Microsoft will be offering their latest Internet Explorer 7 update starting today, October 4, 2007 at 9:00am Pacific Time. This latest build addresses some of the concerns that users have asked Microsoft to correct and which the company has stated they are in fact listening. What is surprising is that in this update, according to Microsoft, their with be no WGA requirements. Interesting.

According to the information I received this morning, IE 7 will have the following features:

We are excited to share the latest news from the IE7 Product team that will impact consumer and developers, as Microsoft continues to take steps to help make consumers safer online by making the Internet Explorer 7 web browser more accessible to all Windows XPSP2, x64 Server and Windows Server 2003 users.

Microsoft takes its commitment seriously in helping protect the entire Windows ecosystem. Security enhancements to Internet Explorer 7 include a built-in Phishing Filter that prevents an average of 900,000 visits per week to known phishing Web sites. Additionally, Internet Explorer 7 is the first and only browser to natively support Extended Validation SSL Certificates to help prevent online fraud.

Internet Explorer 7 makes it safer and easier to accomplish everyday tasks online. It has a streamlined look and enhanced capabilities that make everyday tasks — such as tabbed browsing that makes browsing multiple sites easier— simple and fast.

The primary modification consumers will notice is the Menu bar is turned on by default. For first time users, the first-run experience includes a new, easily accessible Internet Explorer 7 overview, and the on-line Internet Explorer 7 tour has been updated to include how-to’s on great new features like tabbed browsing. This is an update to the availability of Internet Explorer 7 and not a new version of the browser.

If you wish to continue to block IE 7 and have not previously used the toolkit to disable the delivery via WU, you will find the toolkit here.

This is only for those who have not used the toolkit before.
Comments welcome.

Tags: microsoft, internet explorer 7, ie7, update