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Microsoft is telling people that Internet Explorer 7 is a "high priority" update, but the company is taking longer than some expected to push the new Web browser out.
The software maker said it doesn't plan to push the browser update out alongside the security patches slated for today in the US. Instead, the browser update is being trickled out to hundreds of millions of users over a three-month period.
Everyone who uses an English language version of Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and Automatic Updates enabled should receive a notice to upgrade to IE7 by the end of January, said Gary Schare, Microsoft's director of IE product management. That notice will pop up on people's screens, tagging the new browser as a high-priority download.
Microsoft had said that it would deliver IE7 in November via Automatic Updates, leading some to think the browser would be pushed out alongside the company's monthly security fixes. IE7 is the first major update to Microsoft's ubiquitous Web browser in five years. It is about 15 megabytes as a download.
"Just because you get security updates on Tuesday, doesn't mean that you're getting IE7 at the same time," Schare said. "We're mostly not delivering it at high volume so that the security updates have a clear path to get out to everyone very quickly."
Although IE7 will be pushed out over Automatic Updates, people will be able to choose whether they want to install it or not. Automatic Updates will first notify users that IE7 is available. Then it will show a welcome screen that presents key features and the choices to install, not install or postpone installation.
Microsoft started the IE distribution last week. So far, only one percent of Windows XP users have received an upgrade notification, Schare said.
"Some user could have gotten it yesterday, the person sitting next to him could get it on January 10," he said.
Still, those who don't want the IE7 notification to pop up on their PCs should already have acted. In July, Microsoft made a special tool available to block automatic delivery of the browser.
The tool is meant for business users who might not be ready for an IE update -- because it may not work with certain custom-built Web applications, for example."We expect many businesses to delay deployment of IE7," Schare said.
Microsoft learned a lesson about this when it pushed out Service Pack 2 for Windows XP via the update function. Many organisations are using IE7 as part of their plans to get ready for Windows Vista. Vista, slated to be broadly available in January, includes the browser update.
The IE7 push-out process is arbitrary and handled by the same system that delivers security updates. If everything goes smoothly, Microsoft may speed up the upgrades, Schare said.
So far, Microsoft is only pushing out the English version of IE7. German, French, Spanish, Finnish, Brazilian Portuguese and Arabic are slated to follow on November 15, according to a note on the company's Web site. Other languages are scheduled to be available starting in January, according to the note.
People who don't want to wait for Automatic Updates can download IE7 directly from Microsoft's Web site.
IE7 does not support HP Director. It's very awkward to reconcile. I received this from HP.
Thank you for contacting HP Customer Care.
From your email, you mentioned that you are having issue with HP director after installing IE 7.0.
With regard to your issue, you would need to upgrade the software that you are using. Please perform the workaround below in the order provided:
Step One: Remove Internet Explorer version 7.0 from your computer.
1. Go to Add/Remove programs,
2. Check mark the box " Show updates"
3. Select the Internet Explorer 7.0 from the list and click Change/remove
5. Restart the computer.
Step two: Download the upgrade driver 5.3.0b
NOTE:
- DO NOT uninstall existing HP driver that ranges from version 1.0 to 4.7
from your computer.
- Ensure that the HP Director is able to print, scan, copy, and fax before
you proceed with the upgrade.
1. Disconnect the USB cable from the computer before the installation
upgrade starts.
2. Go to the website below and start the installation:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=228&lc=en&cc=us&lang=en&dlc=en&product=1103491
3. Once done in downloading the upgrade, restart the computer.
Step three: Reinstall Internet Explorer version 7.0
NOTE: Before reinstalling IE 7.0, please ensure that the software is able to
print, scan, copy and fax.
How messy is this? The size of the update 160mb is bad enough.
Disgusted Ian Smith