NEWS The next version of the Internet Explorer browser will be available to a variety of Microsoft OSes, the product team has revealed - but Windows 2000 looks likely to be absent from the list.
According to the official IE7 blog, the browser will be available on operating systems other than XP SP2.
A blog posting by Dave Massy, a programme manager on the IE team, reveals: "We currently plan to make IE7 available for Windows XP SP2 and later. This will therefore include availability not only for the 32-bit version of Windows XP SP2 but also for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 SP1 both of which are due to be released soon."
However, the IE7 team are keeping quiet on the subject of Windows 2000. "We have heard the requests for support of Windows 2000 but have nothing to announce at this time," the posting continues.
Details of IE7 first surfaced in February, when Bill Gates announced that the new look browser would ship separately from the next generation of Windows, code-named Longhorn.
The new IE will be available in beta form from this summer.
Anyone hoping to get their hands on the next Outlook client similarly early, however, will be disappointed. The latest Microsoft email program will debut alongside Longhorn.
"The Outlook Express team is hard at work on great functionality for the new version of Outlook Express, which is shipping with the next release of Windows. There are no plans to ship the new version of Outlook Express before the next release of Windows," Massy adds.
Comments
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1. Eric Stoffers
Just another reason to switch to FireFox. I love Win2k and won't be switching anytime soon. Microsoft can take their bloated OS and shove it where the sun don't shine...
2. me
Who cares, am planning to rollout to firefox anyway!!!
In last phases of testing firefox (with no problems at all so far). Users love the tabbed browsing feature. My biggest like pro for it is the lack of active x support.
Should have it rolled out within next couple of months.
wahooo!!!
3. scottz
win 2k is their best operating system by far. By only allowing people to upgrade with WIN XP w/ serv pack 2, they are only shooting themselves in the foot.
People wont got out and spend 300 bucks to run the latest operating system. I am sure they are just asking developers to not make it backwards compatible. Ill just switch operating systems, if I have to.
4. anonymous
MICROSOFT KEEPS YOU SAFE.
By not allowing users of Windows 2000, the most widely distributed operating systems in businesses today, to upgrade to IE 7.0, Microsoft is keeping those businesses safe from it's long trackrecord of not delivering 'hole-free and exploit-resistant' software and instead has encouraged the adoption of Open-Source software, such as Mozilla.org, or Third-Party software, such as Opera. However, by the complete absense of a suitable solution to succeed IE6.x which, by it's nature, allowed thousands of businesses across the world grow their business and country's economies by allowing 'Distributed Computing' across the world by using 'under-utilized' CPU Horsepower, without the hassle of actually being asked to 'install' software to work off these CPU cycles, Microsoft risks hurting these new businesses by not offering a 'convincing upgrade path' for the Windows users in question to continue to use advanced features of new Internet standards. It is known that Open-Source software, though not by any means intentionally created to stifle any business in particular, lacks compatability with certain popular utilities such as CoolWebSearch, Ezula, and Gator, and their install programs. It can be assumed that Microsoft, never one to encourage the purchase of third-party software, as indicated by including Video Playback, Web Browsing, and Search features with the ability to turn on the computer and execute basic instructions based on standard libraries and development standards, will only respond with the statement that 'If it's Still Free, and WE PUT IT IN THERE, You should continue to ust it'. It can not be ignored however, that as users have an urge to have 'something new' inevitably, they may seek out these 'Non Microsoft' programs for using the Internet and determine for themselves whether they are of any use to people.
5. anonymous
Microsoft should just have concentrating on making a good Operating system a while ago and left the browsers to Firefox or one of the other open source browser projects out there. Same with the e-mail client software, word proc app, audio player, games, ect.
6. Linda c
I use Firefox and Opera(for those sites that insist on IE) so going without IE7 is no hardship on my win2000 machine
7. Nick Cole
What about NT4 which is still in use, and in some respects better than 2000?
All this new idea will do is ensure that the problems of security will continue. Trying to solve these issues by forcing people to migrate to new systems which take years to learn how to work around all the new flaws will not eliminate the problem.
All software vendors state that bugs are inevitable, therefore the solution is to fix the old ones not to introduce new. What happened with XP2? Almost as soon as it was released the flood of patches started up? IE 6 was supposedly the bees knees compared to IE5, and so on and on and on.
If Microsoft recognised the ubiquitous nature of their product set and realised that the world is not going to change just because Bill says so, and that their products are the defacto standard and universal, and as a result modified their commercial stance in recognition of their now social obligations, it would result in a new order of elightenment. As a result of the ubiquitous spread of their products Microsoft have inherited, as a direct consequence of their success a significant social responsibility and that applies to all their products not just the most recent. That is the inevitable result of their success!
Significant numbers of users around the world will NOT be dictated to by people with nothing other than a commercial interest in sellng new products.
Of course if their products had been designed and developed properly on the first place.......
8. I.T. Admin
Another good reason to switch to linux. Typical of Microsoft, like launching a 'new' antispyware product, that will eventually be available on a subscription, to get rid of spyware that after all the main reason it exists is coz of the gross insecurity of their operating systems
9. Alan Arnold
Half of our company still used windows 2000 and if i had to, i'd rather choose firefox (free) instead of spending time and money on upgrading to XP, then installing a no doubt very buggy IE7