by Ryan Budiman

Created on: March 12, 2009

The new Internet Explorer 7 from Microsoft comes with a new interface. It wasn't like the ordinary IE 6 or below, the familiar menu bar was replaced by the tabs bar. This doesn't mean that you can not access the menus anymore, Microsoft engineers have decidedly put several buttons that can be used by us. These buttons provide the commands you will most often use, like cleaning the Temporary Internet Files, so you can still enjoy surfing the Net eventhough you have the Menu Bar hidden. You won't be needing Edit > Copy when you can just press [CTRL]+C!

But unfortunately, these buttons (like the Tools or Page button) will not show the full and comprehensive menu as you'll find in the usual Menu Bar. Don't worry though, there are several ways to redisplay the 'hiding' Menu bar.

- Method 1: Using the [ATL] key -

First of all, if your need is only to access a menu item once, you can tap the [ALT] button on your keyboard to display the menu bar. Using this method, the bar will be hidden again once you have executed a command from it. This is more convinient than to display and hide the Menu Bar after you are finished using it.

- Method 2: Right clicking -

The next way to display the Menu Bar is simply to right-click an empty space in the Tab Bar; if it is full with websites, right-clicking on the space near the buttons will also do. A menu will pop out, click on the 'Menu Bar' option. To hide it, click it again.

- Method 3: Using the Tools button -

You can also click (left-click) the Tools button and select 'Menu Bar'. As always, you can hide it by opening the menu clicking on it again. This method will give the same effect as the one before.

- Method 4: Using 'View' -

Clicking on the 'View' at the left side of the window will present you with a list of options. Choose the 'Toolbars' submenu and click 'Menu Bar'.

Although there are some other methods to display the Menu Bar, these three that are stated above will be the most common methods you will find when using Internet Explorer 7.

As you can see by yourself, the Internet Explorer developers wanted to give us a slightly different 'taste' when using the new IE 7 compared with IE 6 and below. This sort of things is what makes them 'unique'; where else can you see a browser with no Menu Bar? But one thing for sure, the new interface was not intended to confuse both new and exprienced users; in fact, there are many ways on how to display the Menu Bar.

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