back to article Microsoft finally ships Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7

Following a protracted development process, Microsoft has at last shipped the release version of Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7, with the new browser due to begin rolling out to customers via Windows Update within the next few weeks. In the meantime, customers who can't wait for the automatic update to arrive can download …

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  1. MJI Silver badge

    I have XP here so no use

    Well there are millions of PCs out there running it.

    MS are not interest luckily other browsers are available

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I have XP here so no use

      Do upgrade to Windows 7, you will wonder why on earth you stuck with XP for so long when you do. It's much nicer.

      There are more computers running 7 than XP now.

      1. N2

        Re: I have XP here so no use

        @ Do upgrade to Windows 7

        Shouldnt it really be the applications driving an upgrade to Windows 7 as opposed to a web browser of which there are plenty of others to select?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I have XP here so no use @N2

          "Shouldnt it really be the applications driving an upgrade to Windows 7 as opposed to a web browser of which there are plenty of others to select?"

          I presumed his comment was an OS comparison, not because of IE10. Is open to being read both ways, though.

          1. MJI Silver badge

            Re: I have XP here so no use @N2

            Actually it is more the point that MS is writing software which will not run on one of its own operating systems, yet a lot of other people do.

            There is no law which says you have to change software which works

        2. Irongut

          Re: I have XP here so no use (N2)

          So what exactly do you think a web browser is if it is not an application?

          And where did he say upgrade to Win7 for IE?

      2. petur
        FAIL

        Re: I have XP here so no use

        I had to at work... boy, does it suck!

        First thing I installed was ClassicShell to restore a load of functionality they stripped in Win 7. Progress, eh?

        1. Geoffrey W

          Re: I have XP here so no use

          @functionality they stripped in Win 7.

          Serious question...Just what was stripped in Win7 from XP?

          From the point of view of the shell, I cant think of anything...

          1. Jordan Davenport

            Re: I have XP here so no use

            Though not all are applicable regarding Windows Vista, try reading these:

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_Vista

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_7

            Two quick examples in Windows Explorer itself are the lack of the ability to customize the navigation toolbar in Explorer and the classic one-column start menu. I personally am fine with those two changes, but others aren't. Classic Shell sort of remedies the navigation toolbar and completely remedies the start menu.

            All that said, Windows XP only has 14 more Patch Tuesdays in its life. After April 8, 2014, when that zero-day that affects all versions of Windows is discovered, it will never be patched in XP, just like what happened to Windows 2000 in July of 2010.

            1. TeeCee Gold badge

              Re: I have XP here so no use

              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_Vista

              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_7

              Thanks for that. Can't say I'd missed (or even noticed the lack of) any of it.

          2. Jordan Davenport

            Re: I have XP here so no use

            And for the record, I wasn't the one that gave you a down-vote. I see no reason to vote someone down for a sincere question asking for clarification.

            1. MJI Silver badge
              Thumb Up

              Re: Jordan Davenport

              I can tell by the way you write you didn't

          3. petur
            Meh

            Re: I have XP here so no use

            Top feature I missed was the favorites/bookmarks menu in explorer. For a load of projects I have a ton of locations on servers that I need to go to from time to time, these bookmarks were a real timesaver. Yes, you can make a folder somewhere and put shortcuts in it, but it's not the same.

            Another one was the dotted lines in tree views and the reduced indenting. I have to deal with some complex folder structures, with identically named folders in them (at different levels of course), and those lines and indentation help to know where I was without having to look at the path all the time.

            If you want to use the feature 'commandline here', you have to do shift + right-click on the folder (where a simple right-click worked in XP)

            And so on.... maybe all small annoyances but hey...

            For the record, only linux machines at home so I'm already half a windows hater anyway ;)

          4. Wibble

            Re: I have XP here so no use

            They added 10Gb to WinSXS. Makes VMs massive

            1. Philip Lewis
              Devil

              Re: I have XP here so no use

              Hyperbole, surely?

              Mine is only 6GB (and growing)

          5. PhilBuk

            Re: I have XP here so no use

            @Geoffrey W

            How about search within files for text - yes, 3rd party apps can replace this functionality - but it shouldn't work like that.

            Phil.

      3. MJI Silver badge

        Re: upgrade to Windows 7

        Is it free?

        XP does the job, all the software I want works. Steam works, my video editor works, my BluRay burner works

        Why pay just to change the OS?

        And I use Win 7 at work

        1. 404
          Facepalm

          #1 Reason to Upgrade From XP

          @Everyone Here:

          Windows XP only recognizes/uses 3GB RAM

          Right there. That's the reason to upgrade to Windows 7 Pro.

          ;)

          1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

            Re: #1 Reason to Upgrade From XP

            @404

            Alternatively we could run software that wasn't so mind-numbingly bloated and inefficient that it doesn't need 3GB of RAM.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: #1 Reason to Upgrade From XP

              Some of us want to run the latest games though. Oh you run Linux? Never mind.

      4. Michael Habel
        Linux

        Re: I have XP here so no use

        Well you are correct about One thing...

        There is One less XP install in the Wild, given that I switched over to Mint 14 (Linux).

        Installed WINE and then my copy of O2k3 SP3 (w/Proofing Tools (also SP3)), and I ain't gonna bother looking back.

        I just need to find a way to convert all these stinking Word Template (.dot), Files into something more usefull like .ott. So as to ditch Office as well...

        Good riddence to bad rubish!

        1. Danny 14
          Thumb Up

          Re: I have XP here so no use

          W7 does bring a lot of nicer GPOs to the party (many can be had by installing the client pack on XP but not all). V2 profiles die a lot less than older profiles on XP. You can make W7 look almost like XP if you so wish (again GPO'd so it will follow you around systems). After getting used to the newer sysprep it is easier to make a universal image especially with SAD driverpacks).

          W7 is a worthy upgrade from XP. Device drivers will be your main reason to update, lots of devices are now coming with W7+ drivers (a newish milling machine didnt even support vista which was odd as they DID have server2008x64 drivers)

    2. mmeier

      Re: I have XP here so no use

      MS simply looks at the next 5 years and sees XP dying in April/2014 with the end of support. No sane person uses an unpatched OS (No matter what breed) on the Internet. So over the next 12 month the vast majority of XP boxes will disappear from the Internet and get replaced by Win7 or Win8. Makes little sense to backport IE10 to a dying OS. The fact that it is in "extended maintenance" (Patches/Security only) makes this MS policy as officially stated.

      1. Lord Voldemortgage

        Re: I have XP here so no use

        "over the next 12 month the vast majority of XP boxes will disappear from the Internet and get replaced by Win7 or Win8"

        If the various interests could get their acts together this might be a good time to push Linux in the home - businesses will mostly move from XP to Win 7 (or maybe even Win 8) but home users who feel the impact of the initial capital expenditure more keenly might welcome an alternative.

        Steam to be the deciding factor?

        1. mmeier

          Re: I have XP here so no use

          If I can buy my hardware under Linux like I do under Windows(1) AND all my games run by "drop in DVD, click start" and it works on a penable with FULL support of the Wacom(2) - I might consider Linux for my privat boxes.

          It's about as likely as the Penguins winning the DEL championship so I guess pre-ordering Win9 is a prudent way to go :)

          (1) Go into shop, grab gear, take home, piug in, use. Buying gear by "does it fullfil my needs and has a good TOC" rather than "does it work under Linux Distro x Kernel a.b.c" is nice

          (2) One system for all my non-servers

          1. petur
            WTF?

            Re: I have XP here so no use (@mmeier)

            Not sure about the downvotes you got, your (1) is quite valid. Linux support is even becoming worse for some hardware. For example, Canon stopped producing linux drivers, good thing project Gutenberg has them covered - but this will mean support for brand new models will be non-existing.

            Recently I was in the market for a small/portable full-duplex scanner. Number of models still sold that are supported: NONE. Went with a model that some bloke claimed he got working (guess what: not working here - scanning in a windows VM until I get it working)

            1. mmeier

              Re: I have XP here so no use (@mmeier)

              My guess is fans of the Krefeld Penguins do not like me rubbing in that they had their last big shot in the DEL in 2003 and currently being number 4 will likely not make champion in 2013 either (Go Sharks!)

        2. Michael Habel
          Linux

          Re: I have XP here so no use

          Really though you are correct. I hope that Sites like the reg with

          http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/18/picking_a_linux_distro/ (Picking a Disrtro)

          Will continue to press this issue forward. Ive dealt with a lot of 'nux Systems in the past.

          And none of 'em we're as nice an experience as Mint w/Cinnamon has been so far.

          Installing the latest WINE, is a snap. after which installing Office2k3 is as much as it has always been.

          Like I said I need to start to actually learn how to play with both MSOffice, and or LibreOffice / Oracle Open Office So I can re-script all my non-working (.dot) Files. Which either do not work outright or do not render 100% correctly when they do,

          As for Games, and by proxy Gamers. I hear that Mr. Newell is currently covering that with Steam for Linux, something I also have currently installed on my Mint Desktop. AFAIK I think its still in Beta (and it feels like it when the Steam Web Front-end is always crashing my System), but these are still early days.

          Sadly I suspect that enough People will ignore Linux on the Desktop though. But, it its a choice of having this or Windows 8, or having a System that can use DVB-C (TV-Cable). and DVB-S2 with SD & HD decoding via an nVidia VDPAU Graphic Card - (Video Disk Recorder & XBMC). Something THAT Microsoft is (or has been), unwilling to do up till now has already pushed me to Linux ages ago. It's just that now that I'm felling "confident" about it (i.e. Linux), plus the imminent death of XP, plus the fact that my current "Rig" dates back to AMDs' 754 Socket AMD64 w/DDR. Not the best system w/which to run handbrake with! One shudders to think how it would get on with Vista / 7 or that fecking cluster*'&@ of an OS Windows 8.

          Besides all that having a Linux install also means that I can actually compile more useful up-to-date applications for my NAS Box as well. Wow actual programing on a Computer. I mean what is the 80's LOL

          Microsoft isn't quite dead yet. Hopefully Someone over their will catch the hint and chuck Ballmer into the Street before its too late. Then again, it may already be ~too late~...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I have XP here so no use

      IE does have the advantage of having far fewer security vulnerabilites than say Chrome or Firefox though.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I have XP here so no use

      I have XP here so no use...

      .

      Oh boo hoo, no support for a 10 year old OS.

      Guess what same goes for all other browsers and OS' out there.

      Try getting the latest version of Safari to work on a 10 yr old version of MacOS

      Try getting latest version of FF to work on a 10yr old version of Linux.

      You cant expect companies to support (obsolete) software for free, forever.

      And yes I also have XP machines.

    5. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: I have XP here so no use

      That's OK. I've just played their minesweeper demo using Opera on XP.

  2. Neil Greatorex

    Minesweeper - Perennial timewaster?

    Not since Windows 3.1, that was the last time I can recall trying it.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Do not track?

    I have "Do not track" enabled on Firefox 18.0.2 but Ghostery tells me it has blocked two trackers on this page.

    (Google Adsense and Google analytics)

    Do they just ignore my preferences? Maybe someone can educate me.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Do not track?

      When you hear "Do Not Track" just think of Neville Chamberlain waving the signed armistice and proclaimed "peace in our time" at Munich in 1938.

  4. Mark Simon
    WTF?

    What’s the point?

    Windows XP users have always had the choice to upgrade to a better browser for free. Ditto all the other versions of Windows. And this was a long time ago.

    All IE10 will do will be to make it safe for web developers to implement HTML5 & CSS3 features already available on all the other browsers.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: What’s the point?

      The point is two-fold:

      * it will allow companies that for whatever reason, are tied into the IE system to upgrade to a more usable browser

      * upgrades mean less support for older versions of IE which Microsoft is obliged to supply.

      Of course, it's basically too little, too late. I think any website statistic will show a continuing downturn in IE's market share and those users are not coming back, not for Minesweeper and not for Angry Birds. IE 10 should have been released for Windows 7 last summer before Windows 8 puked all over everyone's breakfast. This will be the last major version of Internet Explorer. A collector's item if you will.

      1. TheVogon
        Mushroom

        Re: What’s the point?

        "This will be the last major version of Internet Explorer".

        It won't. IE11 and IE 12 are already in development.

    2. MJI Silver badge

      Re: What’s the point?

      Hence I use Firefox on 2 XP and 1 7 PC

      1. Danny 14
        Thumb Up

        Re: What’s the point?

        GPO browser lockdown is the only reason I use IE. I agree that firefox is much better. Chrome is certainly getting there with regards to enterprise options though.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What’s the point?

      "Windows XP users have always had the choice to upgrade to a better browser for free. Ditto all the other versions of Windows."

      IE 7+ isnt available on the really old versions of Windows.

  5. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Trollface

    Can't wait, I'll download it now!

    It's the latest MSHTML DLL with all the latest security patches.

    Oh, and there's a browser skin thrown in too but I can't remember the last time I used that.

    1. JMB

      Re: Can't wait, I'll download it now!

      I was going to download but I was put off by this "I would also like Bing and MSN defaults Get Internet Explorer 10 ".

  6. JDX Gold badge

    A bit dubious

    I'm all for grabbing the new version and taking it for a spin... getting a bit disenchanted with Chrome and went off FF ages ago. IE9 is pretty good but still not as good as Chrome so I'd hope IE10 would be good.

    BUT that "protracted development" makes me nervous it might not quite be there yet. Not that I use IE as my main browser just yet anyway so maybe I'll take the plunge as and when it wants to install.

  7. Mark C Casey

    Only Microsoft...

    Only Microsoft could make it hard to port a web browser.

    Mozilla, Google, Opera and Apple can all not only manage multiple versions of windows but also multiple operating systems. You really have to wonder what Microsoft's thinking is of tying some of the capabilities so tightly to the OS are.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Only Microsoft...

      You mean like how IE9/10 run on Windows desktop, phone and tablet which are essentially 3 separate OS?

      What they're thinking (I suspect) is they want their new software to use the new OS features, rather than simply target everything at WinXP APIs.

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
        FAIL

        Re: Only Microsoft...

        You mean like how IE9/10 run on Windows desktop, phone and tablet which are essentially 3 separate OS?

        Yes, how separate are they actually? Didn't Microsoft make a lot of noise about them all now having the same kernel? For a userland application the API, which for Windows >= Vista is defined in .NET should be all that matters. And other browser manufacturers have managed it on those three operating systems and more.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Only Microsoft...

          And on Server don't forget! 4 OSs....

    2. Eddy Ito

      Re: Only Microsoft...

      "You really have to wonder what Microsoft's thinking is of tying some of the capabilities so tightly to the OS are."

      Umm, I'll go out on a limb and say planned and enforced obsolescence. The thinking is if you want the new browser? You have to pay for the new Windows. The new MS Office (2013) isn't any different, they want Windows 7 or better. I don't know that it won't run on the older Windows and hopefully I won't have to find out if it runs on the current Windows but there it is.

      1. JDX Gold badge
        Holmes

        Re: Only Microsoft...

        >>Umm, I'll go out on a limb and say planned and enforced obsolescence.

        WinXP is about to lose any support or patches. Why would they waste time supporting it, or implicitly supporting it? Considering IE9 doesn't run on XP this is not even an argument, they clearly aren't going to re-support XP.

        The argument is only if they should be supporting Vista. I note not one single person has complained about lack of IE10 in Vista which is probably why they aren't doing it... not even Windows users want Vista. No diehard XP users are going to upgrade to Vista when patches stop being released - they'll go to W7 if they can get a copy.

        1. Danny 14

          Re: Only Microsoft...

          vanilla windows 95 didnt even have IE - you needed service pack 1 to add I.E. so it wasnt that integrated at launch.

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