Fourth Letter, you are probably right and I simply was not aware of that feature in IE6. The new security features can best be summarized as follows:
Add-ons Disabled Mode
To help troubleshoot difficulties launching Internet Explorer or reaching specific websites, you have the ability to start in "No Add-ons" mode, where only critical system Add-ons are enabled.
ActiveX® Opt-in
Disables nearly all pre-installed ActiveX controls to prevent potentially vulnerable controls from being exposed to attack. You can easily enable or disable ActiveX controls as needed through the Information Bar and the Add-on Manager.
Security Status Bar
Enhances awareness of website security and privacy settings by displaying color-coded notifications next to the address bar. Internet Explorer 7 changes the Address Bar green for websites bearing new High Assurance certificates, indicating the site owner has completed extensive identity verification checks. Phishing Filter notifications, certificate names, and the gold padlock icon are now also adjacent to the address bar for better visibility. Certificate and privacy detail information can easily be displayed with a single click on the Security Status Bar.
Address Bar Protection
Every window, regardless of whether it's a pop-up or standard window, will present an address bar to the user, helping to block malicious sites from emulating trusted sites.
An additional feature will be added with Vista:
Protected Mode
Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista runs in isolation from other applications in the operating system. Exploits and malicious software are restricted from writing to any location beyond Temporary Internet Files without explicit user consent.
ExodusCrow, you are also correct about both the Printing and Zoom modes being very useful.
Advanced Printing
Automatically scales a printed webpage so that it's not wider than the paper it will be printed on. Internet Explorer 7 also includes a multi-page print preview with live margins, resizing text to avoid document clipping, and an option to print only selected text.
Page Zoom
Enlarge or zoom in on individual webpages, including both text and graphics, to either focus on specific content or to make content more accessible to those with vision limitations.
I also mentioned that, in my opinion, "It doesn't blow Firefox away, but it is much better than IE6." I said that I would probably run two browsers for a while. (Also be aware that Firefox 2.0 will be out sometime in the near future.)
IE 7 has importance, not as an upgrade for XP, but because it is the browser version that will ship with Vista. Vista will be out before the end of the year and all new PCs will ship with it. Sooner or later, it will make its way onto our PCs and that is reason enough for me to try the Beta.
