Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 and A Warning To XP Users
Users anxious to upgrade their Web browser to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 may encounter a snag if they’ve downloaded Windows XP Service Pack 3. After announcing IE8 Beta 2, the Microsoft team quickly wrote a blog post warning users that IE 8 Beta 2 combined with Windows XP SP3 will not be able to uninstall IE8 Beta 1 or SP3.
Here’s how it breaks down. Microsoft released IE8 Beta 1 before XP Service Pack 3 became available. Users who downloaded and installed SP3 after IE8 Beta 1 are urged by Microsoft to manually uninstall Beta 1 before upgrading to Beta 2; otherwise, neither SP3 or Beta 1 will be able to be uninstalled from your machine.
According to the Internet Explorer Blog, users who have Automatic Updates turned on will be prompted by the operating system to upgrade to Beta 2, but the update message won’t explain the ramifications of putting IE8 Beta 2 on top of Beta 1 and SP3.
Personally, I think it might be a scheme orchestrated by Microsoft to retroactively add another feature to IE8. Is it too outlandish to consider that Microsoft is hedging its bets on IE8 Beta 2 by making sure Beta 1 will always be tied to a machine? And isn’t it just a tad suspicious that the flaw only affects Windows XP — the very operating system that many users refuse to migrate away from in favor of Vista?
Anyway, we (the users) should be the final decision makers when it comes to the software we allow to run on our systems. If you’re considering IE 8 Beta 2 I urge you to read the blog post BEFORE attempting to download and install this updated version.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/08/27/upgrading-to-internet-explorer-8-beta-2.aspx
Explorer8 Features
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/features/overview.aspx?tabid=1&catid=1
8 Add-ons
http://ieaddons.com/en/
Explorer 8 Beta 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/ what’s next in the browser wars.
I’m sure you’ve all heard about Google and their newly released “Chrome” browser. Here’s a link to their 38 page comic book introducing Chrome – way too much information in my opinion but:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8UsqHohwwVYC&printsec=frontcover#PPA1,M1
I’ll report back on how Chrome works when I’ve had an opportunity to fully test it – stand by…..
In the meantime, if you’re the adventureous type, here’s the download link for Chrome BETA:
http://www.google.com/chrome/index.html?hl=en&brand=CHMG&utm_source=en-hpp&utm_medium=hpp&utm_campaign=en
