[IP] F Microsoft warns of IE7 lock-in with XP SP3

One important point to note is that IE7 is *NOT* installed as part of SP3. You have to install IE7 separately. Then, and only then, if you install it, Microsoft is saying you can't downgrade back to IE6 without uninstalling SP3 first.

So really: Don't want IE7? You can still get SP3 and not have IE7. I am running SP3 and IE6 together on this machine right now. But I know that if I go to IE7, there's no going back...

Yahoo! Tech

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Christopher Null / cnull@yahoo.com

www.filmcritic.com / www.chrisnull.com / www.drinkhacker.com

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null

From: David Farber [mailto:dave@farber.net]
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 7:45 AM
To: ip
Subject: [IP] Microsoft warns of IE7 lock-in with XP SP3

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brock N Meeks <bmeeks@cox.net>
Date: May 9, 2008 10:29:59 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Subject: Re: [IP] Microsoft warns of IE7 lock-in with XP SP3

Having covered the Microsoft anti-trust trial from gavel to gavel, I read the comment below and say, "Big F'ing deal."

This recent development is far from the original monopolistic behavior that it barely warrants a raised eyebrow. First, the company is openly warning people about this situation--I'm not sure how much publicity or effort Microsoft is giving to this "awareness" effort, but it's there. And there doesn't appear to be any back room deals wherein box makers and Microsoft are cutting exclusive deals for automatic desktop placement and on and on.

Don't want IE7? Don't upgrade to the new service pack.

"But, but, but... that's holding my service pack upgrades hostage!" you say. Umm... good point; hardly unprecedented.

Witness the shenanigans that Mac owners go through every time Apple upgrades QuickTime. No one forces you to upgrade to the newest version of QT, but if you don't there is a whole lot of new content you can't access.

Or Adobe's Flash player... if you don't upgrade to the newest flash player, forget about accessing cool new online do-dads.

Why is that different from what Microsoft is doing? Yes, you can always drop back and install an earlier version of QuickTime, no restriction there; however, for that "luxury" you're going to pay a price. You want to drop back to IE6? Well, alright, uninstall (forestall access to) the upgrade service pack.

It's not a pleasant business practice, but it hardly carries anti-competitive overtones.

On May 9, 2008, at 9:49 AM, David Farber wrote:

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tom Fairlie <tfairlie@frontiernet.net>
Date: May 9, 2008 9:22:09 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Subject: Microsoft warns of IE7 lock-in with XP SP3

Dave,

I guess what's old is what's new again. Egad!

Tom Fairlie

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Microsoft warns of IE7 lock-in with XP SP3
Gregg Keizer

May 06, 2008 (Computerworld) Microsoft Corp. has warned users updating to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) that they won't be able to downgrade from Internet Explorer 7 to the older IE6 without uninstalling the service pack.

The warning first appeared in a post Monday to a company blog written by the Internet Explorer development team. Microsoft released Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update as an optional download Tuesday.

"If you choose to install XP SP3, Internet Explorer 7 will remain on your system after the install is complete," said Jane Maliouta, an IE program manager, in the blog entry. "Your preferences will be retained. However, you will no longer be able to uninstall IE7. If you go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, the Remove option will be grayed out."

The inability to downgrade to IE6 after installing XP SP3 was by design, said Maliouta, because the service pack includes newer versions of the old browser's files. If Microsoft had allowed users to revert back to the pre-SP3 version of IE6 -- the one saved on users' PCs when they upgraded to IE7, and what was used until now to back out of the newer browser -- Windows would have ended up in a "mixed file state," Maliouta said.

[Rest here: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBasic&articleId=9083318]

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