Hello.

I revisited my Internet Explorer 7 Favorites guide now that Beta 2 is available. Previously, Beta 1 had two major issues: the favorites menu would crash and, if the menu was large, it would fill and obscure the screen. Thankfully, both problems seem resolved in Beta 2; the menu is scrollable like in IE6 and no longer crashes.

I've been testing Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 and noticed a significant improvement in font rendering, likely due to ClearType. The difference is subtle but noticeable, especially when comparing the BBC News website between Beta 1 and Beta 2. More info on IE7 changes can be found on the IE Blog.

I haven't been updating the list of feeds that don't work in IE7 lately. I've been in contact with Sean Lyndersay, a Lead Program Manager on the RSS team at Microsoft, about this. He confirmed that the feeds I listed should work in IE7 Beta 1 and suggested there might be a bug in the RSS rendering code. I've also noticed all feeds seem to be broken for me in IE7, which he thinks could be a configuration issue on my end. Sean said the RSS rendering code has been completely rewritten for Beta 2 and is hoping that fixes the issue. I am also looking forward to IE7 Beta 2. Thanks Sean!

Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 is now available for download to MSDN Universal subscribers. I'm excited about this release and will be posting examples soon. Check out the product page and the uninstallation instructions for previous versions if you plan to upgrade.