As most people know, IE7 came out in the automatic updates for people across the world not too terribly long ago. While there are some positive things being said about IE7, the bulk of the response seems to indicate that the general user doesn’t like the changes. This is no surprise to usability experts who took a look at the IE7 betas.
IE7 is being repeatedly called ‘user-unfriendly’ and ‘difficult to navigate’. Most of the complaints about IE7 come back to the interface. I remember a long while back on the IE7 blog people were warning of poor usability. That IE7 had changed too many standard layout conventions in the new design, that the control organization for the browser wasn’t intuitive, and even that the color scheme was off and looked more like a combination of several looks thrown together in a blender. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft didn’t make changes to the layout, despite the feedback it received on the poor usability of the browser.
So now that IE7 was auto-installed on many systems, people across the Internet are asking how they can revert to IE6. Doing so is only one of several options you have in dealing with IE7.
If you would like to revert entirely to IE6, there is a discussion on CNET that details instructions on how to do so. In general, it should revert simply by using the Add/Remove programs option.
Yet there are those who prefer to keep the IE7 installed for the security updates, and yet still be able to use IE6 for browsing. If that is what you are trying to do, I suggest one of the two following options to download:
Choice 1) Head over to Evolt and download the IE6 standalone browser.
Choice 2) Go to Tredosoft and download the Multiple IE installer, which will let you choose as many older versions of IE as you would like to install and use.
Another option is simply to leave IE7 as it is, and go fall in love with Firefox or Opera. Hopefully, one of those options will help those people who are interested in using IE6 instead of or alongside IE7.
~Nicole
