Should I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7?

Q I have been given an old Dell Inspiron 1200 laptop that has Internet Explorer 6 installed. Should I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 and is this difficult to do?

Peter Baker

A As Internet Explorer is an integral part of Windows, until Windows 7 that is, installation will be very simple as it is included in Windows Update.

In fact, Internet Explorer 7 is now a required update so it will install automatically. The most inconvenient part of the process is the need to restart the PC. You may also consider upgrading to Internet Explorer 8, which may be offered in Windows Update rather than Internet Explorer 7.

This applies to Windows XP, but if this is a particularly old computer supplied with Windows 2000, Internet Explorer 7 is not available to install. For a number of reasons, including security and the ability to display web pages properly, we recommend installing Firefox.

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