Microsoft has announced it plans to offer IE8 via Windows Update.In a move that will likely anger rivals such as Apple and Google, Microsoft will be pushing Internet Explorer 8 via Windows Update. Google raised concerns back in 2006 when IE7 was originally released via Windows Update. Apple received negative press last year when it tried to push Safari to iTunes users. Many users never had Safari installed but it was listed under Apple's software update program for install.
The IE8 update will be released as the highest priority update for each operating system. For Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, it will be listed as Important. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, the update will be listed as High Priority. Delivery of IE8 via AU will begin after Microsoft make IE8 available from the Microsoft Download Center. Of course, users can always decline to install IE8 through AU when it is offered.
Microsoft has also provided a blocking tool for enterprises to block the forthcoming Internet Explorer 8 release.
It's not yet clear exactly when Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 8 but Microsoft officials may have more to say at this years CES.
yeah, with an xp install, IE7 is definitely available through windows update
The things people complain about these days... you can always press no, don't install IE 8!
The other browsers can be made to automatically update themselves (obviously not via Windows Update).
The only concern would be if IE8 made itself the default browser without asking the user.
Of course is web developers had a brain they'd code for a standard and at least QA on all browsers. But that would be the smart thing to do.
They've got nothing (new) to complain about with this. IE is already installed on each and every one of the machines that will be affected by this IE8 automatic update. IE8 should be classified as a security update to the version of IE on that machine.
Google shoving their "update" service every way they can.
As long as it doesn't make the browser default without asking, no problem whatsoever.
And I don't see anything wrong with the browser getting updated using windows update :p
Search for "PNG Fix" and you'll find tons of examples and plugins.
Search for "PNG Fix" and you'll find tons of examples and plugins.
Try using one of those PNG fixes with MSIE 6 on a workstation with no admin access.
maybe i'm the odd one out.
but i still use Firefox for pron.....
They do the same thing with Software Update on OSX and Windows.
Absolutely! I only have Flash restricted so that it only works on youtube.com.
Come on Neowin. Don't you have ANY editorial policy at all?!
In fact, this seems no different to me from the release of IE7 for XP over AU.
EDIT: Yep, they did. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.as...isplayLang%3den - "Toolkit to Disable Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 7"
I just see this as "non-news" because it's literally the exact same process as with IE7 2 years ago.
Thank you for adding it now in the first line.
I've addressed the rest of your comments in response to your private email.
The complaints have been about bundles to marginalize competition, not Microsoft upgrading their own software. :p
I didn't see much of Google, Apple, or Mozilla complaining about Microsoft upgrading IE 6 to IE 7...
It should be high priority if it is more secure.
Anyway, Apple push Safari in a similar way.
But it does have security benefits that effect all parts of windows tbh.
I just like the idea of being able to use WSUS to deploy it simply.
Howso?
The rendering engine is a system component used by a large number of applications, and it has obvious security benefits in being pushed like this.
Unfortunately,
Last time I reinstalled Windows, I installed version with SP3 slipstreamed, so automatically had IE7. Luckily, on wifes computer, I went with a disc that only had SP2 slipstreamed. It DOES NOT and WILL NOT have IE7.
Of course,
Neither my wife, kid, or myself use IE much anyway!! Again, not because I hate MS though!!
But please, for the sake of web developers everywhere, don't use IE6.
LOL - U can change this settings...
Even bigger LOL - IE7 is not included in SP3...
And everybody should remember that it is their business to have as
recent version of IE on their Windows as possible, simply because
even if u use other browser, IE rendering component (mshtml)
is used by many apps... So, for example, with exploited version
of IE, your GoogleTalk, WMP, Valve Steam client, LimeWire is exploited also...
Try to delete mshtml.dll (Trident layout engine file) from ur system32
directory and see how many apps will refuse to work...
Anyhow, if you have IE, you should generally keep it up to date for security reasons.
If Apple pushed a webkit or Safari upgrade for OSX, I don't think anyone would care either.
The choices are there, they are better-known every day. We no longer have a situation where the IE juggernaut obscures everything else.
I suppose you can say that, yes. After all, we had Netscape.
IE never had a marketshare that obscured everything else?
http://www.onestat.com/html/aboutus_pressbox4.html (April 2002)
IE had a marketshare of 96.6%, per the study at that time period.
Sounds overwhelmingly dominating to me. But I suppose you can always fall back to the position that you consider only 99.0% to be obscuring everything else.
On the contrary, it was not OK for Apple to pushed Safari through Apple Update, when I only had iTunes installed.
"In a move that will likely anger rivals such as Apple and Google..."
There's no source for this supposition except the fact that Google were angry when Microsoft released IE7 - which wasn't because of a lack of choice over browsers, but because IE7 shipped with MSN Live Search as default. I believe that, when installed, IE8 continues to use the search engine set as default by the user in IE7 so this shouldn't anger Google.
As for why this would anger Apple I have no idea...
I haven't tried the betas, but I am 100% sure it is better than IE6, and quite a leap over IE7. I stopped using IE due to IE7's release and just how horrible it was. Now that Firefox is moving in a direction that I really don't like, I will probably switch back to IE8 when it is release.
So I welcome it via AU, as I really don't pay to much attention when this or that is released...
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/01/0...able-today.aspx
Mountains out of molehills.
Not really, it is available as an optional update, it is my choice to install it or ignore and I choose to ignore it
However; I did have some problems:
Flash: I experienced problems with some sites that use highly interactive Flash (like GoDaddy's FTP Client).
CSS: I tried testing some of our sites in IE 8 and found some differences with CSS which I was able to compensate for.
AJAX: CollapsiblePanel does not work properly with the ExpandDirection set to "Horizontal"
ASP.NET: DropDownList control triggered the Popup blocker. (That's the last straw, .NET is Microsoft, IE is Microsoft, why do they make their own products incompatible?)
Long story short, I uninstalled and went back to IE 7 for XP Pro. when i couldn't tell if I had a code problem or if it was IE8 disfunctionality.
I say, if you are adventurous, try it (you can uninstall to go back to ie7). Otherwise, if it aint broke don't fix it, waiting as long as possible before "Upgrading" (which it is not an upgrade, it was a complete gut and re-write. Firefox upgrades, IE re-creates).
P.S. For those using IE7 or IE8, check out http://www.ie7pro.com/ it has features like Mouse Gesture, Spell Check, URL alias, just to name a few.
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.