The browser is not installed automatically

May 4, 2009 10:47 GMT  ·  By

Starting in the third week of April, Microsoft has debuted automatic upgrades to Internet Explorer 8. IE6 and IE7 users running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are being offered IE8 as an update via AU. Still, Microsoft has stressed the fact that Internet Explorer 8 delivered through Automatic Updates will not in fact install automatically. Instead, end users must opt in for the upgrade from previous versions of Internet Explorer for IE8 to happen.

“IE8 will not automatically install - the user has control over whether to upgrade to IE8. When offered IE8, three choices are offered: Ask later, install, or don’t install. If one chooses “Ask me later” then IE8 will continue to be offered via Automatic Update, and choosing “Don’t Install” will cause IE8 to no longer be offered via this method. Users who choose “Don’t Install” can still download IE8 [from the Download Center] or from Windows Update as an optional update,” explained Eric Hebenstreit, lead program manager.

In addition, when it first launches, Internet Explorer 8 gives users the possibility to customize their browser. The first-run experience involves two options, either to use the express settings, or to personalize IE8 according to the user's preferences. Express settings will also detect and keep the users' existing configurations and customizations when they upgrade between IE versions.

“The “express settings” option allows one to view and set several pre-defined settings, many of which are optimized for safety and reliability. For service settings such as the search provider, express settings will respect your existing service choices when upgrading from a prior version such as IE7 or a prior pre-release version of IE8. One wants to manage these settings more granularly, the “Choose custom settings” option provides the ability to set each setting individually,” Hebenstreit added.

Internet Explorer 8 was released to web in mid-March 2009, and has since then been available for manual download and as an update from Microsoft. In Windows 7 IE8 is up to Build 7100, just as the next iteration of Windows, which has hit release candidate stage.

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) RTW is available for download here (for 32-bit and 64-bit flavors of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008).