Internet Explorer 10 Preview For Windows 7 Now Available

Microsoft has officially released the "Preview Version" of Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7. This latest version of Microsoft's web browser made its debut with the Windows 8 consumer preview and later in the full blown releases of Windows 8 and Windows RT.

For the most part Windows 7 users won't see much of a difference between IE10 and IE9. Microsoft hasn't done much to change the UI and most of the significant changes were targeted mainly for the "metro" styling and touch friendliness of Windows 8. Some of the significant changes are largely about performance improvements and security rather than big features. The browser has support for more standards-based features, such as 3D transforms, transitions and animations in CSS, and HTML5 spell-checking. Microsoft has also worked on improving JavaScript performance.

Internet Explorer 10 adds more security with Do Not Track enabled by default and full support for HTML5 Sandbox technology. This feature allows developers and users to lock out specific attributes. Another main feature is an optional “Enhanced Protected Mode,” which completely locks down parts of the operating system that the browser typically doesn't need to access. For instance, with this protected mode enabled, the browser can't access your Documents folder unless you're performing a specific action, such as choosing a file through Explorer dialog. The idea is to keep documents safe even if an attacker has exploited a vulnerability in the browser or an add-on. This feature can be enabled through Internet Options > Advanced > “Enabled Enhanced Protected Mode.”

The Internet Explorer 10 Preview comes in both 32 and 64 bit variants and can be downloaded at the following links: 32-bit IE 10 Windows 7 and 64-bit IE 10 for Windows 7.

Microsoft is not providing a date as to when it expects to release the final version of IE10 for Windows 7. It's also not known if there will be additional preview builds before the final is out. Company officials say all of this will be determined by customer feedback.