News is spreading that on February 12, Internet Explorer 7 will be flagged for “automatic installation” through Windows update. Microsoft has published a knowledgebase article detailing the push, but there’s plenty of misinformation out there stemming from flawed understandings of what the article actually says. In short, the Windows world isn’t about to be forced to upgrade to IE7 (although with few exceptions, the Windows world probably should upgrade from IE6 to something else, be it IE7, Firefox, or Opera).What’s happening: come February 12, Microsoft will release IE7 as an “Update Rollup” to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). By treating IE7 as an “update roll-up,” the package can be pushed from Microsoft to WSUS without a WGA antipiracy check. This, you may recall, stems in part from a decision Microsoft made last year to treat IE7 more like a critical security update than an application update.
[Via Arstechnica]
I thought people would like to Know about the IE 7 Forced install. I know I’m having to prevent that in some systems in my company!!
