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IE7 Bug Reports Flooding In
the JoshMeister writes "According to ZDNet, bug reports are already flooding in for Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview. Specific issues include the possibility of arbitrary code execution as well as incompatibilities with McAfee Security Center, anti-spyware programs, and online banking sites." From the article: "... browser testers may already be at risk, according to security researcher Tom Ferris. Late Tuesday, Ferris released details of a potential security flaw in IE 7. An attacker could exploit the flaw by crafting a special Web page that could be used to crash the browser or gain complete control of a vulnerable system, Ferris said in an advisory on his Web site. Microsoft had no immediate comment on Ferris' alert."
Of course it's got bugs -- it's a beta!
It's beta software. Of course there will be bugs. The public B2 is much better than the leaked B2 which was still better than B1.
Taken with grain of salt... it's still beta.
sounds like a productive beta test. end users finding lots of bugs.
(anyone who would use it - or anything else beta - in a production environment is insane)
How can this be? How can BETA software have bugs? This must be a conspiracy. Call CNN. Get Faux News on the phone. this is a STORY!!!!
Of course it has bugs. Grow up already.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
Why is this front page, unless it's just the usual knee-jerk, let's-find-something-bad-to-say-about-Microsoft thing that makes Slashdot less than useful for info about anything about Microsoft.
Yeesh.
How is this news? Betas are there for finding bugs. If you don't want to risk more than the usual, how about just not using it?
The past builds were also riddled with bugs, and the IE developers are very involved with testers to fix them. It's not like they're just sitting with their hands over their ears yelling "LA LA LA LA I can't hear you!"
It just makes you wonder if their new programming process MS has is better or worst than what it was before, and how it is letting these bugs get though. Was the product really not finished, yes I know its beta but most betas are at least close enough to finish that the programmers are looking for the obscure bugs, not ones that are just flat out sitting in the open like they are with IE 7. Is it the Alpha stage just slapped with a beta name so people will stop hounding them for IE 7.
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I think you're missing the point that this is a beta test, the point of it is to find the bugs that are inevitably in any program. It is a good thing that they are being flooded with bug reports, because they can now see what needs to be fixed before releasing it. Of course I am not saying the final release will be bug free, but hopefully this preview will be successful enough to help Microsoft create a stable release.
nothing
I was about to post something about bugs being natrual in almost all beta software, then I read the article...
An attacker could exploit the flaw by crafting a special Web page that could be used to crash the browser or gain complete control of a vulnerable system
So, this is actually a relevant article, despite its initial appearance.
We've got some new additions and enhancements to IE, and here we have a flaw that can give an attacker complete control over the user's computer!
I guess this is a taste of things to come in Vista? Evidence that Microsoft's secure code development practices are mostly just verbal pacification?
Linux/Open Source/Anti Microsoft News
Oh come on. Its Google. Don't expect it not to have bugs. All its products are BETA.
There you go, I corrected it for you. (no karma bonus checked for all those Gzealots)
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
A beta of anything better have bugs. Otherwise the testers aren't finding them because they are most certainly there.
I don't even see how this is a news-worthy... it's a beta!
The famed acid2 test renders truly badly: http://www.webstandards.org/act/acid2/test.html#to p
a) Requires you to validate windows to install,
I personally don't see why this is a problem, but then I'm one of those strange people that happens to agree with the notion of paying for commercial software.
b) Requires a reboot,
Well, it's the usual tight integration with Windows, so I expected as much. Yeah, it's a bit of a pain, but if you're prepared to install a piece of beta software on your machine, rebooting it is hardly an issue, is it?
c) Actually attempts to pass off things like tabbed browsing and a search bar as innovative
Well, it is, for Explorer. That's just marketing anyway, it's nothing to do with the quality of the product, which is what most of us devlopers are interested in.
Microsoft once again found itself playing catchup, this time in the browser market [again]. And with virtually all firms, that means a product often gets pushed out the door too quickly. That is clearly the case with I.E.7 (a.k.a. Deep-Six 7).
This release qualifies as no more than an alpha. Anyone who feels otherwise has either done little beta testing, or refuses to open their eyes. (And no, I am not a MS basher. In fact, I still use IE6.) Think about it. It's been over a year since Firefox began stealing market share. Microsoft saw (and clearly thought) it could wait no longer, even if the release was far from ready. They simply had to get "a new browser" on the market.
It may backfire, however. I tried Deep-Six 7, saw it was only an alpha, attempted to uninstall it, and then found it left my system in tatters! A beta should not do that; an alpha well may, however.
Microsoft sees its customers as guinea pigs, at least in this case. There is no way that junk should have been released on an unsuspecting public. Many here clearly forget that only 1% of computer users are geeks. The rest are "normal people." The latter will see a download available and simply get it, with no thought [knowledge?] of what they're actually doing. Microsoft should remember that itself.
I'm certain there were heated discussion about releasing it now (for marketing purposes) or holding off (for better quality before any public release). And now, the quality assurance folks are saying, "I told you so." This release has only further tarnished Microsoft's image as an innovative and quality-focused company. Instead, it now appear to be a behemoth that can barely move its own weight around, and certainly not nimbly keep up with its major competitors.
/.'s Psychic-in-Residence: Psychic to the Geeks
Finally, I'd like to reiterate the importance of the responsible disclosure of security issues. We firmly believe that privately disclosing security issues to software vendors is the best way to keep the users of the world secure.
I'm sorry, but I take issue with this, particularly with a product being beta-tested, but really, with any product. Users need to know what exploits are known. If there are serious, known, security flaws in IE, that may very well affect my decision of whether or not I want to install it on my system. THe idea of keeping it hush-hush doesn't really help anyone.
I know many people will just jump down Microsoft's throat for anything they do, they aren't my favourite company either. But I can't be sympathetic to people that complain about beta software.
1) NOBODY is forcing you to install a beta product. If you are curious or impulsive, and feel compelled to install beta software, your doing so at great risk to your security and data. Whether it's Microsoft beta's, Google beta's, or Linux Beta's, you are accepting that risk by the nature of installing beta software (its in the disclaimer)
2) THE REASON for beta software is to open it up to wider testing to CATCH AND FIX Bugs. This is a good thing, that bugs are flowing back to Microsoft. It will force them to fix the bugs and strengthen the product.
3) No, you CAN'T Sue, see 1)
4) Get a life. I mean, if IE 7 was in full release and these bugs were being reported, I would jump on the bandwagon myself and fire a few shots at MS, but this is still beta software, it isn't even a release candidate yet. Its intended for people with a brain to install it at their own risk and test the product, to REPORT bugs is the definition of what Beta software is. Obviously lots of stupid people are installing IE 7!
This is NOT NEWS, this is sad. To report and complain that Microsoft's beta software is full of bugs suggest a complete bias, prejudice, and ignorance towards them without merit or provocation. This is not microsoft screwing up, this is microsoft doing what countless other software companies do, release a beta in order to get feedback and bug reporting in order to fix and strengthen the product.
When FireFox 1.5 beta was released, it was full of bugs, but people praised Mozilla for their innovation and success. I can't stand double standards.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Requires you to validate windows to install
:)
Ok, this doesn't buy the customer much, but is it really all that big of a pain? Do you just conceptually object to Microsoft asking "is that a valid Windows you're using?"
Requires a reboot
I am not thrilled about this but given the wedding of the browser rendering component and the rest of the user experience ("OS"), i can't say i am surprised. You have to reboot after uninstalling it also, by the way
Actually attempts to pass off things like tabbed browsing and a search bar as innovative (really, take a look at the "demo" they bring you to when you first install it).
Consider part of the target market for IE7: People that are happy enough with the features of IE6 that they haven't bothered looking at Firefox yet. For them, tabbed browsing and a search bar are new and innovative. These are things that everyone will potentially benefit from but not all people will seek out and discover by themselves.
Part of the reason my grandfather uses a computer at a public library to do web surfing and write email is because Microsoft brings "cool stuff" away from the realm of the early adopter and puts it in the hands of everyone.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
Don't let Microsoft off the hook that easily. Most of the problems I've seen with this IE7 beta aren't the "we messed up the implementation" variety. They are the "we still don't support all of CSS" variety.
Microsoft has eliminated several bugs that made it easy to identify IE6 and apply hacks to the CSS. For example, the "* html" selector let you apply CSS rules just for IE because it's ignored by standards-compliant browsers. Now IE7 ignores that too. However, the need for hacks is still there. IE7 still does not implement several important CSS features that necessitated the hacks in the first place, such as min-height.
If Microsoft were to decide that this beta was "close enough" or even if it fixes just the minimum number of things to keep major sites from breaking, that's not going to help. Designers will end up needing an entirely different set of hacks to make up for the fact that IE7 is *still* not a complete CSS2 implementation.
> take a look at the "demo" they bring you to when you first install it
where can I download the OpenBSD version ?
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
blakespot
-- Heisenberg may have slept here.
iPod Hacks.com
I'm really serious about this... I'm not kidding...
The web community should start flooding the bug reporting for the IE beta with reports about CSS and XHTML/HTML standards non-compliance. Anything IE 7 does that isn't in line with web standards should be reported as a bug, by as many people as possible. And we should keep reporting these, daily, until the IE team wakes up to web standards and decides to support them.
Then, webmasters can make one version of the website that works in all modern browsers. Oh happy day. The IE team won't have to worry about supporting the weird IE quirks... people who haven't upgraded and are still using IE 6 will continue getting the same hacks that fix IE 6 and are ignored by Firefox et al, and IE 7 can ignore them just the same.
Seriously... it's best for everybody.
What's really going to piss me off is when they "fix" the hacks but not the non-compliance... AND on top of it they support some CSS 3 stuff in a non-standard way so we can go through this all over again when IE 8 comes out.