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Internet Explorer 9 Will Not Support Windows XP

Posted by timothy on from the are-you-keeping-up-with-me dept.

MojoKid writes "As it turns out, news this week is that the same features that made IE9's hardware-acceleration possible probably aren't compatible with Windows XP. Microsoft initially dodged giving a straight answer to the question of XP support but has since admitted that the new browser won't be XP-compatible when it launches. This has created a small tempest of protest from those users still using XP, but this is less of an arbitrary decision than some appear to think. It's literally impossible to port Windows Vista/Win 7-style hardware acceleration backwards to XP. Microsoft would have to either develop a workaround from scratch or create a CPU-driven 'software mode.'"

4 of 454 comments (clear)

  1. Re:People need to stop bitching by Ant+P. · · Score: 0, Troll

    Gee, that got modded troll quick. Looks like the MS apologists are out in force today.

  2. Re:People need to stop bitching by westlake · · Score: 0, Troll

    Comparing XP's worthless out-of-box installation to any other OS which comes with (and MAINTAINS) hundreds of third-party apps is an extremely invalid comparison.

    The geek trots the old gray mare out for another run around the track.

    The "market value" of the Linux repository has proven to be as close to zero as makes no difference. The Windows user can shop for apps anywhere he chooses. There are risks in that. But rewards as well.

    _____

    The W3Schools OS Platform Statistics offer a quick look back over seven years.

    Linux with a 2% share in March 2003.
    5% in February 2010.

    Win 7 Beta/RC 2% in July 2009.
      Win 7 13% in February 2010.

    The Net Applications stats are - typically - less charitable. Top Operating Share Trend

  3. Re:Bullshit by sopssa · · Score: 0, Troll

    You might want to get on with the times. It's been many years since MS actually promoted vendor lock-in. More than that, Google joined in the fun too - paying browser manufacturers like Firefox to explicitly have Google as the default search engine.

  4. Re:Thats ok , as an XP user by sopssa · · Score: 0, Troll

    Forced to upgrade? IE8 works just fine on XP and will continue to do so.

    Regardless of your default browser, MS update launches IE. How long before it requires IE 9, thereby cutting you out of any further updates?

    Do you understand how ridiculous that sounds? Even if some application would launch IE instead of default browser, it would be the IE version installed on the system. Not a specific version.