July 26, 2006 9:00 AM PDT
Microsoft tags IE 7 'high priority' update
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IE 7 will be delivered in the fourth quarter as a "high priority" update via Automatic Updates in Windows XP, Gary Schare, Microsoft's director of IE product management, said in an interview Tuesday. Automatic Updates is a Windows feature typically used for security updates, but Microsoft has also used it to push its antipiracy tool WGA Notifications.
"The justification, of course, is the significant security enhancements in IE 7," Schare said. Microsoft recommends that all Windows users install the new browser when it ships, he added.
IE 7 will be the first major update to Microsoft's ubiquitous Web browser in five years. Security was the No. 1 investment for the update, Microsoft has said. Critics have likened predecessor IE 6 to "Swiss cheese" because of the many security vulnerabilities in it. A third and final beta of IE 7 was released late last month.
Although IE 7 will be pushed out over Automatic Updates, people will be able to choose whether they want to install it or not, Schare said. Automatic Updates will first notify people when IE 7 is ready to install and then show a welcome screen that presents key features and the choices to install, not install or postpone installation.
Additionally, Microsoft on Wednesday plans to make available a special tool to block automatic delivery of the new browser version, Schare said. The tool is meant for business users who might not be ready for an IE update. Microsoft learned a lesson about this when it pushed out Service Pack 2 for Windows XP via the update function.
"Many enterprises out there have some users rely on Automatic Updates," Schare said. "Those typically want to have tighter management of any software that is going to do more than just patch a security vulnerability."
The free Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit will not expire and includes a template for use with Microsoft systems management software. It will be available from Microsoft's Download Center Web site, Schare said. "We're really trying to get the world ready for a major new browser release," he said.
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Electronics & Computers Deals here!
Updates. All our computers run Mozilla. We have IE locked on high
security, no cookies, and pointed to a non-existant proxy.
How about a kit to totally remove IE? THAT would be something of
real value.
I use Firefox, but we need to keep in mind that most people use IE.
This is exactly what they should be doing with the .Net frameworks but don't.
Instead, they make developers include an additional 25+ MB of .Net installs to your apps - bloating the installs and making distribution slower and more difficult.
MS says that the .Net framework is the future of Windows programming.
So, why aren't the .Net frameworks (all 4 of them) marked as "High Priority" and downloaded automatically?
As far as that goes, why don't all MS Apps update themselves automatically? Thousands of freeware apps do it everyday - why doesn't MS?
I have 4 different Hotmail accounts configured in OE and it works great. But after installing IE 7, this functionality is lost. If you have Outlook Express, and use it to retreive email from a Hotmail account, try installing IE 7 Beta - you will find that you can no longer retreive email from your Hotmail account. This is why I am sticking with IE 6 and will disable automatic updates and NEVER upgrade to IE 7 - until they fix it so I can still get my Hotmail with Outlook Express!
Either way, I get to choose, and not the OS maker Enjoy your enforced updates, suckers...
My bank and credit card companies will not allow me ACCESS to their websites without a FINAL browser version.
No beta or test version of a browser like
MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER 7 (test or beta)
is what I'm talking about.
I would like to accept the #7, but the # 6 has all the automatic upgardes, and I'm happy with that.
As a matter of fact, I have all the MICROSOFT UPGRADES, and I'm still happy.
so my IE will remain the same thank you.
If some of you think that I could install the IE7 beta, and still use the IE6, and have them both work separately, you have no pennies in your pocket.
Do you have a solution, like do a partition, and keep one on one drive, and the test on another, etc., etc..
Now you have no pennies in your bank account, because you can't get there on the internet.
anyway, I'm just joshing you all.. all level headed solutions accepted. thanks
Binding IE6 to Windows was bad enough but calling IE7 a 'critical update'is a bit to far.
If it is so good why can't users just download it for themselves and see if they like it.
Mozilla really got them going on this one!
Oh and, Camino forever!
All this is no different than IE7. They both download as updates and both give an option not to install.
And it's not just the browser. Yahoo messenger downloads newer versions automatically. iTunes does the same. What's the big deal here? If it gives better functionality and more security, why not do it?
IE does have big faults when it comes to standards, addings silly quirks to things coded correctly (like three pixel margin bugs, etc). So fustrating when a properly-coded website works perfectly in all other browsers tested, then you turn to IE and groan. Web designers have joked that if you're not asking yourself "Why is IE doing that?" on a somewhat-frequent basis, you aren't really a web designer
The designers here tested the IE 7 beta a while ago and while it isn't perfect, it's a step in the right direction as it didn't trip up on a site that looked fine in Firefox/Safari (and completely broke in IE 6).
If you bought you copy or it came with your name brand machine, you don't have anything to worry about.
If your job cut corners and installed one copy of xp all over the place or your custom made pc was loaded with a pirated copy of windows, then you'll have problems.
In the end, you still have choice. You can use Firefox or Opera. Both are free, although it's Firefox that's the memory hog, and not IE7. Actually, if you want to get technical, Opera uses the least amount of memory, runs faster, and is now a free download.
So, when it comes to browsers, pick one, keep it updated and always use a firewall.
Legislation is needed to demand that bug fixes are released as such as mandated by most consumer contract law (demanding you get what you pay for). If you paid for a functional reasonably safe browser you shouldn't have to accept new "upgrades" to get what you paid for originally.
They should maintain the EXACT same feature set and release bug fixes for that feature set to make it work properly.
Geopilot
http://www.globalboiling.com
because the warming already happened
- Uh...
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by DarkPhoenixFF4
July 28, 2006 11:43 PM PDT
- Microsoft is part of the consortium that sets the web standards. That being said, they choose to ignore the standards they themselves have a hand in creating. As for "deciding that the standards set forth by the browser that has over 90% of the browser market is either inadequate or unreasonable", the first CSS, DOM and HTML standards used IE as a base, because at that time IE's way of doing things was better than Netscape's. The problem came when Microsoft chose to shut down IE development for 6 years, assuming the Internet would shut down with them. These standards people have been screaming about? CSS2 was finished in 1998. DOM2 in 1999 or so. HTML4 in 1996, and XHTML around 2000. There have been major version releases of IE since then, but none of them have upgrades in this direction.
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