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IE7 Released As High-Priority Update
jimbojw writes, "Internet Explorer 7 was finally released this morning and is available via automatic update or download from Microsoft." And an anonymous reader notes stats on IE7 and FF2 downloads, adding: "Looks like FF2 is already outnumbering FF 1.5, while IE7 is having a hard time to find followers. Will today's release as a high-priority, force-fed update fix this issue?" The sans.org stats site will be updated throughout the day, so perhaps we'll get an indication.
IE7 was released last week. It may be that the automatic update is starting to be rolled out today.
I *want* people to upgrade to IE7. I don't care if they're using IE7 or Firefox. I just want to be able to write sane CSS.
IE7 will not run on a huge number of existing Windows machines. Thus, you still can't write sane CSS. IE7 still ignores half of the CSS spec, thus you can't write sane CSS. I have some pages auto-generated. I followed the spec. They worked in every browser except IE5 and 6, which barfed on the formatting. When IE7 was released I added it to my tests. It still barfs, and adds some new broken things. If the Firefox team and Opera and Apple and Konquerer, and everyone else I tried can manage to write to the spec... why can't MS with all their resources? Obviously, they don't want to, because they want to keep the Web broken and nonstandard to lock people in.
So I think it is more a case of Microsoft never having prevented anyone from rolling out updates.
Can the Firefox or Opera team release their products as high priority updates via Windows Update? No. Does this mean IE will gain market share not because their browser is better, but because they have a monopoly on Windows? Yes. For MS to be in compliance with the law they must in no way leverage their existing monopoly to gain an advantage over other players in a different market. It doesn't matter if they don't stop others from running their own automated updates, because users need to get those programs in the first place. Did MS include Firefox, iTunes, Photoshop, and Acrobat with every Windows install so those auto-updates reach everyone? Did they give part of the money they make selling Windows and give it to the developers of those programs like they did the IE team?
They have bypassed the competitive marketplace. It is detrimental to the industry and to consumers and it is clearly illegal in the US, EU, most of Asia, and a good chunk of the rest of the world.
Microsoft doesn't stop any other software from doing an automatic update.
So? If I buy a computer does it come with Firefox pre-installed? Does the update for Firefox run automatically or do I need to know about it and download it first? When MS sells a Windows license and gives part of the money to the IE developers, do they also give a similar amount of money to the Firefox team?
To be in compliance with the law MS must treat IE and Firefox exactly the same, as though they were both produced by other companies. If they bundle IE, they are legally obligated to bundle Firefox and any other browser someone asks them to. And, they're legally obligated to collect money to pay the developers of that product, just as they do IE. Anything else is called "leveraging a monopoly" and allows them to gain market share not because IE is better, or developed more cheaply, or more innovative, but because they have a monopoly on Windows.
Let IE compete on even ground against the other players and the industry and consumers win, which is why we have capitalism. Allow them to leverage their monopoly and consumers suffer with higher prices, inferior quality, and a stagnating industry.