Wednesday, May 7th 2008

Microsoft Warns of IE7 lock-in with Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

by
malware
 Discuss (16 Comments)
When I first read the original story title what came to my mind were the words of one of our forum members commenting on the release of Windows XP SP3 - "I'm just waiting for the headlines tomorrow about how many problems this has created". However, after a quick read it does not sound so bad, Microsoft is just warning 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 was posted in a company blog written by the Internet Explorer development team. "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." In related news, Microsoft team also adviced users of the IE8 Beta 1 to uninstall it if they are attempting to install and use Windows XP SP3 in order to prevent their systems from possible future instability issues.
Source: ComputerWorld

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16 Comments on Microsoft Warns of IE7 lock-in with Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

#1
malware
I hope Snake05 don't mind using his own words on the front page, but that's really what came to my mind first. :)
Posted on Reply
#2
Nitro-Max
Thanks for the post im a little worried about this though ive never been able to get IE7 working right it always freezes and crashes i know sp3 might fix it but if not you have no option to uninstal it.
Posted on Reply
#3
panchoman
Sold my stars!
i bet ms planned to do this too, so that they can shove more spybloatware down our throats and making it so that we'd have to uninstall service packs in order to get rid of the shit.
Posted on Reply
#4
WhiteLotus
panchomani bet ms planned to do this too, so that they can shove more spybloatware down our throats and making it so that we'd have to uninstall service packs in order to get rid of the shit.
or because supporting an old IE is too laborious and they can't be bothered and can use their time more effectively elsewhere?
Posted on Reply
#5
panchoman
Sold my stars!
its not like they support or update older versions anyway
Posted on Reply
#6
Darkrealms
WhiteLotusor because supporting an old IE is too laborious and they can't be bothered and can use their time more effectively elsewhere?
Perhaps then, they should have made IE7 compatable with the apps that currently use IE6 . . .
Posted on Reply
#7
wazzledoozle
XP SP3 does not include IE7.

From the SP3 overview:

"For instance, Windows XP SP3 does not include Windows Internet Explorer 7,
although Windows XP SP3 does include updates to both Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7, and it
will update whichever version is installed on the computer."

So you're not locked in unless you have manually installed IE7 prior to installing SP3.
Posted on Reply
#8
lemonadesoda
I really dont like IE7 and am still with IE6 dispite having tried IE7 and Safari a number of times. IE6 wins IMO.

^^thanks Wazzle... so by installing SP3 I'm not FORCED to upanddowngrade to IE7. Thats a relief!
Posted on Reply
#9
EastCoasthandle
IMO, this issue is a bit deeper then that. I was not able to update a fresh install of XP SP2 until I upgraded to IE 7.0.
Posted on Reply
#10
FatForester
Earlier today I reinstalled XP on my old computer, and it had IE6. I had downloaded the patch earlier, so the very first thing I did was install SP3. After the reboot IE6 worked just fine. Windows Updater really wanted me to install IE7 though, and trying to update without it took a couple tries for it to work. However, once I installed IE7 everything worked just fine. So you're not really locked into IE7, but to use windows update without a headache you might need it.
Posted on Reply
#11
Ehstii
wazzledoozleXP SP3 does not include IE7.

From the SP3 overview:

"For instance, Windows XP SP3 does not include Windows Internet Explorer 7,
although Windows XP SP3 does include updates to both Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7, and it
will update whichever version is installed on the computer."

So you're not locked in unless you have manually installed IE7 prior to installing SP3.
truth right here.

i installed SP3 and i still have IE6
Posted on Reply
#12
pbmaster
I haven't had any problems yet, but I don't use IE as my main browser. When I do use it though, it works fine.
Posted on Reply
#13
Snake05
malwareI hope Snake05 don't mind using his own words on the front page, but that's really what came to my mind first. :)
Not at all:toast:. I figured I wasn't the only one thinking that.

Firefox FTW!
Posted on Reply
#14
sam0t
Have had no issues with SP3 for over a week now, then again, Iam using FF :)
Posted on Reply
#15
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
I dont care cuz i cant install SP3 anyway - keeps saying some crap about internal error even when im running the installation in safe mode. oh well. more SP2 for me to love
Posted on Reply
#16
ITman
Just installed SP3 on an image that had IE6 with no issues.
After that installed IE7, no issues.
After that un-installed IE7, again no issues.

So in summary, you are only locked if you install SP3 with IE7 already installed. If you want to leave yourselves options, un-install IE7 before installing SP3. After that you can install/uninstall IE7 at will.
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