages. With the new release, Internet Explorer 7 automatically shrinks the page so the content fits on page. The new print option also allows users to customize margins and remove headers and footers before printing.

In today’s technology driven world, it’s hard to find someone that doesn’t know what RSS feed means. For those that don’t know, RSS means Real Simple Syndication. RSS automatically shows users when web sites are updated. With Internet Explorer, users can customize their RSS feeds to show news or other online features that they care about.

Instead of using only one or two search engines, Internet Explorer 7 has a plethora of search engines that are available. A few search engines that are available are Yahoo, Google, eBay, ESPN and many others.

One of the major complaints users have with past Internet Explorers is that it was very vulnerable to attacks. Many users switched to Firefox because they were tired of dealing with on going security issues that Internet Explorer caused. Internet Explorer 7 has new security features that help protect against software that can affect your computer. Internet Explorer also protects users’ personal information to prevent fraud and phishing.

Internet Explorer also has new add-ons that are similar to Firefox’s. A few add-ons that are featured with the new Internet Explorer are parental controls, pop-up blockers, bookmark managers and design tools. Add-ons can personalize the browser and can help users surf the net more effectively.

Internet Explorer has gotten a lot of bad press in the past couple of years because security flaws and cumbersome styles. With the new Internet Explorer 7, users that have left Microsoft’s influence may feel comfortable to return to their original web browser.