Microsoft has released an updated beta of its Internet Explorer 7 browser. 

The Beta 3 version offers improved security and reliability plus some new features, according to Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for Internet Explorer at Microsoft.

The new release also fixes a number of security issues found in the previous version, and Hachamovitch advised anyone currently testing the software to upgrade.

"Beta 3 also contains all the security fixes addressed in the June security bulletin, so we encourage all Beta 2 users to upgrade to Beta 3," Hachamovitch wrote on the Internet Explorer blog. 

Beta 3 offers better handling of RSS feeds, which can be updated on demand and can now mark all items as read.

Handling of tabs has also been improved, making it possible to re-order tabs simply by drag and drop.

Microsoft released the first public beta of Internet Explorer 7 in February. The final version is expected to ship in the second half of the year. 

The updated version is only available for Windows XP, although a Vista compatible version will be included in the next public beta release of the upcoming operating system.

German, Finnish, Arabic, and Japanese versions of Beta 3 are expected to launch in a few weeks.