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MS To Slip IE8 Into Vista and XP Through OEMs

Posted by kdawson on from the for-our-own-good dept.

crazyeyes writes "Microsoft says it's 'optional,' but they are already planning to slip Internet Explorer 8 into all Windows Vista/XP PCs by March. MS claims that IE8 will offer better performance and security. But what about unwanted stuff like 'Monetization opportunities (for OEMs)' and 'These services will be used (by OEMs) to deliver brand exposure... to the users'?"

14 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. IE has had these for ages by TheSpoom · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ever notice the "Internet Explorer provided by Dell" title bar?

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    1. Re:IE has had these for ages by cbhacking · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's a single registry key, easy to change. I've seen it used by everything from OEMs to non-malicious viruses.

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    2. Re:IE has had these for ages by Rary · · Score: 2, Informative

      Since we can't do anything else, I suggest everyone who is sick of this crap exclude articles posted by kdawson in their preferences

      For years I've left my preferences untouched, preferring to just take the good with the bad, but now I have finally resorted to filtering kdawson's articles out of the front page.

      For new Slashdot users, however, I wouldn't recommend this tactic. If you're looking to quickly build up your karma, there's no better way than to just browse the kdawson stories and be the first to point out how horribly distorted and flawed they are.

      (assuming, of course, that kdawson isn't just a puppet Taco uses to post the asinine anti-Microsoft stuff which always gets plenty of adviews)

      Allegedly, "kdawson" is this guy.

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    3. Re:IE has had these for ages by jonadab · · Score: 2, Informative

      > Recently the standard of Slashdot articles about Microsoft has
      > taken a huge nosedive, any opportunity to bash them seems to be taken.

      Recently?

      You must be new here. Microsoft-bashing has been one of the major purposes of slashdot since the mid nineties.

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  2. Re:New computers need *SOME* sort of browser by sakdoctor · · Score: 3, Informative

    Start->Run

    ftp ftp.mozilla.org
    cd /pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.0.6/win32/en-US/
    get "Firefox Setup 3.0.6.exe"

    IE is one of the most bloated firefox download tools there is.

  3. Re:And Microsoft deserves it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    But how can one disagree with the truth?
    Microsoft sucks, it is a widely known fact.
    I know i will be moderated troll, but you are just abusing it, i am being 100% serious here.

    Microsoft pushed out crappy tools that held people back, terribly optimized, full of bugs and bad practices. (Oh hey Visual Basic, case-sensitivity would like a word!)

    Not only that, they have abused their position by allowing their software to stagnate.
    IE versions being the major one here, they are terribly bad compared to others through the things entire life.
    And to stick an even bigger finger to everyone else, they created that crap ActiveX, which when combined with their large marketshare has led to countless millions still being held up in Microsoft stuff because they went with some shitty company to design their software.
    And to take it even further, they shat all over those people when they decided not to support them.

    This is just some major examples that sticks out.
    So, please, for the love of computing, tell me why this is classed as opinion?

  4. **applause** by ivoras · · Score: 2, Informative

    Is there anyone here that wants users to CONTINUE USING IE6??? Because IE6 is what's included in stock XP. As for Vista, well, IE7 isn't so great, maybe IE8 will be more standards-conformant.

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  5. Anything but IE6 by spinkham · · Score: 2, Informative

    IE 8 isn't my favorite browser,but it's worlds better then IE 6.. It's quality related to IE 7 is harder to discern at this point, but anything that encourages businesses and other IE 6 holdouts to move forward is a good thing in my view. I'd rather they move to Gecko(Firefox), Webkit(Chrome, safari), or Opera, but please, I'm pleading, let IE 6 die...

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  6. "Incite" by XanC · · Score: 4, Informative

    The word is "incite", not "incentivize". There's no need to make up a new word when the word you're looking for already exists.

  7. Re:And Microsoft deserves it. by mstahl · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you're on a laptop either put down two fingers on the trackpad or hold down ctrl then click. If on a desktop just click the right sid of the mouse. Seriously why is this still a reason people make fun of macs for?!

  8. Re:IE8 for people already using Windows XP? by Saija · · Score: 2, Informative

    it can be installed in XP, i just installed a release candidate some days ago and work great, don't use it much but the few pages i've opened with seems to work good

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  9. Re:F*ck Microsoft by Starayo · · Score: 2, Informative

    What on earth are you doing to it?! I don't remember the last time I reinstalled windows because my PC still runs like a dream, and I've punished the crap out of it.

    Now, I dislike Microsoft, and I would be using a linux distro full-time if it weren't for my PC gaming, but I never run into any of the problems people go on about. Hell, I've only had one or two bluescreens since Win98 due to some crappy display drivers! This PC is on practically 24/7, and I only ever turn it off when I'm going to be away for more than four days!

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  10. Re:Rule of thumb. by Gonoff · · Score: 4, Informative

    I do think so.

    There are a number of real words that would fit the bill in your example. They include...
    encourage
    cause
    incite
    persuade
    and lots more. The English language has an enormous number of words. Sometimes, when there isn't an appropriate word, one needs to be invented. Sometimes they are imported from other languages and sometimes they are existing ones used in a new way.

    What it does not need is sub-literate PHB buzz-speak. That fits the word "pathetic". That sort of excuse for communication just shows the need for basic literacy.

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  11. Hardly just an "opinion," certainly not personal by weston · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's not ignorance - it's disagreement with your personal opinion.

    If you have some kind of refutation regarding my "opinion" about IE6, then I'm interested. have my doubts that you've got any such thing, however, if you can casually dismiss it as "just an opinion."

    It's certainly not just my personal opinion. It's not just groupthink opinion. It's a rather deserved judgment shared by just about every person I've ever encountered who's tried to do any serious client side development on the web, it's the opinion of tens of thousands of developers who've had to do systems or application-level development on anything Microsoft touched before Win2k, it's the opinion of tens of thousands whose projects and employment were touched by anti-competetive practices back in the day when Microsoft's market power wasn't just great it was genuinely frightening.

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