If we take it for granted that Microsoft will keep its promise and deliver the first public beta version of the Internet Explorer browser in early 2006, it's fair to say that the final release should be available sometime next summer.

Dean Hachomovitch, General Manager of Microsoft's IE team, said that the plan is to make the browser available as soon as possible for testing purposes and receive proper feedback about IE7, see how users appreciate it, make sure they know how it works with their web sites, their applications, their add-ons, and how they use the web overall.

A first beta version of the company's next browser was made available in October only to a select number of testers through the Windows Vista Technical Beta Programme, MSDN and Technet.

The main innovations about the new generation of the IE browser are tabbed browsing, which is already very old news for competitors like Opera and Firefox, support for the IDN (International domain Name) and also for PNG (Portable Network Graphics) alpha transparency. The browser will make it easier to print pages directly from its main window. Another innovation relates to the way it will manage RSS news feeds.