Microsoft Warns About An Ie7 Update

[Guest Reimar]

Microsoft warns corporate users of impending autoupdate to IE7

WSUS users may need to tinker to keep IE7 from replacing IE6

January 17, 2008 (Computerworld) -- Microsoft Corp. has warned corporate administrators that it will push a new version of Internet Explorer 7 their way next month, and it has posted guidelines on how to ward off the automatic update if admins want to keep the older IE6 browser on their companies' machines.

The IE7 upgrade scheduled to roll out via WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) on Feb. 12 was announced last October, when Microsoft said it would no longer require users to prove they owned a legitimate copy of Windows XP before they were allowed to download the newer browser. Microsoft explained that the move was prompted by security concerns.

"Because Microsoft takes its commitment to help protect the entire Windows ecosystem seriously, we're updating the IE7 installation experience to make it available as broadly as possible to all Windows users," said Steve Reynolds, an IE program manager, on a Microsoft company blog in early October. "Internet Explorer 7 installation will no longer require Windows Genuine Advantage validation and will be available to all Windows XP users."

The IE7 Installation and Availability Update was immediately made available for manual downloading and was offered to consumers and small-business users via the Windows Update service in the weeks that followed. Beginning Feb. 12, the new IE7 package will be put into the WSUS pipeline as an Update Rollup package.

"If you have configured WSUS to 'auto-approve' Update Rollup packages, Windows Internet Explorer 7 will be automatically approved for installation after February 12, 2008, and consequently, you may want to take the actions below to manage how and when this update is installed," Microsoft warned in a support document posted to its site. WSUS's default setting for Update Rollups is to not autoapprove them.

Companies that stuck with IE6 must take action, Microsoft said, or IE7 may be automatically downloaded and installed to their workers' PCs. Specifically, administrators who have set WSUS to automatically approve Update Rollups will need to disable the auto-approval rule before Feb. 12 to prevent IE7 from infiltrating their infrastructure. After that date, they must synchronize the update package with their WSUS server and then switch the autoapproval rule back on.

More than one in every three people still relies on IE6, according to data gathered by Web metrics vendor Net Applications Inc. During December 2007, IE6 accounted for 35% of the browsers that visited the 40,000-some sites monitored by the company.

Microsoft recognized that it needed to protect IE6 from replacement even before it released IE7 in the fall of 2006; prior to the browser's launch, the company posted a free set of tools administrators could use to block the automatic downloading and installation of the new browser.

But it's unclear what impact, if any, the IE7 rollout via WSUS will have on users who have applied the Blocker Toolkit to keep that browser off their systems. Although asked to expand on the support document -- which didn't mention the tools -- Microsoft was not able to provide any additional information Tuesday.

Source

Edited January 17, 2008 by Reimar

[Phil Conners]

Wants to keep older MSIE? Who would want to keep ANY MSIE on a computer if there was an option. Firefox, thanks.

PS. Reimar, how much does M$ pay you to promote their products at every opportunity here?

Edited January 17, 2008 by Phil Conners

[Guest Reimar]

Wants to keep older MSIE? Who would want to keep ANY MSIE on a computer if there was an option. Firefox, thanks.

PS. Reimar, how much does M$ pay you to promote their products at every opportunity here?

Unfortunate just 60 minutes and fresh air per hour! Are you interested?

[sensei]

Wants to keep older MSIE? Who would want to keep ANY MSIE on a computer if there was an option. Firefox, thanks.

PS. Reimar, how much does M$ pay you to promote their products at every opportunity here?

Unfortunate just 60 minutes and fresh air per hour! Are you interested?

I'll take a Micro$oft geek over an Apple Fanboy anytme...

Thanks and keep it coming reimar.

From a certified reimar fanboy

[Deksan]

Wants to keep older MSIE? Who would want to keep ANY MSIE on a computer if there was an option. Firefox, thanks.

PS. Reimar, how much does M$ pay you to promote their products at every opportunity here?

Unfortunate just 60 minutes and fresh air per hour! Are you interested?

I'll take a Micro$oft geek over an Apple Fanboy anytme...

Thanks and keep it coming reimar.

From a certified reimar fanboy

Like I prefer an apple geek over a microsoft fanboy ....

[sensei]

Wants to keep older MSIE? Who would want to keep ANY MSIE on a computer if there was an option. Firefox, thanks.

PS. Reimar, how much does M$ pay you to promote their products at every opportunity here?

Unfortunate just 60 minutes and fresh air per hour! Are you interested?

I'll take a Micro$oft geek over an Apple Fanboy anytme...

Thanks and keep it coming reimar.

From a certified reimar fanboy

Like I prefer an apple geek over a microsoft fanboy ....

There is no such thing as an Apple geek.

All are just fan boys.

When their machines break, they blame themselves and goes back to the iShop- the only place where their iComputer can be iFixed.

I rest my iCase.

[crockett]

There is no such thing as an Apple geek.

All are just fan boys.

When their machines break, they blame themselves and goes back to the iShop- the only place where their iComputer can be iFixed.

I rest my iCase.

Love that one.

My home is and will always be iFree too.

[Deksan]

Wants to keep older MSIE? Who would want to keep ANY MSIE on a computer if there was an option. Firefox, thanks.

PS. Reimar, how much does M$ pay you to promote their products at every opportunity here?

Unfortunate just 60 minutes and fresh air per hour! Are you interested?

I'll take a Micro$oft geek over an Apple Fanboy anytme...

Thanks and keep it coming reimar.

From a certified reimar fanboy

Like I prefer an apple geek over a microsoft fanboy ....

There is no such thing as an Apple geek.

All are just fan boys.

When their machines break, they blame themselves and goes back to the iShop- the only place where their iComputer can be iFixed.

I rest my iCase.

Love generalities Hmm let s find one for windows users... Oh, when they get a virus, they blame microsoft so they go to

dld another pirate version of their next operating system hopping it will solve their pbm ...

See generalities leeds nowhere ...