Ready or not, you’re getting IE 8 or 9

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	TOP STORY Ready or not, you’re getting IE 8 or 9
	By Susan Bradley Microsoft wants to strong-arm us into abandoning IE 6 and embracing its latest browsers. Starting Jan. 17, Microsoft began pushing out IE 8 and IE 9 to all customers through Windows Update.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/top-story/ready-or-not-you-re-getting-IE-8-or-9/ (opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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Link to article should be http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/ready-or-not-youre-getting-ie-8-or-9/

(No – in youre.)

Bruce

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Bout time. IE 6 and IE 7 are very insecure. The more people still using this, the more chance they will cause all of us problems IMHO.

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Hi Susan,

thanks for confirming that I’m not “off with the faeries”. I’m still running two XP boxes and I’ve had IE8 on them for some time. The only time I ever use IE on these boxes is to do a manual Windows Update. I have Windows Update set to “tell me about it but don’t do anything else unless I authorise it”. In spite of having IE8 already installed, Windows Update still wants to update to IE8. I let one of the boxes do it. It took a long time and two or three re-boots. I think that this was more than a simple update from IE8 to IE8. Call me “paranoid”, but …

Regards,
Richard.

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Susan,
Excellent artilce. I like the way you assume a low level of initial reader familiarity with the product. I often find that help articles begin at a level that is higher than I would like. Why? Probably because reviewers, by definition, are very familiar with lots and lots of apps and most importantly the ones they’ve just spent played with to write their reviews. I only use IE9 occasionally. I prefer Opera. But sometimes IE9 is essential. This means that I need it, but am not familiar with it. It also means that I need access to all those menus and buttons. Many thanks.

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On my Vista Home Basic machine I had been running IE7 which was pretty slow – (the processor is a Celeron M with 2GB memory, so not completely unexpected).
From the hoo-hah surrounding the ‘new’ IE8, I thought things would be better with that, so I upgraded. Bad decision – now takes half as long again up to twice as long for IE to come up. There were no other changes at that time.
Seems that despite the Microsoft comments that ‘the new system will be faster and better’ I have never found it to be so – mind you I don’t do gaming or prolonged web-browsing – I target what I want and then focus.

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On my Vista Home Basic machine I had been running IE7 which was pretty slow – (the processor is a Celeron M with 2GB memory, so not completely unexpected).
From the hoo-hah surrounding the ‘new’ IE8, I thought things would be better with that, so I upgraded. Bad decision – now takes half as long again up to twice as long for IE to come up. There were no other changes at that time.
Seems that despite the Microsoft comments that ‘the new system will be faster and better’ I have never found it to be so – mind you I don’t do gaming or prolonged web-browsing – I target what I want and then focus.

Make sure you don’t have any tool bars or add ins as these will impact the browser.

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On my Vista Home Basic machine I had been running IE7 which was pretty slow – (the processor is a Celeron M with 2GB memory, so not completely unexpected).
From the hoo-hah surrounding the ‘new’ IE8, I thought things would be better with that, so I upgraded. Bad decision – now takes half as long again up to twice as long for IE to come up. There were no other changes at that time.
Seems that despite the Microsoft comments that ‘the new system will be faster and better’ I have never found it to be so – mind you I don’t do gaming or prolonged web-browsing – I target what I want and then focus.

There are site filters in IE8 which can slow down the browser badly on some computers. Smart Screen Filtering is the worst offender in my experience, and it is in the Internet Options. Try unchecking it, and maybe also the Cross-Site Scripting Filter. These are security improvements, but if they seriously impact the browser’s speed and page loading, they can be disabled.

-- rc primak

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Your link to the IE 6 countdown page is so ironic. MS is selling the “BIG LIE” again. Today I found out the the HTML rendering engine used by Word and therefore Outlook 2007 and 2010 is
…. I.E. 6
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa338201%28v=office.12%29.aspx – Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 (Part 1 of 2)
{snip} Word 2007 supports a subset of the standard HTML 4.01 specification and of the Internet Explorer 6.0 HTML specification {/snip}
PS: Please use a comment tool that does NOT strip out spacing we insert, making us look like illiterates …

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Oh, the irony Your link to the IE 6 countdown page is so ironic. MS is selling the “BIG LIE” again. Today I found out the the HTML rendering engine used by Word and therefore Outlook 2007 and 2010 is
…. I.E. 6
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa338201(v=office.12).aspx – Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 (Part 1 of 2)
{snip} Word 2007 supports a subset of the standard HTML 4.01 specification and of the Internet Explorer 6.0 HTML specification {/snip}
PS: Please use a comment tool that does NOT strip out spacing we insert, making us look like illiterates …

What’s so ironic and what’s the big lie?

(Your link only refers to 2007 not 2010.)

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I am running XP Pro, and already have IE8 installed, yet I am being offered it in Windows Update as a high priority (ironically, I run Windows Update on IE8). Why is this? Should I accept it, or would that just lead to an endless loop? I would appreciate some advice on what to do. For the moment I am ignoring it.

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I am running XP Pro, and already have IE8 installed, yet I am being offered it in Windows Update as a high priority (ironically, I run Windows Update on IE8). Why is this? Should I accept it, or would that just lead to an endless loop? I would appreciate some advice on what to do. For the moment I am ignoring it.

Check your IE8 version number at Help, About. The latest (nearly three years ago) was 8.0.6001.18702. But accepting the update shouldn’t cause any issues anyway.

Bruce

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Check your IE8 version number at Help, About. The latest (nearly three years ago) was 8.0.6001.18702. But accepting the update shouldn’t cause any issues anyway.

Bruce

The version was 6001.18702, but I decided to accept the update anyway. After it installed and following the restart, the version was still 6001.18702. I checked MS Update again. There must have been something wrong with my previous install of IE8, although it seemed to be working correctly, because I was now offered three security updates which I did not have before: 2510531 (MS11-031), 2544521 (MS11-052) and 2618444 (MS11-099). I installed these, which required another restart, then checked MS Update again, and this time there were no high priority updates.

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The version was 6001.18702, but I decided to accept the update anyway. After it installed and following the restart, the version was still 6001.18702. I checked MS Update again. There must have been something wrong with my previous install of IE8, although it seemed to be working correctly, because I was now offered three security updates which I did not have before: 2510531 (MS11-031), 2544521 (MS11-052) and 2618444 (MS11-099). I installed these, which required another restart, then checked MS Update again, and this time there were no high priority updates.

Sometimes there are IE security updates which are very recent. This may be what happened here.

-- rc primak

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Thanks for the tips. If I am forced at some point to accept IE9, those tips will come in handy, but I am still resisting upgrading to IE9. I accepted IE8 only because I could edit the registry to allow me to move the URL back below the Menu bar where I prefer it. I am completely at a loss to understand why Microsoft thought I would prefer the tabs to be located above all the menus at the top of the screen rather than right on top of the windows as they are in IE8. That “feature” in itself is enough to keep me from accepting IE9. I’m hoping Microsoft will get enough negative feedback that they will move the tabs back down to their previous location in some future version of the browser. I don’t understand why Microsoft wants to make their programs more like other programs. Obviously, at least to me, if people preferred other ways of doing things, they would use those programs. Just because Microsoft makes their programs look like a poor clone of some other software, why would a user of that software switch back to Microsoft. On the other hand, if we are using the Microsoft programs now, then it must mean we prefer the way Microsoft is doing things. So Microsoft is thumbing their corporate noses at their existing customers in the hopes of luring back other customers that are probably gone for good. Where is the logic in that?

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I enjoyed youyr article regarding the upgrade to IE9. I thought I was using IE8. I just checked and found that MS DID update my browser. I had been wondering why I lost the “tools” in Adobe Acrobat Reader. The PDF files seem to open in IE9 now. Is there a way to have Reader be the default program to open PDF files?

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The PDF files seem to open in IE9 now. Is there a way to have Reader be the default program to open PDF files?

Open Adobe Reader, then Edit, Preferences, Internet, and uncheck Open PDF in browser under Web Browser Options.

Bruce

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“Strong arm”?! I’d hardly call it that for a company to stop wanting to support a 10 year old browser. Nor is it true that Microsoft has never forced an IE upgrade, if by force you mean require it to continue with further patching. To me it sounds like Ms. Bradley is surprisingly behind the times for an IT person. My parents and relatives (all barely computer literate) have been IE8 and now IE9 for some time without any real complaints or issues.

Welcome to 2012.

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To those that are still on IE6, they will see this as strong arm-ing. I don’t have a single IE6 left myself.

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Thanks for the tips. If I am forced at some point to accept IE9, those tips will come in handy, but I am still resisting upgrading to IE9. I accepted IE8 only because I could edit the registry to allow me to move the URL back below the Menu bar where I prefer it. I am completely at a loss to understand why Microsoft thought I would prefer the tabs to be located above all the menus at the top of the screen rather than right on top of the windows as they are in IE8. That “feature” in itself is enough to keep me from accepting IE9. I’m hoping Microsoft will get enough negative feedback that they will move the tabs back down to their previous location in some future version of the browser. I don’t understand why Microsoft wants to make their programs more like other programs. Obviously, at least to me, if people preferred other ways of doing things, they would use those programs. Just because Microsoft makes their programs look like a poor clone of some other software, why would a user of that software switch back to Microsoft. On the other hand, if we are using the Microsoft programs now, then it must mean we prefer the way Microsoft is doing things. So Microsoft is thumbing their corporate noses at their existing customers in the hopes of luring back other customers that are probably gone for good. Where is the logic in that?

Did you try the setting “show tabs on separate row”?

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I’m not thrilled with its default interface — a sort of Google Chrome clone

I’d like to know what she has against Chrome? I switch back and forth between Chrome and Firefox. I haven’t used IE in years. I’d take it off my machines completely, but, seeing as it has its hooks into many aspects of the OS, that’s not possible.

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I’d like to know what she has against Chrome? I switch back and forth between Chrome and Firefox. I haven’t used IE in years.

I’d like to know what you have against IE.

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I like Chrome. But I also USE IE. And when I’m used to tabs, favorites, and all the other stuff of IE, I’d like it to stay that way and not be removed when I upgrade to IE9.

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I like Chrome. But I also USE IE. And when I’m used to tabs, favorites, and all the other stuff of IE, I’d like it to stay that way and not be removed when I upgrade to IE9.

When not on, the Menu bar can be toggled on and off with a press of the Alt key (and only duplicates Command bar and Tools cog).

The Status bar is not useful in IE9 as it only ever shows Zoom level, which is available with a single click of the Tools cog icon.

Zone information and Protected Mode On/Off status in IE9 is displayed by right-clicking the page and selecting Properties.

Bruce

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I’d like to know what she has against Chrome? I switch back and forth between Chrome and Firefox. I haven’t used IE in years. I’d take it off my machines completely, but, seeing as it has its hooks into many aspects of the OS, that’s not possible.

Read this from the article:
“I am fond of saying that if I wanted to run Google Chrome rather than IE, I would — and I do. But when I’m using Internet Explorer, I want it to look as I expect it to. (I tend to use Chrome at home and IE at work — and especially when using apps that demand IE’s ActiveX support.”

That is not anti-Chrome. Each browser has its best uses, and Active-X support is one reason to use IE on some web sites.

-- rc primak

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On Windows 7 you can disable Internet explorer if you wish to do so
http://www.bgr.com/2009/03/07/microsoft-to-allow-users-to-disable-internet-explorer-and-more-in-windows-7/

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This merely removes the icon, IE ‘s code is still on the box and thus please update to IE9 to better strengthen the Operating system.

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As a VERY security aware user, I updated to IE8 back at the beginning—except on one XP desktop, where the update failed. I immediately contacted MS support, and got a quick reply with some suggestions, none of which worked. Sent in the requested logs, etc. but no joy. And then nothing. No responses to repeated emailed requests for help, and posting in the MS forum got the same suggestions I’d tried and then nothing. Tried emailing without the original case number (to open a new case) and nothing. I’m VERY uncomfortable still running IE6 on that desktop (though usability-wise, I prefer it since it’s way more customizable), but am being stymied in my efforts to upgrade. Repeated tries to upgrade, including from safe mode and a lot of other “geeky” workarounds, fail. Any suggestions?

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Advanced Searchbar is a fantastic addin for IE.

http://www.advancedsearchbar.com/

It installs easily, but every time you close and reopen IE, it removes Advanced Searchbar (ASB).

ASB is no longer supported, so there are no upgrades compatible with IE 8 & 9, but is there a way IE can be disabled to not remove ASB?

Thanks!

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I upgraded my Vista Home Basic machine to IE8 after being sort-of OK with IE7 for a long time, as everyone was enthusing about it. I then found that everything using IE was so-o-o slow.
I put up with this for 2 months, and now have uninstalled IE8.
My machine brings up IE and any program depending on it at least twice as fast.
IE8 – NO.
I’ll try IE9 after it reaches 2 years of experience – perhaps.

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I upgraded my Vista Home Basic machine to IE8 after being sort-of OK with IE7 for a long time, as everyone was enthusing about it. I then found that everything using IE was so-o-o slow.
I put up with this for 2 months, and now have uninstalled IE8.
My machine brings up IE and any program depending on it at least twice as fast.
IE8 – NO.
I’ll try IE9 after it reaches 2 years of experience – perhaps.

See my Post #21 above. Also, Vista Basic was a very stripped-down version of Vista, and usually was installed only on Netbooks (and some low-end desktop PCs). Netbooks have very limited hardware, and cannot even run Microsoft Office with full performance and speed. So I am not surprised that IE 8 on such a computer runs very slowly. Again, see my previous post and try turning off the Filters I mentioned. But in the end, a hardware upgrade may be the only solution in this specific case.

-- rc primak

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Susan —

Could the Chinese reluctance to upgrade to IE8/IE9 have anything to do with the fact that most of their Windows installations are pirated copies, and therefore would never pass WGA Genuine Windows checks? Downloading and installing IE 8/9 requires this check, if I recall correctly.

-- rc primak

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