I like IE 7, they did this to compete with Firefox.

I like Firefox also, but it doesn't always work with all the websites that I need to use, thus having IE as backup is a good idea.

IE 7 is more like Firefox in that its tabs are up, not down.
You have more "new pages" vs tabs taking up spaces at the bottom

but I think most people don't "update" their XP, that could be where the problems come in...

try updating your XP to the latest updates(SP1 and SP2, and I think it is up to SP4 depending...)

then install the IE7

but always make sure you export your favorites as a backup plan

to export favorites:

goto: File>>>import/export>>>next>>>export favorites>>>Select your folder(just keep it as it is and click NEXT)>>>save it to somewhere you can find it, I usually save it to my desktop but save it wherever you'd like

to bring it back, you do the same thing, but import instead

if you ever have to reinstall your computer and are afraid to lose your favorites, keeping your export favorites handy can save you a lot of troubles

you can also save it to a flash drive and import it to everywhere you'd like, laptops, desktops, friends' puter that you are visiting(just make sure you delete it afterwards as a courtesy)