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Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

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Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#61

Post by akie »

apaprocki wrote: post #18

One thing I've noticed is another niche that doesn't quite fit into the "corporation blocking updates" bucket. VMs. I've used a few services at work that run on auto-started VM images and IE8 is installed on those images. It isn't that someone is blocking updates necessarily, it is just that it takes a human to actually go and update the main VM image and update the browser on it. This seems to make it persist longer…

I see your point, but wouldn't that concern vanish the moment IE updates silently, in the background, without the user even noticing? If that would be the case, they would start out with an outdated IE, but be automatically updated to the most recent version as soon as they connect to the internet.

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#62

Post by ramblerman »

davedx wrote: post #53
dpark wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The is a common claim, but has anyone actually researched this? Is there any evidence that this is still true? It's my understanding that most of the IE6 market share is in Asia, where many people are running pirated versions of XP.

Do you have any research to backup your claim?

When you start your sentence with "It is my understanding" and careful questioning there is no need for giving him the third degree.

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#63

Post by dhkl »

dpark wrote: post #50
mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #11

The article points out that MS will still provide blocking tools for companies. Corporations are the major source of IE6 browsers and I'm not sure this will have any impact on them. The best we can hope for is that high consumer adoption rates will force many more sites to drop IE6 support which might spur companies to finally test and upgrade.

The is a common claim, but has anyone actually researched this? Is there any evidence that this is still true? It's my understanding that most of the IE6 market share is in Asia, where many people are running pirated versions of XP.

I worked for a Mainland Chinese manufacturing company for a while, and they run all their desktops on Windows 2000. They have several applications that targets IE only, and will not run (properly) on other modern browsers such as Firefox or Chrome.

What I have found is that the IT guys in China compile many "recovery disk" with a pirated copy of Windows that people use to reinstall their OS. A lot of these disks are XP-based, but more people are running Window 7 now.

Lastly, several Chinese companies have developed their own version of browsers. I haven't really looked into what kind of rendering engine they run, but they appear to be some kind of rebranded IE. Does anyone have the scoop on this?

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#64

Post by ArbitraryLimits »

veidr wrote: post #60
mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #11

The article points out that MS will still provide blocking tools for companies. Corporations are the major source of IE6 browsers and I'm not sure this will have any impact on them. The best we can hope for is that high consumer adoption rates will force many more sites to drop IE6 support which might spur companies to finally test and upgrade.

Big corporate is such a weird space. On one hand, you're right: big corporate will block this, and that will limit the impact, and thus I think a lot of the hallelujah in this thread is over-optimistic. But MS would never force such consequential upgrades on those customers; that's part of why MS owned and still owns the "enterprise" market (decreasingly lucrative though it may be). On the other hand, I doubt that co…

Just curious, what makes you think the "enterprise" market is less lucrative than it used to be?

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#65

Post by markkanof »

ramblerman wrote: post #59
waitwhat wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pirated versions of XP are perfectly capable of running IE7/8. The problem is that a few years ago Microsoft pushed Windows Genuine Advantage updates automatically via Windows Update (they might even have done this twice), with the result that all those pirated versions of XP turned off Windows Update forever and never installing anything from microsoft.com. Oops.

I partake in my fair share of Microsoft bashing but am I understanding your point here. You're criticizing MS for not pushing updates to pirated versions of their software?

That seems like a fair criticism. Those pirated copies of XP will now never be updated again. This will both contribute to the persistence of IE 6 as well as allow security flaws in XP and IE 6 to go unpatched which will increase the potential for these machines to become part of a bot not or spread viruses. At the same time Microsoft's actions didn't prevent any of these pirated copies from continuing to be used, so the overall outcome is a net negative for everyone.

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#66

Post by neolefty »

dhkl wrote: post #63
dpark wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The is a common claim, but has anyone actually researched this? Is there any evidence that this is still true? It's my understanding that most of the IE6 market share is in Asia, where many people are running pirated versions of XP.

I worked for a Mainland Chinese manufacturing company for a while, and they run all their desktops on Windows 2000. They have several applications that targets IE only, and will not run (properly) on other modern browsers such as Firefox or Chrome. What I have found is that the IT guys in China compile many "recovery disk" with a pirated copy of Windows that people use to reinstall their OS. A lot of these disks are…

I think there's a very strong "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude in China, and most of the people I've met here don't consider IE 6 to be broke, so they see no reason to fix it. After all, every mainland Chinese website still supports it (circular, I know) ...

Still, new consumer machines often have Windows 7 installed, from what I've seen, so things are moving forward. I don't have any numbers though.

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#67

Post by dpark »

waitwhat wrote: post #52
dpark wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The is a common claim, but has anyone actually researched this? Is there any evidence that this is still true? It's my understanding that most of the IE6 market share is in Asia, where many people are running pirated versions of XP.

Pirated versions of XP are perfectly capable of running IE7/8. The problem is that a few years ago Microsoft pushed Windows Genuine Advantage updates automatically via Windows Update (they might even have done this twice), with the result that all those pirated versions of XP turned off Windows Update forever and never installing anything from microsoft.com. Oops.

Aside from the Windows Genuine Advantage issue, I've been told that a lot of these XP installs have a bunch of social networking stuff hacked in. Simply updating would break them, because they aren't running stock dlls and exes anymore.

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#68

Post by mmcconnell1618 »

dpark wrote: post #50
mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #11

The article points out that MS will still provide blocking tools for companies. Corporations are the major source of IE6 browsers and I'm not sure this will have any impact on them. The best we can hope for is that high consumer adoption rates will force many more sites to drop IE6 support which might spur companies to finally test and upgrade.

The is a common claim, but has anyone actually researched this? Is there any evidence that this is still true? It's my understanding that most of the IE6 market share is in Asia, where many people are running pirated versions of XP.

http://www.ie6countdown.com/ has a good breakdown of the percentage of IE6 users around the world. Indeed, China leads the pack in the largest percentage of IE6 users.

This survey from 2007 (I know it's old now) showed 55.2% of corporations used IE6. I'm pretty sure it is one of the sources of the "big companies use IE6" claim. http://www.dailytech.com/Firefox+Makes+Big+Gains+In+Business...

And here's a newer poll showing 29% of respondents use IE6 at work with "no end in sight" http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/03/it-poll-do-yo...

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#69

Post by dhughes »

mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #11

The article points out that MS will still provide blocking tools for companies. Corporations are the major source of IE6 browsers and I'm not sure this will have any impact on them. The best we can hope for is that high consumer adoption rates will force many more sites to drop IE6 support which might spur companies to finally test and upgrade.

Yeah we use IE6 (on four year old laptops no less!) because there are applications that we Techs use that the company won't replace and the applications can only be used in IE6 apparently.

Waiting for five or ten minutes for a failed Adobe Flash update to try and load (fails since I am not a desktop admin) each time I reboot or power on and then a full two minutes for Outlook to start is not fun thing to do every day.

No thanks to our outsourced IT to a three letter company.

Re: Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone

#70

Post by phillmv »

ArbitraryLimits wrote: post #64
veidr wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big corporate is such a weird space. On one hand, you're right: big corporate will block this, and that will limit the impact, and thus I think a lot of the hallelujah in this thread is over-optimistic. But MS would never force such consequential upgrades on those customers; that's part of why MS owned and still owns the "enterprise" market (decreasingly lucrative though it may be). On the other hand, I doubt that co…

Just curious, what makes you think the "enterprise" market is less lucrative than it used to be?

No growth. Everyone who could possibly use a Windows license has a Windows license and drags their feet about upgrading.

You're either busy growing or you're busy dying. As a potential shareholder, I care more about growth than straight up profitability.

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