Internet Explorer 7 Auto Updates to Roll Out Slowly
Microsoft has decided to delay delivering Internet Explorer 7 via Automatic Updates until November to give companies and Web sites more time to get ready for full deployment of the Web browser, according to Gary Schare, the company's director of Windows Product Management. (The information comes to us from Preston Gralla of our sister publication Computerworld.)
Businesses need the time to set companywide policies for browser deployment and possibly recode any intranet sites that are not compatible with the new version of the browser. Similarly, public Web sites need the extra time to ensure that their sites are compatible, Gralla says.
Even when Automatic Updates is turned on in November, it won't be made immediately available to everyone. Rather, it will be a phased rollout, and IE7 will take three months to be delivered to desktops worldwide.
The exact speed of the rollout will be determined by the number of support calls received by Microsoft about the new browser. Microsoft said it decided to do a phased rollout so that it could properly staff support centers devoted to IE7 questions. The more support calls it receives, the slower it will deploy the browser via Automatic Updates; the fewer calls it receives, the faster it will deploy.
The exact dates and times of when individuals will receive Automatic Updates will be determined randomly by algorithms on Microsoft servers. Of course, you can download it yourself at anytime.
The update feature for IE7 will work slightly differently than other automatic updates because Microsoft believes that people should make a conscious decision before installing a new version of the browser, rather than having it happen automatically behind the scenes. So even those who have configured Automatic Updates to install software automatically will be asked after the download is complete whether to install the new browser.
Thanks for the update, Preston.
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If it wasn't for Firefox, we would still have the same old IE6.
ie7 breaks Outlook Express...
Why isn't this mentioned? Updating to ie7 means you can no longer access Hotmail through Outlook Express, nor will you be able to rollback once you've lost the capability. I don't understand why this isn't mentioned in every article about ie7, as it's a pretty stunning loss of functionality.
brad , i have updated to the ie7 as of last week . hotmail through OExp , works as usual with one noticeable exception. The http server (sending) gets timed out pretty quick , so sending mail with attchm is a pain. Other than that , receiving mail is no sweat at all . The ie7 appears in the add/rem programs in the control panel. I wonder if one uninstalls using that route , whether the older version becomes operational. Otherwise , it is indeed a stunning loss. cheers -- jaideep,
brad , i have updated to the ie7 as of last week . hotmail through OExp , works as usual with one noticeable exception. The http server (sending) gets timed out pretty quick , so sending mail with attchm is a pain. Other than that , receiving mail is no sweat at all . The ie7 appears in the add/rem programs in the control panel. I wonder if one uninstalls using that route , whether the older version becomes operational. Otherwise , it is indeed a stunning loss. cheers -- jaideep,