IE7, Patches, Updates, Money And You

So it's been a week now of IE7 and you might be wondering when you may see official support from a non beta release of your fave AT software. Well here's a quick rundown of what I have gathered so far from those in the know ..

• JFW- 7.1: Well it sort of works. Much has been said on the lists about Virtual Cursor, Links Lists and some other sticking points. But honestly I don't recommend using JAWS 7.1 and IE7 for your daily work on your main machine. You can .. but good luck.
• JFW- 8.0: The real official support for IE7 comes with 8.0 now slated for a Novemberish 06 release. This is a paid upgrade and it's leaving the world of Windows 9x behind. Of course IE7 does that too so no big loss there.
• Magic- 10.0: Again like JAWS you *could* use 10.0 for IE7 but I don't recommend doing that either.
• Magic- 10.5: It's in beta now but it should release around the same time as JAWS 8.0. It's a free update and it's going to support IE7 when it comes on line on it's Novemberish release date.
  
• Window Eyes- 5.5: For the most part WE5.5 can work in IE7. Later beta releases added better support for IE7, however, you can use your current version of WE if you feel so compelled.
• Window Eyes- 6.0: So you know that the beta is out and you can use that for free in IE7. But the official release is a little on down the line and it will be a paid upgrade. Like others in the AT Industry this new generation of software bids a fond good bye to Windows 9x. So smoke'em if you got'em.
  
• Zoom Text- 9.03.1: Um.. it sort of works. To be honest it magnifies and tracks fairly well. No App Reader or other advanced features support though. So prepare to read from the clipboard .. a lot.
• Zoom Text- 9.04: This is a free update and it will support IE7. Now if it would just be released. Grrr. I'm told that it's a scant few weeks away though. Just not right this minute.. sigh.
  
• Dolphin Products- 6.0x: Some are good enough with the map files that making this version work with IE7 is so not an issue. But even with that said Dolphin will do a patch to add some official support to this version of their product line. This would be a regular Map update for free or download via yourdolphin.com.
• Dolphin Products- 7.0x: Same song different verse. Free updates are coming but no release dates have been spoken out loud.

So are you missing out if your not running IE7. The answer may surprise you. It all really depends on what you do on line with the net. Rumor going around the web is that if you like to view your secured data on the Social Security website you will need to upgrade soon, if not already, to IE7. But the flipside is that some major banking and E-comerce sites are IE6 only. Going to some of these sites gets you a neat little screen that says your browser is not supported by this site holder and you need *the latest* version of IE, being IE6, to view this page.

This kind of thing is unavoidable and it will be around for at least another six to nine months as IE7 begins it's roll out to consumers in mass. Part of the issue is that some sites use and exploit IE6 in ways that just aren't possible in IE7. Some of this is due to security flaws and others are Active X in nature. Bottom line is that IE7 will be the standard eventually and those sites will have to brush the crumbs off the Web Team and redesign their sites at some point. Lucky for all of us that this isn't a flip of the switch Terminator 2 "Come with me if you want to live" moment. Otherwise you would be asking Santa to leave you a SMA in your stockings this year.

In a semi related story..
Firefox 2.0 was released yesterday. No really the official real non Release Canidate version is out now for download. So if you want you could skip all this IE nonsense and start your troubles anew with wondering if your AT software works with this release of Mozilla's web browser. Ah the joys of Technical Support. They too need some big presents in their stockings this year to deal with all the calls pre Vista. And yes I can find just about any number of ways to slip a Vista refrence into just about any post on this blog.

If you like Firefox or you are just curious you can download it from this site..

www.spreadfirefox.com