Since Microsoft's Internet Explorer is still the browser favoured by the vast majority of internet users, this new version is going to send waves around the web for some time.

Most of those who use alternatives, such as Opera, Firefox and Safari, will no doubt bemoan the lack of anything obviously original compared to their browser of choice.

Starting the browser for the first time prompts whether or not to change the default search engine from the standard Viewpoint search. Six other web search providers are listed and it is possible to add your own.

Other optional settings include the Phishing Filter and whether or not you want to be involved in the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program.

The interface hasn't changed from the Beta with the menu bar removed (though it can be restored) and the new tabs. Existing Internet Explorer icons are kept from the previous version.

Web pages can now be shrunk to fit onto a page of A4 when printing; it seems remarkable that this has taken so long to include but at least shrink to fit is now the default action.

The popularity of RSS feeds is highlighted by Microsoft deciding to show them in a human-friendly format. RSS feeds can also be subscribed to as part of the Internet Favourites section, while the Feed view has a search box that dynamically hides individual posts as the search terms are met.

A very welcome addition is the support for add-ons. As has been learnt with Firefox, offering users the choice of adding extra features is hugely popular, and something that's still lacking in Opera.

There are plenty of add-ons already available for Internet Explorer but, unlike with Firefox, they're not all free. An example of a free add-on is Bloglines, which allows an RSS subscription to be added with a single click.

If you want to view the page source code, it still appears in notepad. It seems Microsoft isn't impressed by the colour-coded source viewer of Firefox or the way Opera reloads the page with changes made in the source code.

Anyone interested in more depth may find the developer blog a worthwhile addition to their RSS feeds.

There is no doubt that Internet Explorer 7 is a vast improvement over previous versions. It also must be said that many of the features missing compared to Firefox and Opera, such as the source code viewer, are of more interest to web developers than ordinary users.

Also consider:
Mozilla Firefox 2
Although lacking some features compared to Opera, it makes up for this with extensions and ease of use

Browzar
Protect your web surfing with this privacy conscious browser

Flock
A quality browser with extra features for bloggers