Microsoft Says Windows 7 SP1 Needed for IE9 Beta
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010It seems Microsoft may have gotten ahead of itself with the release of its Internet Explorer 9 beta. In a FAQ on the company’s web site, Microsoft is urging companies to deploy Windows 7 with Internet Explorer 8 and wait for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 before deploying IE9. For Windows Vista users, SP2 is needed for IE9.
The catch is that Windows 7 SP1 hasn’t been been released and isn’t expected until early in 2011. The final version of IE9 is expected next April, so that’s not a lot of time to test the latest version of Microsoft’s browser that has been losing market share.
Installing IE9 also requires four current Windows 7 updates, KB2028551, KB2028560, KB2120976 and KB2259539, which is also for Windows Server 2008 R2. The requirement for SP1 seems odd since Microsoft has indicated that SP1 will be a collection of already released patches.
Question one in Microsoft’s IE9 FAQ says, “Microsoft recommends that organizations do not disrupt ongoing deployment projects but continue deploying Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8. Investments made in this effort will carry forward when they deploy Windows 7 SP1 and Internet Explorer 9 at a later date. With Internet Explorer 8 in place, they will be in a good position to roll out Windows 7 SP1 and Internet Explorer 9 with minimal effort.”
Just in case that’s not clear, question 11 says, “Internet Explorer 9 will require Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Therefore, organizations must plan, pilot and deploy Internet Explorer 9 as part of or after a Windows 7 SP1 deployment.”
So it seems Microsoft wants everyone to continue buying and installing Windows 7 now, but hold off on IE9 until SP1 is out. That does keep the revenue coming in by not disrupting current deployment projects, as question one urges.
On the plus side,…
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