Windows Vista: No IE10 for you

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Windows Vista: No IE10 for you

Microsoft follows pattern it set last year when it denied IE9 to XP users, says IE10 is only for Windows 7

Computerworld - Microsoft's new browser, Internet Explorer 10 (IE10), will not run on Windows Vista, either now in its developer preview form or when the software ships, the company confirmed today.

The decision makes Microsoft the first browser developer to drop support for Vista, and follows the move last year when it announced Windows XP would not run IE9, the browser that went final four weeks ago.

In release notes published Tuesday, Microsoft said that users need to run the IE10 Platform Preview on Windows 7 RTW -- the designation for the original 2009 release of the OS -- or Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). The latter started reaching users on Feb. 22.

Windows 7 RTW must be updated before it's able to run IE10, said Microsoft.

When Vista users try to install the IE10 preview, they see a dialog box that reads, "Windows Internet Explorer Platform Preview does not support any operating system earlier than Windows 7," after which the installation process terminates.

Windows XP users see the same message when they attempt to install IE10.

Wednesday, Microsoft confirmed that the new browser is intended only for Windows 7.

Source and full article: Computerworld

Edited April 14, 2011 by Growled
Shortened article length

[Fish]

Question: Is this cynical marketing by Microsoft, or is there a technical reason why IE10 won't run on Vista?

[yowanvista]

I would be possible to modify IE10 and make it work on win vista since vista is almost identical to the win 7 codebase

[Jan Veteran]

Pointless imo for Microsoft to not support Vista.

[firey]

well, I guess it's one step in moving forward, however I doubt IE10 will be a major jump from IE9, so it's not like Vista is stuck with IE6, 7, or 8. Also, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc all run on XP, Vista, 7... however I can't get Chrome to run on Longhorn...

[Jen Smith]

Hrm. I don't use Vista or IE, but I don't quite get that, not being snide but maybe somebody can explain it. I can totally understand dropping XP, some major differences under the hood, but what's missing in Vista that would make IE not run? Surely it can't just be jumplists and the like.

Last month, Dean Hachamovitch, who leads the IE team, went so far as to say that rivals -- presumably meaning Google and Mozilla -- "dilute their engineering investments" by creating browsers for the Mac, Linux and Windows XP.

Worrying about XP mayyyyyyyybe, but pretending that Mac and *Nix systems don't exist is just putting your head in the sand hoping they go away.. that's just silly.

[+dave164 Subscriber¹]

Whilst I think that Vista is a bit to new to not support, by the time IE10 is released Win 8 will be released I reckon, so technically it's still keeping in time with their current thing of "no later then 2 OS's".

Last month, Dean Hachamovitch, who leads the IE team, went so far as to say that rivals -- presumably meaning Google and Mozilla -- "dilute their engineering investments" by creating browsers for the Mac, Linux and Windows XP.

What MS seem to be getting at recently is that a browser should be native to that OS of choice as opposed to having to make perf compromises so it can be run cross-platform. I think with IE thats okay, but not the competitors.

[.Neo]

What important APIs does Windows 7 have that are unsupported by Windows Vista relevant to Internet Explorer?

[mad_onion]

Hmm, strange. I can't imagine there is a technical reason...

[PGHammer]

Pointless imo for Microsoft to not support Vista.

There's a very good reason why Microsoft is not supporting Vista with IE10 - any PC that can run Vista can run 7.

While there are XP-based PCs incapable of running Vista (or 7), going from Vista to 7 (from a technical POV) is more a crossgrade than an upgrade. For low-RAM configurations (2 GB or less) it may make better sense to run 7 than Vista, due to more efficient memory usage.

Vista is a speedbump enroute to 7 IMHO at this point.

[vincent]

Just trying to move more people to Windows 7

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

What important APIs does Windows 7 have that are unsupported by Windows Vista relevant to Internet Explorer?

I think it comes down to this:

(from http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PNα=Windows+Vista&Filter=FilterNO)

By the time IE 10 goes final Windows Vista will be out of mainstream support and in the extended support cycle.

[spudtrooper]

Hrm. I don't use Vista or IE, but I don't quite get that, not being snide but maybe somebody can explain it. I can totally understand dropping XP, some major differences under the hood, but what's missing in Vista that would make IE not run? Surely it can't just be jumplists and the like.

Worrying about XP mayyyyyyyybe, but pretending that Mac and *Nix systems don't exist is just putting your head in the sand hoping they go away.. that's just silly.

Its probably going to be DirectX 12 / CPU / GPU/ APU enhancements that just aren't feasible to back port to vista because of vista being a wddm version behind even 7. CPUs are undergoing a paradigm shift and Microsoft is moving back to multiple architecture - arm/x86 and who knows what else.

Microsoft obviously has a browser performance strategy that they plan to take advantage of their OS strategy to enable. Risky in some ways, but powerful in others.

[BajiRav]

What important APIs does Windows 7 have that are unsupported by Windows Vista relevant to Internet Explorer?

It's not APi restriction, Vista reaches end-of-mainstream support in Apr 2012. If they add IE10 support, that also extends mainstream support.

[Yorak]

Just trying to move more people to Windows 7

You think? I had no idea what they were doing until you filled me in.

[kiddingguy]

By the time IE10 is out, it's 2012... so 5/5.5+ years after Windows Vista was released.

And... Windows 7 is superior to Windows Vista.

I get MS's choice.

[Jen Smith]

Ah-ha, guess I wasn't the only one who didn't count on the extended support date for Vista. That makes a lot more sense.

[BajiRav]

It will be actually funny if there are people holding on to Vista at that point for whatever reason. :laugh:

[.Neo]

I think it comes down to this:

Seems a bit silly when it comes down to two operating systems that are nearly identical to each other.

[Rigby]

I still can't get used to the idea that next year is 2012. When someone said IE10 would be out then the first thing I thought was "It's going to be years before we get IE 10?". :laugh:

[remixedcat]

the thing is people had to install SP2, the platform update and the platform update suppliment to even use IE9 on vista anyways, steps that most people would NOT be willing to take, they would give up and go to FF4.

so IE9 really did not work for vista natively.

and some people (10-30%) of vista users do not have a service pack installed so those people would have to install SP1, then SP2, then PU, then PU-S to get IE9, making it a day's work. Not to mention possible issues with those SPs.

so calling it support for vista is really a no without a good bit of work.

[Quillz]

Just trying to move more people to Windows 7

And you're surprised by this?

It will be actually funny if there are people holding on to Vista at that point for whatever reason. :laugh:

I imagine a few people will still be running Vista.

[Southern Patriot]

It will be actually funny if there are people holding on to Vista at that point for whatever reason. :laugh:

Well, considering that Windows 7 (at retail) was only released 1.5 years ago, there are probably lots of people with fairly recent computers who have it. Even if it is another year before IE10 is released, that still leaves some 2.5 year old computers without it. Contrary to popular belief (around here at least), most consumers only ever upgrade their OS when buying a new computer, and especially in this economy they aren't likely to be buying new computers every 2 years.

[DukeEsquire]

Are any Vista users really upset they can't use IE10? I haven't used IE since back when FireFox was called FireBird.

Manufactures try to get people to upgrade to the latest and greatest all the time.

The same reason Microsoft won't support Vista is the same reason phone carriers won't update their Android firmwares and Apple won't give some features to the iPhone 3G.

Technical? Maybe some slight differences, but mostly because they are slowly getting people to upgrade.

[Frylock86]

It will be actually funny if there are people holding on to Vista at that point for whatever reason. :laugh:

I HATE the new taskbar! SAVE VISTA!