Microsoft tags IE 7 'high priority' update

Microsoft plans to automatically push Internet Explorer 7 to Windows XP users when the browser update is ready later this year.

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.

[Bob Brinkman]

/flame on (eom)

eom

[intelliadmin]

Answer to the problem

Here is an article that details the solution to the problem:

http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/10/ie-7-breaks-outlook-hotmail.html

[rcrusoe]

Oh Great

Now we have to install a block kit to protect us from Microsoft
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.

[jaystring]

Anythign but IE

I have to say I use IE at work but Firfox @ home. Why hassle with IE at all. This Ram hog is hurting peoples internet experience, Default Apps usually are not that great even with Apples safari

[demner]

Mozilla is the one that sucks

And it has since it was Netscape.

[jdmccol]

memory hog

Firefox calling IE a memory hog? Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black?

[rrrperson]

IE7 isn't a RAM hog or a hassle.

I have both IE7 Beta 3 and Firefox 1.5.0.4 installed right now and in my experience Firefox uses much more RAM than IE7 ever does. For me, FF uses between 40 and 89 MB of memory. IE7 uses between 25 and 32.

I agree that IE6 is a hassle and should not be used, but IE7 is a very good browser, on par with Firefox.

P.S. jaystring, do you even have IE7?

[flimflambeta]

Untrue

I use Firefox too. I moved from IE as well, but it is not correct to call IE a ram hog in comparison to Firefox.

Firefox can and will use massive amounts of memory and start to hog up your CPU, especially if a flash file is playing. These two things are much less noticable in IE, especially IE7.

[Gasaraki]

IE7 vs. Firefox

Actually IE7 uses less memory than Firefox.

[softshell]

No IE7 for me

Downloaded IE7 beta ... didn't work ... couldn't back out (IE6 unusable) ... reinstalled IE7 ... javascript errors on start page ... javascript errors on search engine assignment ... broke MSN games ... broke toolbar assignment (select Google to get Developer toolbar) ... MS forums are worthless ... how can you ship code with javascript errors on the start page? how can you ship code that breaks your captive money-making games site? ... IE7 has driven me to use Firefox ... wonder whether Mozilla (Mole-zilla!) is present in the IE7 development team. Can't think of a good excuse for IE7.

[pmfjoe]

Beta?

Well thats what you get for installing a beta, now I am not saying that final release software is at times any less buggy, but most of the time beta software is much like vegas it's a gamble.

[aSiriusTHoTH]

Its Beta..

ITS IN BETA!!! What did you expect, it to work without any errors?

You shouldn't of downloaded it on a working functional computer, that is your ignorance..

[pecabo1338]

Uninstalling IE 7 Beta

I called by computer techs at Winbook. This real nice guy said just uninstall it with add/remove programs. He assured me that IE 6 was still there under the IE 7. Sure enough after a reboot, Voila I had my IE 6 back and none of my sites were any longer blocked. Do this when you're not online using the IE7. 6 took a couple of minutes to totally kick in.

[john55440]

Good Idea!

Dumping bad, old, insecure, IE6 _should_ be a high priority.

I use Firefox, but we need to keep in mind that most people use IE.

[Tyrax]

As a web developer, I like this

This means a majority of people will be running a more standards compliant browser. To be thats progress, I'd be upset if that did not push this out automatically

[deko]

IE 7 Not Standards Compliant

Unfortunately, IE 7 is NOT standards compliant. What makes you think it is? They care little for CSS standards, af far as I can tell.

[MondayNgt]

Closer, anyway!

Well, closer (standards) anyway.

The designers here are happy about the rollout as IE7 has fixed some CSS annoyances and issues, but we are very concerned with older websites that currently work in IE6 will break in IE7 (due to the workarounds for IE6).

Oh well, come what may. I guess the sooner IE7 comes out and the old IEs are behind us, the sooner we'll be pulling out our hair (less). Of course, wouldn't surprise me if IE7 introduces some new quirks that make you say the tired phrase of webdesigners "Why is IE doing that?" :)

[Jim Hubbard]

So IE is "High Priority" while .Net is not?

Great job! Replace the old buggy app with a new one with (we all hope) fewer bugs. But this does bring up another point.

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?

[Penguinisto]

Well -

"[i]So, why aren't the .Net frameworks (all 4 of them) marked as "High Priority" and downloaded automatically? [/i]"

Two words: Dial Up.

"[i]As far as that goes, why don't all MS Apps update themselves automatically?[/i]"

Because of a little thing that still exists (in spite of denials) called ".dll Hell".

[aabcdefghij987654321]

so if you can prove...

So if you can show that firefox has a lot of security fixes beyond IE7, can we get it listed as a high-priority update and list the added benefits it provides too?

[aabcdefghij987654321]

so if you can show...

So if you can show that firefox has a lot of security fixes beyond IE6, can we get it listed as a high-priority update and list the added benefits it provides too?

[chris_d]

Not surprising

Microsoft knows its customers are fed up with IE6, but many of them don't know about alternatives. So, they push this medicore (I'm not saying it isn't better than IE6 -- it is) upgrade out to customers, hoping they won't try other browsers.

[deko]

IE 7 breaks Outlook Express with Hotmail

If you have an older Hotmail account you may know that you can retreive email from your Hotmail account using Outook Express. This is a great feature for those of us who have been using Hotmail for a while - we never have to log in online. (Note: newer Hotmail accounts are not allowed to be used with OE - MS started disallowing this about a year ago).

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!

[nmcphers]

Probably intentional

How will they make their advertising dollars if you are bypassing hotmail.com adds with OE? They had to break it.

[djcaseley]

Probably...

....because for the new accounts, this is a pay-for feature, is it not?

[deko]

patch required

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=904942

This patch fixed it.

But I use OE mainly as a newsreader.

[rcrusoe]

Use their Thunderbird mail client

There are extensions that let you use Hotmail, Yahoo, and others
free webmail services.

[Penguinisto]

'You'll take our bloated browser and you'll like it!"

Man - I'm glad I don't have to use Windows anymore... if I ever get sick of Firefox, I can ditch it and go w/ Opera. If I ever get sick of Opera, I can ditch that and go with Konquerer (or just use it's OSX port, Safari). Or, I could use links, lynx, Mozilla, or whatever-the-heck-I-want.

Either way, I get to choose, and not the OS maker Enjoy your enforced updates, suckers...

[deko]

Yeah, sure, Lynx is better

You have a political bias, nothing to do with the quality of the software. Most Linux morons are like this... get a life.

[aSiriusTHoTH]

dumb...

Nearly all OSs you get to use. I use iMac, Windows, linux, and unix computers daily. I can easilly install 4+ different browsers on each system.. get off your "low" horse...

[Mergatroid Mania]

Suckers?

Depends on your opoint of view.

PC: Stuck with Windoze (rather be using Amiga OS)

Mac: Stuck with over priced hardware, and over priced repairs.

I know several people who switched from Mac to PC just because their iMac broke down, and it was so expensive to repair they went and bought a whole PC for less than the repair cost of their Mac.

Talk about suckers....

Merg

[graupma]

I welcome the upgrade to IE 6, BUT

my banks and credit card companies WON'T..

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

[pmfjoe]

Ok, take a deep breath.

Microsoft is not putting the beta of IE7 as a critical update, that would be very irresponsible and really tick off the cororate users.

But they will be putting the final release as a critical update. So dont worry your bank will support the final release.

[grandmasterdibbler]

They must be desparate

If MS have to push the new browser that they have so much faith in they must be getting desparate.
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!

[ggupta7]

use some reasoning....

let's see... if IE7 downloads as automatic download... there could be two scenarios

First scenario is that you use Firefox/Opera/Netscape. In this case, you can continue using your preferred browser. It's not that installing IE7 will cripple other browsers. Why even care about it?

Second scenario is that you use IE6 (that's what ~85% people use). In this case, you get a better browser with IE7 install.

For a browser whose market share is more than four times the market share of all other browsers combined, I don't think they need to be desperate.

[PCCRomeo]

Just switch to Firefox or Opera NOW!

And don't waste Microsoft's bandwidth downloading IE 6.5.....

[tutenstein]

I did actually

I needed a second browser on my linux box, I already have Firefox, so I downloaded Opera, and I must say that apart from a few issues, Opera is great!

[Pascal33]

Did a while back, but...

I've been using Firefox since v.1.0. But I'm about to dump it for IE. Since Feb, every time it updates - I have problems. Most of the time the bookmarks go away, and up until this last time - I've been able to get them back. But it's just wasting too much of my time to have to fix the issues every few weeks. Maybe I'll try it again when they get all the bugs worked out.

[ggupta7]

so it's OK if Firefox does the same thing?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I have seen Firefox browser push people to update to newer versions. I don't know how often it checks for updates (perhaps every time it starts), but if a new version is available, it downloads the version without asking me and then prompts me whether I want to install it.

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?

[ggupta7]

and Opera too!

forgot to add that to the list

[Mergatroid Mania]

Firefox does not do the same thing

Firefox is not part of your operating system, and does not have itself updated when you select auto windows update.

Simple: IE part of Windoze, Firefox NOT part of Windoze.

Therefore Firefox does not "Do the same thing"

Merg

[MondayNgt]

Majority doesn't mean standard

The fact that 90% of the market uses it doesn't make it right. At one time, most people probably thought the world was flat but that didn't make it true.

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).

[MondayNgt]

Sorry, wrong reply

This is intended as a reply to "Let me get this straight" under the "As a Web Developer, I Like This" thread.

[thedreaming]

Just remember kids...

To install IE7, you have to prove that you have a legal copy of windows. This is the reason why they want to push the update to customers.

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.

[nadapapa]

Bug fixes not virus like autoupdates says geo http://www.globalboiling.com

I just think all these autoupdates are no more than viruses and privacy invasions disguised as features enhancements. Imagine if GM were allowed to "fix" a recall by exchanging parts with those that were less functional and mandated calling GM to say where you were driving everyday.

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

[DarkPhoenixFF4]

Uh...

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.

[roger.d.miller]

Uh...

One more time with feeling. W3C is not an international standards body. It only makes recommendations.