Technolocigs Here! By Techno Girl: Should I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 or 8?

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July 10, 2009

Should I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 or 8?

Dear CNET members,

Happy Friday! First a quick announcement before we dig into Marty's question about whether he should upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 or 8 from 6. Well members, to serve you folks better, the CNET Laptops forum is now broken down into more specific laptop forum categories to allow for better organization of all laptop discussion topics. This will allow you to easily find the most relevant content that suits your topic of interest, and make it easier for you to find the most appropriate forum for you to post your laptop questions. So if you have a moment, please check them out and let me know what you think by posting here. Now let's jump right into this week's topic.

Well Marty, while the topic of upgrading to IE 7 or IE 8 can be debated, one thing is for certain that most of our members made very clear in response to your question: upgrade! Not just because it's outdated, but because there are a lot of security holes that will put you at risk. I know there are a lot of folks out there who still use IE 6, but if Internet Explorer is still your choice Web browser, do yourself a favor and upgrade to at least IE 7 for safer surfing and peace of mind.

There are a lot of great answers, opinions, and experiences shared on what browser people use, so read all your fellow members' posts. There are even suggested tips on how to prepare your system before doing an IE upgrade, so read up. And if you have some more to share on this topic, please feel free to join in and discuss. Take care, everyone, and have a great weekend.

Cheers!
- Lee

Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com

Lee Koo
CNET Community manager

Last week's question

Should I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 or 8?

Currently using Internet Explorer 6 with WIN XP SP 3 Home edition. I am wondering if I should upgrade to IE 7 or the new IE 8 version. My PC was custom built about two years ago with 2GB of RAM, a 3.4GHZ CPU, 160GB hard drive. All is working well, so I do not plan to upgrade OS or look for a new PC for a while to come.

I updated XP to SP3 recently, but I did not update to IE 7 because of the problems I had heard about. And I have stayed with IE rather then another browser as IE is so integrated with MS OS and other MS software.

Would you recommend upgrading IE to a newer version? What are the benefits of upgrading to these newer versions? If upgrading, which version would I be better off with, IE 7 or IE 8? And what if it doesn't work out, can I easily revert to IE 6 again? Or should I just forget upgrading all together and continue to use IE 6? Thank you for your input.

-- Submitted by: Marty M.

Featured member solutions
for last week's question:

"Yes, definitely upgrade!!"
-- Submitted by: Grimbles

"IE6 vs IE7/8 "
-- Submitted by: darrenforster99

"Upgrading Web browsers"
-- Submitted by: tehleetage

"Should you upgrade to IE 7 or 8? ABSOLUTELY! "
-- Submitted by: GEO2003

"E 7 ... Yes, absolutely. IE 8 is more open to debate"
-- Submitted by: Watzman

Read all member contributions

Thanks to all who contributed!

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Check out next week's question:

OEM inkjet cartridges vs. third-party ink cartridges and refills?

I get a lot of ads and see plenty of offers in stores for printer ink refills and refill kits, and third-party ink. Years ago I put supposedly compatible ink in a Canon printer, and not long after had to have the print head serviced. The tech warned me never to use non-Canon ink again. I have to admit with the high relative price put on genuine Canon ink cartridges, it is tempting to save some significant cash and try aftermarket cartridges again, especially after so many years since my bad experience.

Is the tech's warning just as valid in today's market, or are modern nonbranded inks and refills improved and less troublesome and just as compatible as OEM products? What are your experiences? Is there a cheaper alternative to OEM inkjet cartridges?

-- Submitted by: Joel A.

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