Must Have Add-Ons for IE7
With your freshly installed Internet Explorer 7, take time to explore our library of add-ons. The IE Add-Ons website has over 400 add-ons registered to date, and many more are on the way. The IE7 team took the last few weeks (in between last minute bug fixes) to collect our must-have list below. All of the add-ons in our list are free to download, integrate well with IE7, and provide extraordinary functionality.
Stay Safe and Secure: Windows Defender is a must-have for anyone concerned about spyware and other forms of malware. Windows Defender identifies and removes spyware and other potentially unwanted software installed on your computers. Automatic download of signatures keeps you up to date on the latest threats. Anyone who's had to help their friends rebuild a PC after spyware infection will want this add-on everywhere.
Enhance the functionality of IE7: The great wealth of add-ons for IE includes a number of which add generic features to the browser. Two of these add-ons made our must-have list. IESpell adds spell-checking and dictionary lookup to any text typed into web forms. For those who have difficulty spelling (who doesn't?) it will save you time and again. Inline Search highlights text while-you-type searching within the current page. When you press Ctrl-F, a search bar is displayed on the bottom of the screen. IE highlights matches as you type. The inline search add-on has quickly become an integrated part of all my IE7 installations.
Share your favorite sites with friends and family: Social networking is the hallmark of "Web 2.0". Three of the most popular social networking sites have add-ons for IE7. Del.icio.us enables users to share links to their favorite sites, store hyperlinks in the cloud, and network with others interested in similar web sites. StumbleUpon helps users discover new web sites according to their interests. The StumbleUpon add-on always helps me find new sites. A third add-on, Trailfire, provides a truly unique new method of web navigation. By leaving "Trailmarks", which are essentially electronic notes, on individual web pages, users can lead their Trailfire contacts on an interpretive trail for the web. These three add-ons give IE7 users entirely new ways to experience the Internet.
Develop high-performance web applications: For web developers, two tools are absolutely invaluable: Fiddler and the IE Developer Toolbar. Fiddler is a general purpose debugging proxy, giving developers complete control of all the HTTP traffic between your computer and the Internet. The IE Developer Toolbar enables DOM exploration and modification, viewing of DOM element details, and has built in HTML, CSS, WAI, and RSS validators.
Enjoy Games and Entertainment: If you like to play casual online games, you will want to download the latest Shockwave. With dozens and dozens of Shockwave games on the Internet, you can enjoy both 3D and casual games, interactive training, and product demonstrations from within IE7. You should also download the latest Flash player to be up to date with stability and performance updates. The Flash player provides a compelling, expressive experience for your favorite interactive web sites.
Get quick access to your information: Both 1-Click Answers and the Windows Live Toolbar provide quick and easy access to your information from within the browser frame. The 1-Click Answers add-on works with Answers.com to provide a quick access dictionary and encyclopedia. Clicking on any word in a web page and choosing "Answers..." takes you to the latest information about that word. Once you start using it, you won't go back. In addition, the Windows Live toolbar's extensive gallery of buttons provide one-click access to maps, weather, and news. With these two tools, the answer to almost any question is only one click away.
Keep up to date on news and feeds: In the 24x7 news world, RSS helps you manage the surge of Internet news and information. The built-in support for RSS in IE7 enables web-based RSS-aggregators like Feed Demon by Newsgator and Bloglines to synchronize directly with the RSS store on your computer. When you install these add-ons, the RSS feeds you subscribe to within IE7 will automatically be made available to your web-based aggregation sites.
Share your story: Windows Live Writer, is the one-stop shop for all your blogging needs. In fact, this post was composed using Windows Live Writer. Compose, edit, save drafts, and publish all from a WYSIWYG interface, customized to the styles of your particular blog site. It supports any blog site that exposes Really Simple Discoverability, Metaweblog API, or Moveable Type API. When you install, it adds a button to the Windows Live Toolbar to provide one-click access to your blog. Windows Live Writer makes everything difficult about blogging (adding pictures, blogging to multiple sites) extremely easy.
The breadth of add-ons for IE7 is growing daily. Be sure to visit www.ieaddons.com, to install and share your reviews of your favorites.
Jeremy Epling
Program Manager
Edit: Adjusted links for Stumbleupon, IESpell and Inline Search
Comments
Anonymous
October 20, 2006
On pages that show the security bar I normally do not activate the content. But if I start filling in a form on a page, then realize it needs javascript to run validation, I enable it. But the problem is, as soon as I enable it, Explorer loses all of the data I entered! Is there not a better way to handle this?Anonymous
October 20, 2006
Hmmm. IE Addons still thinks IE7 is in beta.Anonymous
October 20, 2006
How do I get the "Your current security settings put your computer at risk. Click here to change your security settings." bar to not appear on every page. Also, how do I get the browser to not come up with a warning page. Without changing the security settings? I tried both email and phone and got no help.Anonymous
October 20, 2006
But...
- Half the stuff listed is paid stuff.
- They have a whole page of popup blockers, even though IE7 supposedly includes one. (And half of these cost money, too... $30 for a popup blocker anyone?)
- A whole page of form-fillers... shareware, naturally :-)
- Another page, this time with bookmark managers
- Etc etc Quite a different scene compared to AMO...
Anonymous
October 20, 2006
Hi, I upgraded from IE6 to IE7 today (I'm running XP SP2) and I consistently have the following issue: after selecting to delete my browser history, no files are deleted (inc. cookies)! Example Repro Steps [1] Open IE7 [2] Navigate to Yahoo!, sign in with a valid user [3] Navigate to several web pages [4] Select 'Tools', 'Delete Browsing History...', 'Delete all...', 'Yes' [5] Close & reopen IE7 (this step not necessary, but for completeness) [6] Navigate to Yahoo! [7] Expected result = not logged into Yahoo! [8] Actual result = still logged into Yahoo! with previously entered user details [9] Navigate to folder where temporary internet files are stored, folder is full of previous browsing history. Thus far, the only way I have successfully deleted any browser history is to manually delete the files. I find this behaviour very disturbing. Anyone else experiencing this? MS guys, can you provide info as to why this is happening? Thanks!Anonymous
October 20, 2006
would be nice to be able to move the tabs to the bottom of the page like excel or even the side of the page - think about it - more customization - it makes sense!Anonymous
October 20, 2006
best add-on is maxthon www.maxthon.comAnonymous
October 20, 2006
Why IE 7.0 on URL bar not "GO" button?! very bad!!!Anonymous
October 20, 2006
Linxinglu: there is. When you type something in the address bar, the refresh button becomes the go button.Anonymous
October 20, 2006
Windows live writer is definitly a nice tool for blogging !!Anonymous
October 20, 2006
@David Nayler I guess the lack of quality content is why they created the contest of creating better add-on's. A creative mind who can scratch some of the best extention functions from FF and combine with some nice new things might do well in such a contest.Anonymous
October 20, 2006
What IE7 needs, either built-in, or as an add on is the ability to put folders on your link bar and have them open all the contained webpages as tabs with one click. I realize you can do this by opening the favorites folder, right clicking a folder, and hitting "Open in Tabs" or the right arrow icon. However, that's 3 clicks versus the single click I can take to perform this action in Firefox by simply having the folder on my link bar.Anonymous
October 20, 2006
@Lance: The security warning message is there to warn you about settings configured to put your computer at serious risk. There is no mechanism to disable this warning. @harvey: What security information bar are you seeing, and on what site are you seeing it?Anonymous
October 20, 2006
One of the most interesting aspects of the IE vs. Firefox battle is the development of the ecosystem of extensions or add-ons. It’s not just about bugs and features. Right now Firefox had a great advantage in this space but you can see Microsoft trying to catch up. Microsoft has an interesting partner in Trailfire, a recommended download for IE7. See link: http://www.ieaddons.com/SearchResults.aspx?keywords=trailfire But this extension is also available for Firefox. See link: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3524/ I think the ecosystem in add-ons for Firefox and IE will decide who wins this battle. What do you think?Anonymous
October 20, 2006
Wow, a useless security warning that can't be disabled. Guess I'll go back to the old browsers.Anonymous
October 20, 2006
@Lance: I'm curious to learn about what scenario you're trying to achieve here? Is there a particular security setting that you need to have at an insecure value on a regular basis? Thanks!Anonymous
October 20, 2006
Not to be overly blunt or anything, but I'd rather see more focus on supporting developers (html, DOM standards support, etc) and less focus on add-ons. It's nice that folks are writing add-ons in an attempt to duplicate FF features missing in IE (spell check, inline find, etc), but there's no add-on for W3C support. The sad fact is that any user with the knowledge and rights (in the case of a corporate setting) to install IE add-ons would be better served by FF. Snarkiness aside though, if anyone's looking for a challenge, an IE version of Firebug would be great. Even with VS, client-side debugging in IE is no fun for anyone. I don't want to come across as overly critical, but surely it's at some level a concern that IE has lost so much web developer mindshare?Anonymous
October 20, 2006
With IE6 I could fit everything in one thin tool bar, even the Google toolbar would fit. IE7 takes up 3 and hogs the page. The top toolbar is waste of space with it's massive address bar and embedded SE... it's an obvious attempt for Microsoft to pawn their SE to the masses. I don't need IE7's embedded search, the Google toolbar does much more. And I like how I could compact IE6 to ONE slim bar. More is not better... just look at Google's page. Classic MS bloatware.Anonymous
October 20, 2006
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October 21, 2006
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October 21, 2006
Just a little advertisement: My own "find as you type" add-on is an alternative way to get interactive search in IE: http://www.ookii.org/software/findasyoutype It's free and it's open source (BSD license).Anonymous
October 21, 2006
Four more add-on ideas: (1) A way to report bugs in IE to a central bugzilla that is perpetually available to developers (Microsoft have closed down to their Feedback site at the key moment of deployment, albeit temporarily.) In theory I suppose such a bugzilla could even automate submission to whatever replaces the Feedback site. (2) An extension for Firefox I've got on the backburner is a context menu option that allows you to bookmark or copy the link to fragment identifiers (id or name). It looks for the most relevant fragment identifier (searching up the page for the nearest heading for example). This is especially handy when dealing with lengthy webpages (e.g. legal documents, critical editions, technical specifications). (3) XSLT transformations for web page accessiblity (as used by Emacspeak). (4) The ability to switch user stylesheets on and off.Anonymous
October 21, 2006
Less is better, as David said, the top toolbar is a waste, even netscape allows you to minimize the top toolbar header.Anonymous
October 21, 2006
@Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis: I'm not sure I understand your complaint about the Accept-Language header? IE already permits the user full-control of the Accept-Language header via the Languages button in the Internet Control Panel.Anonymous
October 21, 2006
David and Milo In IE7 the F11 works much better for full screen support. It eliminates the Title bar and shortly after the Menu Bars will rollup. Then you can run your mouse to the top of the screen to get the Menu Bar to pop up again. For those that like to use their own security settings; I haven't figured out how deactivate the "Your current settings put your computer at risk..." garbage but I have figured out how to get it to go to the home screen with the annoying security message. Open regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain and find the entry "Security Risk Page". Rename the entry "Security Risk Page" to "~Security Risk Page" and exit regedit. The next time you open IE7 it will bypass the message and go directly to your home site.Anonymous
October 21, 2006
HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSecurityDisableSecuritySettingsCheck DWORD 0x1Anonymous
October 21, 2006
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October 22, 2006
I am not sure if this is the correct forum, however is there an "add-on" which will allow me to go to an e-mail link? E7 comes up with an error saying that "x" or whatever is not a path or doesn't exist. I would like some of these to work since I am looking for a job. Should I just go be to IE6? Thanks. wlt.Anonymous
October 22, 2006
A more recent version of Inline Search is available on http://www.ieforge.com/InlineSearch.Anonymous
October 22, 2006
@william T.: Normally, I'd direct you to file a bug, but Microsoft have closed down the bug tracker for the moment. In any case, whenever reporting any problem connected with a web browser, you should try and provide link/URL to a web page where you experience the problem. As it happens, it is trivial to verify that ordinary mailto anchors work fine in IE7 so there probably is something wrong with the page you tried or with your email client setup. Perhaps you could give us a link and also let us know if it works okay in other browsers like Firefox and Opera?Anonymous
October 22, 2006
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October 22, 2006
@William T.: Click Tools>Internet Options>Programs and choose your mail program.Anonymous
October 22, 2006
Make the toolbar smaller, like IE 6.0. IE 7's toolbar is way too big.Anonymous
October 22, 2006
How about a 'refresh every' tool like Opera has. It's very useful when monitoring forums etc.Anonymous
October 22, 2006
Mo's Post: Hi, I upgraded from IE6 to IE7 today (I'm running XP SP2) and I consistently have the following issue: after selecting to delete my browser history, no files are deleted (inc. cookies)! Example Repro Steps [1] Open IE7 [2] Navigate to Yahoo!, sign in with a valid user [3] Navigate to several web pages [4] Select 'Tools', 'Delete Browsing History...', 'Delete all...', 'Yes' [5] Close & reopen IE7 (this step not necessary, but for completeness) [6] Navigate to Yahoo! [7] Expected result = not logged into Yahoo! [8] Actual result = still logged into Yahoo! with previously entered user details [9] Navigate to folder where temporary internet files are stored, folder is full of previous browsing history. Thus far, the only way I have successfully deleted any browser history is to manually delete the files. I find this behaviour very disturbing. Anyone else experiencing this? MS guys, can you provide info as to why this is happening? Thanks! Dougiefresh's response: Clearing browsing history will not remove Temporary Internet Files, nor Cookies. Try clearing the Cookies, not the browser history. Then you won't be logged in anymore until you do so again.Anonymous
October 23, 2006
Out of interest now that IE7 is out, is the final version of the developer toolbar (currently still beta 2) going to appear?Anonymous
October 23, 2006
@ dracks > How about a 'refresh every' tool like Opera > has. It's very useful when monitoring forums > etc. Right click on any tab and click "Refresh All"Anonymous
October 23, 2006
What I meant by 'refresh every' is that it will refresh the pages automatically every x minutes depending on what has been set. Why can't IE7 have this function.Anonymous
October 23, 2006
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October 23, 2006
Can someone help me ? I am pretty frustrated that there is no Sidebar feature in IE7 ... I have yet to find a way to load mini pages on the side like Firefox allows me to do ... I am surprised that Microsoft did not implement such a solution in IE7 ... Firefox Sidebar is quite a nice option ... no installations are required and no need to develop per browser ... can any one answer what is the Firefox Sidebar equivalence in IE7 so I can quit telling my clients to only use Firefox ???Anonymous
October 23, 2006
Now if only Developer Toolbar supported LUA. Running under an administrator account just to write code seems like an overkill.Anonymous
October 23, 2006
yes the best addon you can get for IE7.. is MAXTHON! .. and then get some of the plugins for that.. man you don't know what you're missing if you just use IE7 on its own. Much better Tab browsing.. man why didn't the IE team just copy the features of it.. and look a decent Find tool.. http://forum.maxthon.com/index.php?showtopic=14552Anonymous
October 23, 2006
yes the best addon you can get for IE7.. is MAXTHON! .. and then get some of the plugins for that.. man you don't know what you're missing if you just use IE7 on its own. Much better Tab browsing.. man why didn't the IE team just copy the features of it.. and look a decent Find tool.. http://forum.maxthon.com/index.php?showtopic=14552Anonymous
October 23, 2006
IE7 should have included full ICC support. Also it should support WCS color support under Windows Vista. I read many photography websites, and sometimes converting a picture to sRGB changes it in less than desirable ways. IE5 for Mac supports ColorSync, why not do the same for Windows IE? Maybe I should write an add-onAnonymous
October 23, 2006
Hej folkens Faldt lige over dette post i IEbloggen - der er nogle ret interessante links til IE7 WithAnonymous
October 24, 2006
The Internet Explorer 7 Team posted an amazing list of must-have Add-Ins for IE7 . I'm using almost allAnonymous
October 24, 2006
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October 24, 2006
But where is the MOST needed plugin that Firefox has - Adblock? All inline searches etc. are only nice to have features but without adblock there is really no way to go to any public site with ads.Anonymous
October 24, 2006
Track Back :(http://exploit.blogosfere.it/2006/10/sicurezza_addons_per_internet_explorer_7.html)Anonymous
October 25, 2006
If you haven't heard by now, IE7 for Windows XP & 2003 was released on Thursday last week! CongratsAnonymous
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October 25, 2006
I found "Ad Muncher" , it does the same as adblock for Firefox. After taking adblock for granted for years, I wanted to try IE7 and was shocked. All pages were full of ugly ads, I was forgotten about adblock and used to it like everyone else so I thought: "IE7, sorry, no way!!!!" But then I found Ad Muncher , now the browser works ok. If I didn't found this little app, I would have switched back to FF for sure.Anonymous
October 26, 2006
I've just been attached by spyware. Will installing IE7 help? Does it have options to turn off all add-ins?Anonymous
October 26, 2006
Are there any FREE ad-blocking add-ons for IE7? Like others have mentioned here I've got so used to using AdBlock Plus in FF, that coming back to webpages with all of their ads is quite an unpleasant browsing experience. AdMuncher was mentioned above, but it costs $25.Anonymous
October 27, 2006
@Tim Yes, Admuncher isn't free.. But I don't think Microsoft will provide a free adblocker because they make a lot of money out of ads. So someone should write a 3rd party addon. I think they realize that most FF users won't switch over because they got used to an ad-free browsing experience. Still they have the biggest community using IE because a lot of people simply don't know about other browsers... they buy a PC and are happy to find the IE button to start using the web without any knowledge so I don't think Microsoft will care about FF users ( I think)and just want you to see those ads. greetings, Amp.Anonymous
October 27, 2006
As a web developer, I find "iMacros" very useful for testing websites: http://www.ieaddons.com/AddOn.aspx?cid=2&scid=68&aid=8dac5f97-f224-47d7-b983-a4aab7b0cb53Anonymous
October 27, 2006
i checked the website http://www.ieaddons.com and found a small issue. its not a great find but just doesnt look good. try searching for ignore only words like 'the', 'if', it throws an exception, and the error message is displayed as it is. i tried to see if i could contact the webmaster but there was no such link. i hope this message reachs the intended.. cheerz, VaibhavAnonymous
October 29, 2006
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October 29, 2006
And once more - please, make the maximized windows keep ther maximized size. Why does the program constantly open new windows in as a normal window, instead of maximized?Anonymous
October 31, 2006
Has anyone found any cool add-ons for IE7 yet? I saw some clocks and a counter that displayed how much of your PC was being used at any one time. However, I didn't download them when I had the chance. I'm looking for cool gadgets like that. Help!Anonymous
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November 07, 2006
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