IE8 Beta 1 Does Not Install on Pre-RTM Vista SP1

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 does not install on pre-release versions of Windows Vista Service Pack 1. According to Microsoft, IE8 plays well only with a handful of Windows operating systems. And just Windows. At this point in time, the Redmond company has showed no indication of plans to make IE8 cross-platform, which falls under the Microsoft tradition of ignoring Mac OS X and Linux.

But at the same time, there are also Windows operating systems that will be unable to run the first beta bits of IE8. Case in point: all the Vista SP1 builds dropped ahead of the service pack's RTM version. Vista SP1 was released to manufacturing on February 4, so users still running Vista SP1 Release Candidate Refresh 2, SP1 RC Refresh 1, SP1 RC and earlier will not be able to play around with IE8 Beta 1.

"Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 will not be installed on a pre-release version of Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1). Setup will fail, and you will receive the following error message: 'This installation does not support your operating system's current Service Pack version.' You must install Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 on a supported operating system," Microsoft stated.

And what are exactly the supported platforms for IE8 Beta 1? Well, obviously the RTM build of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), which the majority of end users can't get yet, as it will be released starting with mid-March 2008. But fear not, IE8 Beta 1 does install on Vista RTM. As well as on Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1 and Windows Server 2003 SP2.

And there are additional exceptions. "Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 Setup cannot be installed on a checked (debug) version of Windows Vista, Windows Vista SP1, or Windows Server 2008," Microsoft added.