Internet Explorer Mandatory Update
Internet Explorer 7 is going to be an automatic upgrade through WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) on February 12. This was announced last fall, but is now about to become reality. According to Microsoft there will no longer be a requirement to prove the copy of Windows installing IE7 is legitimate. Windows Genuine Validation would have prevented the install on copies of Windows that were not officially licensed. Many of those “not officially licensed” copies are pirated, but there have been problems with the reliability of Windows Genuine Validation. Some users have reported legitimate copies of Windows failing the test in the past. So how do you avoid Internet Explorer 7?
Companies using WSUS that want to avoid the auto rollout will need to disable the auto-approval of Update Rollup Packages.
Ultimately, the reason for the forced update is enhanced security. Internet Explorer 7 is more secure than it’s predecessor. So why would people want to decline the update? I know many find the new user interface a bit disorienting, but there is a more significant reason some have avoided IE7. The most crucial reason I’ve seen people avoid it is compatibility problems with their software. At one point some versions of Quickbooks did not get along well with Internet Explorer 7 for example. It’s always good to find a “test system” to test such updates on. (Especially if you’re making upgrades to a business critical machine.)