why i like IE7 (old post)

I just downloaded the new version of internet explorer for windows xp. While there were some guys who started complaining that one security hole was already discovered it it, I was trying to concentrate on other things…
The first thing I noticed was that it is faster than IE6.. I don’t know if I am just imagining things but try using Orkut on IE7 and tell me if its not faster!
The other thing I noticed (and I specifically wanted to talk about this) is the clean uncluttered interface and user-friendliness. This is exactly what sets Microsoft products apart from their competitors… especially other open-source or freeware products. IE7 hardly has anything in the window which you won’t use for browsing. Even the Menu bar is hidden by default! Instead, there is are just 2 buttons replacing the earlier Tools and Edit menu(and that star button for favourites). Honestly.. When was the last time you used any other menu other than these 3? All this has given more space for the webpage display… and that really counts. Tabbed browsing is fast and easy.. unlike the Windows Live(MSN) toolbar and the earlier beta versions of IE7. I really like this feature: If you have multiple tabs open, you can preview all the tabs at once. And there is the inbuilt search box.
When I downloaded this new browser, I was trying to think of a website to surf just so that I can use this browser: THAT is called user-friendliness. I don’t want hifi tools and plugins or lots of buttons which can do lot of things. I wan’t a simple and fast browser, and that’s exactly what IE is. This is esssentially the reason why windows is still the preferred OS over linux for the desktop: USER-FRIENDLINESS!! My message to all the programmers out there: User friendliness is what sets a program apart from the others, not added functionality, not hifi tools, not open-source code.. Most of these stuff just COMPLICATES your program to the end-user. In the end, what the user wants is EASE OF USE of your application and that’s all that matters!