The IE7 auto-rollout: fact and fiction
Date : 2008 01 24 Category : Tech & Development
AjaxianWhen some people saw the new knowledge base article on IE 7 rollouts and thought "what? I finally get to see IE 6 die off????".
Ken Fisher is here to tell us "sorry guys" in his piece on the IE7 auto rollout:
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.
They key to understanding what's happening in two weeks is WSUS. WSUS is not synonymous with Windows Update. WSUS is a management tool that works alongside Windows Update to allow IT admins to control how patches and updates are applied across a deployment. If you're an IT shop, run WSUS and have it configured to install update rollups, then you'll be getting IE7 that day. However, by default, WSUS is not set to automatically approve update roll-ups.
We will be enjoying IE 6 users for quite some time.