The
improved version focuses on security enhancements, but Microsoft
has given few details about the product's features. A spokesperson
for the company declined to comment on features or technologies
in IE7 for this article.
However, the browser's development team has shed some light
on the software on Microsoft's Internet Explorer blog.
"We currently plan to make IE7 available for Windows XP
SP2 and later," said a recent posting. This means that
the browser will support both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of
Windows.
The blog stopped short of addressing questions about support
for Windows 2000 users, although the earlier statements imply
that those users will not be able to use the upcoming version
because they lack the security enhancements in SP2.
Next to XP, Windows 2000 is the version of the operating system
with the highest number of deployments, according to Joe Wilcox,
a senior analyst with Jupiter Research.
Microsoft's decision to limit IE7 to Windows versions that have
SP2 makes sense, the analyst told vnunet.com.
"Microsoft has already made the decision that the security
enhancements [in SP2] would be for XP only. I would expect new
features in IE 7 as well, but the foundation is around security,"
he said.
