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Important
note from Microsoft.
Please review the action items
and contents of this bulletin.
Overview
Microsoft
will release the final version of Internet Explorer 7
(English) in October 2006. Internet Explorer 7 (IE7 ) provides
significant enhancements in security, platform management, and
usability. Microsoft recommends that all genuine Windows
customers install this upgrade. Shortly after it is
released, Microsoft will distribute IE7 as a high-priority
update through Automatic Updates to help consumers become more
secure and up-to-date. However, to ensure that customers are
prepared to upgrade, IE7 will not install without user
consent. Microsoft recognizes that, as part of a managed
deployment plan, some organizations may wish to block users
from receiving IE7 through Automatic Updates and is providing
an IE7 Blocker Toolkit. IE7 runs on Windows XP Service
Pack 2, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, and Microsoft
Windows Server 2003. This announcement provides an overview of
Microsoft resources and recommended actions that IT
administrators should take to ensure their company's Web sites
are ready for IE7 and that their browser-based applications
will continue to work seamlessly with IE7. This
announcement updates previous information about Automatic
Updates delivery released on July 26, 2006. For more
information about IE7, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/technet/updatemanagement/windowsupdate/ie7announcement.mspx,
or contact your Microsoft sales or support account
representative.
Key
Delivery Details
| • |
October
2006 - target date for IE7 (English) |
| • |
November
1, 2006 - date by which customers wishing to block
Automatic Updates delivery of IE7 should have blocking
measures in place |
Note:
Product quality will determine the final release date.
Call-to-Action
for IT Administrators
To
prepare for the release of IE7 in October and subsequent
distribution through Automatic Updates, customers
should:
| 1. |
|
| 2. |
|
| 3. |
Determine
if their organization is ready for IE7 or needs to delay
deployment. Find information on deploying the
nonexpiring IE7 Blocker Toolkit on our Web
site. |
About
the Automatic Updates Delivery Process
To
help minimize disruption, automatic delivery of IE7 includes
the following provisions:
| 1. |
Automatic
Updates will notify users that an upgrade to Internet
Explorer is available prior to starting installation.
|
| 2. |
IE7
will not install until a user who is a local
administrator accepts the update. (Users may also choose
to decline installation or ask to be reminded to install
later.) |
| 3. |
Microsoft
has made available the IE7 Blocker Toolkit, which allows
IT administrators to prevent users from receiving IE7 as
a high-priority update from Automatic Updates and the
Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites. |
| 4. |
Users
will be able to roll back to Internet Explorer 6 by
removing IE7 through the Windows Control Panel
Add/Remove Programs utility.
|
Find
additional details and screenshots of the notification process
on our Web
site.
Options
for Blocking Automatic Delivery
Microsoft
recognizes that organizations may wish to postpone deployment
of IE7 (for example, to allow time for user training or
additional testing of browser-based internal applications and
Web sites). Organizations using Automatic Updates to keep
their unmanaged computers current can take one or more of the
following steps to prevent users from automatically receiving
IE7:
| 1. |
Download
and deploy the IE7 Blocker Toolkit. The nonexpiring
Blocker Toolkit includes both a Group Policy template
and a script that sets a registry key to prevent
Automatic Updates and the Windows Update and Microsoft
Update sites from offering IE7 as a high-priority
update. The Blocker
Toolkit and FAQ
were released on July 26. |
| 2. |
|
| 3. |
Prevent
users from running as local administrators on their
computers. Users who are not local administrators
will not be offered the update and can be restricted
from manually installing IE7 |
| 4. |
Instruct
users to decline IE7 when Automatic Updates notifies
them that the update is available for installation.
All users will have the ability to decline installation.
|
Find
additional details and screenshots of the notification process
on our Web
site.
About
These Resources from Microsoft
| • |
Pointer to
the latest publicly available build of IE7 |
| • |
Developer
checklist, including new features and changes of
interest to application and Web developers |
| • |
Testing
guidance and tips for isolating and identifying a
particular compatibility problem |
| • |
Tools
for development and testing |
| • |
Links
to resources, technical articles and helpful blog posts
|
| • |
Various
methods to provide feedback to Microsoft |
| • |
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