Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2

Set the way back machine for five years ago. The flux capacitor flutters with light and goes still. There...that was easy. So what did 2001 give us? In addition to the September 11th terrorist attacks, the first iPod and Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring, Microsoft delivered Internet Explorer version 6. Fast forward to the present. After five years the advances in Safari, Firefox and Opera have eroded Microsoft's browser initiative and left it stagnant.

Nevertheless, Microsoft has been working on Internet Explorer 7 and released it's first public beta (Beta 2) today. In addition to tabbed browsing, improved security, integrated RSS and layout enhancements, Internet Explorer 7 will feature updated style sheet support bringing it more up to speed with the CSS 2 specification. These changes might not seem earth shattering but they are important. Given the fact that Microsoft controls over half the browser market any changes at all tend to reach a wider sphere of influence.

Overall, IE 7 seems like a nice incremental upgrade. The changes are not revolutionary, but merely put it back in the running with its competition. The Phishing filter seems like a nice idea in theory, although I haven't had much time to play with it yet. I appreciate the simple layout of buttons, integrated search and RSS...probably because I have come to expect this from other browsers. Again - not much innovation going on here.

The one new feature that I haven't seen anywhere else is the ability to "Zoom" in on sites. However, I am at a loss as to why this was even included. Perhaps it could be useful for those who are visually impaired? In my mind, however, the "Text Size" feature from Internet Explorer 6 sufficed for this purpose. Can anyone give me a good answer as to why this feature might be important?

I must admit that from a web developer's perspective I am most excited about Internet Explorer 7's CSS support. For myself, Firefox and Safari have always been quite responsive when I've pushed CSS technology...it is IE that has held me back. With the style sheet changes promised in this iteration of Internet Explorer I think it might help usher in a period of easier cross-browser development.

Check out this page to download and test IE 7 for yourself.

New Software Galore

It's amazing just how many new iterations of well-known server and browser software has been released in the last few months:

Apache 2.2
Php 5.1.x
MySql 5.0
Ruby On Rails 1.0
.NET 2.0
SQL Server 2005
Firefox 1.5

It will likely take a bit of time (and kicking the tires) before these technologies are considered ready for mass consumption by the server admins. All the same, they continue to signify a steady march forward for internet growth and development...

Moving from Mac Mail to Outlook Express

These days it's not too difficult to change email clients if need be. Most clients come with powerful import and export tools, allowing for a fairly smooth transition. This week, however, I ran into an exception when trying to move email messages from Mac Mail 2.0 to Outlook Express 6. The experience left me with the impression that these programs are bitter enemies and loathe the idea of interoperating with each other. Here's some instructions on how to make it work (note: you will also need Eudora 6.2+ free edition installed on the PC):

Starting in Mac Mail do the following for each mailbox you wish to transfer (In, Sent, Deleted, etc.):

1. Select all messages and choose File -> Save As from the main menu. Choose "Raw Message Source" as the format and a name for the group of messages and click the "Save" button. Even though there are no obvious "export" commands from Mac Mail, this will effectively create a file in standard mbox format. However, Outlook Express will not directly import this file type so we'll have to play with it a bit.
   
2. Transfer the file you just created to the PC.
3. Open the directory C:\Documents and Settings\[Account Name]\Application Data\Qualcomm\Eudora (you will need to go to the View tab under the Tools -> Folder Options menu and select "Show Hidden Files and Folders" to be able to view this folder).
4. If appropriate, rename the file you created in step 1 to match one of the mailboxes in this folder (In, Out, Junk, Trash, etc). Assign this file a .mbx extension.
5. Copy the file from the previous step into the folder you opened in step 3. (Important! Only do this if you don't mind overwriting the email in your Eudora application).
6. Open Eudora and view the mailbox you just copied. This will firmly establish your .mbx file as a Eurdora mailbox. Don't worry if the text in your messages doesn't look quite right - this will soon be remedied.
7. Open Outlook Express. Select File -> Import -> Messages from the main menu. Choose "Eudora Pro or Light" and go through the rest of the wizard. This should properly import all your messages from the selected mailbox into Outlook Express.

A twisted solution? Yes, but it's the only one that I could get to work! If you know of an easier one please post a comment detailing your experience.