Microsoft Backs Down On Making IE8 Default At Upgrade 160
Barence writes "Internet Explorer 8 will no longer replace the default browser when a user selects the 'Use express settings' option during installation. Back in May, Mozilla and Opera accused Microsoft of force-feeding users Internet Explorer 8 through the Automatic Updates process. The object of their ire was the 'Use express settings' option which automatically sets Internet Explorer 8 as the default browser. The option was already ticked when Automatic Updates offered users the choice to upgrade their browser. 'We heard a lot of feedback from a lot of different people and groups and decided to make the user choice of the default browser even more explicit,' notes Microsoft in a blog post."
What crap... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:What crap... (Score:5, Informative)
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I'm lazy. My Windows menu (formerly Start menu) has my default Internet browser at the top, and that's what I usually use to launch it, rather than hunting for it on my Desktop or All Programs menu.
It's a known location that's in the same spot regardless of whether I'm using XP at work or Vista/7 at home.
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Hell, you can manually drag the icon there if you're really that lazy.
Remember, it's not being lazy to leave the icon where it is and work harder every time; It's being lazy to move to where it causes the least work.
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I just right click pretty much anywhere and hit Firefox. Openbox is wonderful. I don't need to worry about pinning, plopping or any of that. ;)
[though I will admit that it took a minute or two of my life to get it setup right, but now that's out of the way...]
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Isn't half the point of a computer that you don't need to pay such a price for being lazy?
Re:What crap... (Score:5, Informative)
The reason why it's acceptable that Firefox, Opera etc does this is because the user chose to download the browser. However, since MS pushed IE8 as a critical update through their automatic update service the user doesn't really have much choice. I accept the set as default using express if the user downloads IE8 as a separate download. But through an automatic update? No.
Re:What crap... (Score:5, Insightful)
However, since MS pushed IE8 as a critical update through their automatic update service the user doesn't really have much choice
It's slightly more subtle than that. A forced upgrade from IE7 to IE8 doesn't seem much of an issue to me. It defaulting to changing itself to being the default browser doesn't rattle me too much either (though it does annoy me). What really gets to me is the fact that such a huge change in user preferences is "hidden" behind a "use express settings" tick box.
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What really gets to me is the fact that such a huge change in user preferences is "hidden" behind a "use express settings" tick box.
Did you see how it actually looks like [winisp.net]? It's not exactly hidden. It's right there for everyone to read, "Default browser: Internet Explorer".
Of course, most users don't bother to read anything and would just click Next-Next-Next, but that is a very different problem.
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What really gets to me is the fact that such a huge change in user preferences is "hidden" behind a "use express settings" tick box.
I don't get this. 'Express Settings' means "I trust Microsoft to pick the best software update scheme for me." In this case, IE8 is probably better for more users than IE7 is.
You have to cede some control to get everything taken care of for you.
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Yes, IE8 is undoubtedly better than IE7, but what if IE7 wasn't your default browser beforehand?
Well, my reply was specifically to a comment that had conceded that point, so you have to take it in context
But, to whit, it's distasteful, for sure, but who is this going to affect? Pretty much only somebody who has no idea he's using Firefox and doesn't care, right? "Microsoft has no class", we knew that, but what's the actual harm - that users have to click "OK" when Firefox asks them again, right?
I don't u
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Gah! The entire point of this is that if you've installed an alternative browser, and set it as your default, it might be precisely because you *don't* trust everything coming out of Microsoft.
If I click Next through the Firefox setup it pisses me off because it added an icon to the desktop that I didn't want. Most users who click through the install probably find it makes FireFox more accessible. I've setup the shortcuts on my desktop myself and since I don't trust Mozilla to manage my destop, they shoul
Re:What crap... (Score:5, Interesting)
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I think they did drop that, because I recently switched to IE8, but keep FF to make sure my web pages work with it. I remember having to tell it NOT to "ensure it was the default" and switch the default back to IE8.
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Here's a logical fallacy for you:
Puppy Mike is ornery, always causing problems. Puppy Moe is adorable, does many cute things and is very agreeable.
Ornery puppy Mike shits on your carpet. "Bad puppy!"
Adorable puppy Moe — whoops! — also shits on your carpet.
You look back and forth between them, scratch your head, and declare, "You gotta stop bashing EVERYTHING puppy Mike does!"
As if you wanted crap on your carpet at all?
But given Moe's past performance, I'd be surprised if there were in fact cra
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And my story isn't story worthy. I fixed it in 2 seconds. Iam just pointing out that this isn't unusual behavior.
I'd say you put yourself in a position of responsibility to post a story after libeling Firefox. Especially since you haven't recanted.
Most likely you ran past the dialog that prompts you about taking the browser as a default. [slashdot.org]
But as far as farting v. shitting, sure, that's a better analogy. The thing you have to keep in mind that Mike farts a lot. At some point you gotta reconsider having Mike around.
Or you run a risk of detonation.
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Most likely you ran past the dialog that prompts you about taking the browser as a default.
Yep.
I did the FF3.5 install last night. The very first dialog prompts for whether you want the browser to be the default.
So, no, it's not simply that your story isn't worthy. It's just a lie. A +5 Interesting lie.
I'm reminded of why online forums suck.
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But you downloaded it manually, correct?
Automated updates are not supposed to change settings, but installing can. Your beef would be valid if every Firefox patch set it to be the default browser, even when IE8 was.
Re:What crap... (Score:5, Insightful)
"The reason why it's acceptable that Firefox, Opera etc does this is because the user chose to download the browser."
You're using a double standard here. I downloaded Google Chrome so I could go and try it out. Give it the benefit of the doubt, and so forth. I didn't need it to be my default browser any more than I needed Opera to be my default browser when I decided to try it out.
Certainly its easy to fix this. Most of the browsers will demand to be set as the default browser when you open them, but this is a conversation for the new and inexperienced users who don't know how to change that. If they did download Chrome (because Google is pushing chrome aggressively on every page) having it be the default browser could be a huge learning curve.
Now, I'm all for making users learn something, but eventually they end up calling you on the phone and demand you make it work right.
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Ironically the media player wars were exactly about this. Real would become the default player for all sorts of formats, then Quicktime would, and so on. Someone must have learnt their lesson, because these days Real and Windows Media Player play nice, not too sure what Quicktime does (not installed it in some time).
If the media player vendors can learn, why not the browser? And yes, I don't buy the argument that anyone downloading Firefox is looking to make it his default browser. I download Opera and Chro
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If the media player vendors can learn, why not the browser? And yes, I don't buy the argument that anyone downloading Firefox is looking to make it his default browser. I download Opera and Chrome onto new PCs too, I'd be pissed if I couldn't stop them from becoming my default.
You can stop them from becoming default. You uncheck a box.
Most browsers assume you want it to be the default when you install it. That's fine - they all seem to do it. This same behaviour is not fine, when it's merely applying a patch or upgrade.
If I upgrade from FF3 to FF3.5, and Opera is my default browser, Opera should remain my default browser. This is where Microsoft messed up.
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Certainly its easy to fix this. Most of the browsers will demand to be set as the default browser when you open them, but this is a conversation for the new and inexperienced users who don't know how to change that. If they did download Chrome (because Google is pushing chrome aggressively on every page) having it be the default browser could be a huge learning curve.
Chrome never set itself to be the default browser, for me? I couldn't even get it to set itself to open .html files, when I wanted it to.
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On the other hand, the vast majority of clueless ones, that had FF installed by someone else for example, will get back to IE8 without even realizing what happened, never able to go back to FF or anything else ... This is just usual Microsoft monopoly abuse.
Of course the majority of those clueless people were only using FF because it was forced on them by the guy who installed it. If they don't notice the change it's because they just want to browse the web and don't care what they use. They probably did
Re:What crap... (Score:5, Insightful)
IMO, the reason why it's unacceptable is because this is a freaking upgrade. The preference is already set to whichever browser the user favors, why should it be reset ? The existing choice should be left alone.
If it's a fresh installation, fine go ahead and toggle it by default, that's a good way to minimize user confusion ("I just installed Thingy 8, where the hell is it?"). If it's an upgrade, just replace those damned files and leave my settings the way they are.
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If it's a fresh installation, fine go ahead and toggle it by default, that's a good way to minimize user confusion ("I just installed Thingy 8, where the hell is it?"). If it's an upgrade, just replace those damned files and leave my settings the way they are.
IE can't be a fresh installation (on XP or Vista), because everyone already has IE installed. If someone has IE7 installed but never uses it because their default browser is Firefox, and one day they decide they want to ditch Firefox and switch to IE8, they should be presented with the option to make IE8 their default browser, even though it's technically an upgrade.
However, until now, instead of asking whether you want to set IE as your default browser, the IE installer was instead asking "hey, do you wan
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This is not the case with routine system updates.
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When you installed Firefox, you specifically sought out the installer, downloaded it and ran it. It's quite a reasonable assumption there that you'd like to use it as your default browser.
I disagree. A browser installation or upgrade should always ask whether you want your default browser changed.
I would expect Mozilla also to agree with this, so I doubt that other poster's claim that FF3.5 presumes to make itself the default browser [slashdot.org] and would like to see that claim substantiated.
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Well, a couple of days ago I upgraded my Firefox 2.x install to 3.5 (I don't use Windows that often) and it asked me if I wanted to make it the default browser. There was a checkbox (that was by default checked, but it may have been because my FF 2.x install was default? dunno) that I could have unselected
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Ah, this is probably what they experienced. They probably zoomed past the dialog and didn't realize it.
Maybe it would be better to have the dialog require the user think. Two buttons to progress to the next screen, "make default browser" and "don't make default browser".
It seems that's really pushing it, though. How many dialog boxes does the user have to fiddle with anyway? If four or less, they can pay enough attention to handle this one dialog.
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The difference is that Microsoft wasn't giving you an option. When you start IE 8 for the first time, if you choose "Express Setup" rather than "Custom," it makes IE the default--and not only does it not give you an option, it doesn't even tell you that it's going to make it default, either.
This update addresses this issue by including a "Make IE default browser" checkbox right under the "Express Setup" radio button. It's still checked by default (as it is for most browsers), but at least you can't say you
Re:What crap... (Score:5, Informative)
Under the "Use Express Settings" header it listed everything that would be set. One of the items was "Default Browser: Internet Explorer" (note that it only had this text if IE wasn't already the default). The IE blog has screenshots of this behavior: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/05/01/ie8-installation-the-user-is-in-control.aspx [msdn.com]
Since that post was written, they've decided to move the default browser page out of the express settings and require users to make a choice (unless IE is already their default browser). You'll notice that the user really does have to make a choice as no option is selected by default (the 'Next' button is disabled until they choose 'Yes' or 'No'). Here's the IE blog post with screenshots of the new behavior, since Slashdot didn't link to it directly: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/07/16/changes-to-ie8-s-first-run.aspx [msdn.com]
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Very true. I often have people who can't even tell what exact program they are using. This is while they are in said program. Could easily look up at the top part of their window and see.
To such people it's just a sort of magic box that responds in a certain way when they push certain buttons in a certain sequence. No real thought involved just rote actions.
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Express settings are way more than browser, it is almost like a spyware install carefully hiding options.
If you express install IE 8, you are basically owned by their Live services. Search, homepage, "look up", "blog", "look on map". All are Microsoft properties which are horribly unpopular compared to other options.
It is way more than "default browser" setting. They really lost it this time since monopoly court is still watching them with EU guys are already on them.
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Common sense (Score:1, Interesting)
By selecting "Express settings" the user is saying to the vendor: "Yes, I want to you use any settings you consider to be the best for me."
You give the vendor a blank statement. Microsoft wouldn't have to bother changing the default. They are actually quite kind to Mozilla, Opera and Safari there.
The first thing I do (Score:2)
when installing a new system, be it server or my own machine, is to hide IE7+8 from the listed updates.
Of course with Windws 7 I've had no choice ;)
Yes you did (Score:4, Informative)
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I imagine it keeps the library files around, since they're called by the "My Computer" and "Windows Explorer" features. I wonder though, what it does when you type an "http" URL in the "My Computer" browser bar. The current behavior is to simply grab IE's web libraries and turn your file browser into a web browser on the fly. Will it still do that? On my Mac when you enter "http" URLs into the file browser it opens the default web browser.
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Windows has called the default web browser, even if it's IE, seperately, since IE 7.
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Really, really uninstall it? As in "uninstall" will delete all the IE files off of your storage device? Or just make the links disappear and keep most, if not all, of the files around so that Windows 7 can keep functioning?
Removing IE removes the application, local libraries and wizards. It does not remove the rendering libraries since they are considered a component of the operating system. They are not used exclusively by Internet Explorer so they should be kept around for the many other applications wh
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You're opening yourself up to vulnerabilities in the browser control used by various programs like Winamp, RealPlayer etc. What's so bad about keeping IE up to date while you use your favorite browser? I bet millions of geeks do that with no problem.
What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Surely the problem was that the update changed the default browser, not that it upgraded the non-default one.
Usually Microsoft's actions are fairly transparent, but I really can't understand what they are trying to achieve with this policy
Higher management should give them a lesson (Score:2)
I wonder if MS fired the team responsible for that scandal (IE 8) that even their best buddies didn't like and the decision to pull a trick even Real Networks gave up.
"If user has installed me over automated windows update and has another browser selected by default, don't touch his settings".
How hard it is? It is really malicious and nothing else, the team, managers, all must be fired unless they publicly apologize.
Their action, while at court with EU could cost them millions if not billion. Yes, that chil
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Personally, I don't see why an application is setting itself as the default anyway. That should be left up to the user and the OS.
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Personally, I don't see why an application is setting itself as the default anyway. That should be left up to the user and the OS.
Originally it was done as a convenience, because most users didn't know how to set it in the OS settings, and it's somewhat cumbersome to do anyway. Many apps have a "set me as default" option.
Then Apple stupidly decided every application should expose this system-wide preference in the application's own preferences dialog, and the system-wide preference option should be removed entirely. Until other browser manufacturers caught up, this meant that in order to choose something other than Safari as your de
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Apple just stole that bit of awesome usability from KDE (same place they got WebKit, for that matter,) where to get KDE apps to respect your choice of default browser, I recall having to set Opera (my browser of choice) as the default browser in Konqueror...
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Ah, I was thinking there was somebody else doing the same thing, but I didn't realize Apple copied it from them. How disappointing.
Interestingly, this functionality on Mac OS was originally not part of the OS; it was provided by a third-party application called Internet Config. It became a de-facto standard, and most applications supported it, even though the OS itself offered no means of selecting default applications for anything. Apple started bundling Internet Config with Mac OS, then wrote their own [apple.com]
Not Uncommon (Score:4, Insightful)
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Same with Java or Adobe and the Yahoo! toolbar.
[John]
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Good, I hate when installers and update utilities hide crap like that behind "express" or default settings.
Please look at the screenshot [winisp.net] of the dialog in question before judging. Would you still say that it's "hidden behind express" after seeing how it actually looks?
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If you'd actually looked at the behavior, you'd see that it tells you the changes that will be made by the "Express Settings" option. You also must explicitly select that option before continuing - the dialog box's "Next" button is disabled until you choose Express or Custom settings. If you cancel the dialog, no settings are changed (meaning a lot of the new features in IE8 don't do anything, since it will use the settings from your old version). This is actually behavior that a lot of other installers sho
I'm willing to let this one slip... (Score:4, Insightful)
...if it helps continue the death of IE6
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I'll grab my pitchfork, you get the scythe, meet me at the old barn and bring everyone you can find.
IE6 will die.
They stopped trying to force IE8 in May? (Score:2, Interesting)
I did a fresh install of 7 recently (June 10th) after some tweaking of my system rendered it unstable. (not the point of the post, just background on why I did the reinstall)
I did the Windows 7 clean install, loaded my drivers, and activated it.
Grabbed the normal updates and, during that process, I right clicked the automatic update entry for IE8 and selected "Hide Update" because I choose not to load the IE8 software.
Now with patches loaded, I go back to see if any of the patches needed patching. I go back
Windows 7 includes IE8... (Score:5, Informative)
Are you retarded, or a troll?
IE8 is included in Windows 7.
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Are you retarded, or a troll?
IE8 is included in Windows 7.
Actually, if you uninstall IE6/7/8 from a windows machine, automatic update will instantly (upon reboot) nag you to patch IE, even though its not installed. I think this is what parent is attempting to describe.
His MS technet link states he only uses firefox.
Re:They stopped trying to force IE8 in May? (Score:5, Insightful)
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It also has KB number, better install (!) (Score:2)
I love how they gave it a KB number so poor user should think it is part of system functionality or some kind of something gets updated.
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As others have pointed out, you're a moron.
Open the Control Panel, click "Programs and Features", then click "Turn Windows features on or off" in the sidebar on the left. Uncheck the box for "Internet Explorer 8" and click OK. You'll get a warning that removing IE could break things (but nothing you care about), then it'll ask you to reboot.
This does not remove IE's rendering engine (Trident/MSHTML), which is embedded in a bazillion other applications. There are still going to be security holes in that,
Slow crap (Score:1)
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was excited to try IE8. About 20 minutes after install and use I wasn't excited anymore. When I open a new tab my whole system slows down until its finished loading. I haven't looked at the CPU usage but i'd assume its pegging it for the render engine. Just a thought.
It's most likely an addon which is causing your issue. You can run IE with no addons under Accessories->System Tools and confirm if that is the cause.
IE 8 handles each tab esentially as a sepatate IE process and some addons have real prob
Not Robinson Crusoe On This Score (Score:2)
Too Late... (Score:1, Insightful)
Uninstall plz (Score:2, Interesting)
I want to uninstall IE6 and IE7 before i install IE8 bloat.
IE8 crash more often then IE6 and IE7 put together. It's wrong
to force that on n00bs. They have hard time as it is.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Setup\7.0]
"DoNotAllowIE70"=dword:1
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Setup\8.0]
"DoNotAllowIE80"=dword:1
I'm temped to add 9.0 too to avoid future nag...
Things like these and WGA spyware is why i dont run WindowsUpdate.
I'm also thinking of redirecting IE shortc
Service Packs required IE8 too for Vista! (Score:3, Interesting)
Since IE8 was considered a critical update and service packs require ALL critical updates, users have no choice to get IE8 to be able to upgrade with a service pack via Windows Update in Vista. :(
anticipatory upload every update included for free (Score:2)
$10 says it still uploads to your machine every time you do a windows update but asks if you want to upgrade to IE8. Then, if you say no, it deletes it from the temp directory so you can upload it over and over until you are tired of the massive upload every time you do a windows update.
It is just a VM (Score:2)
If you love the windows this post is not for you.
I don't see the big deal. If your windows VM wants to pump crap on its virtual drive let it. You have a 1T drive right? That is the cool thing about demoting jenky OS's to virtual machines. You can still use those outdated applications that haven't been fully replaced by a Linux/OSX version, not worry about it BSoD'ing your machine, and let it do all of it's BS updates it wants.
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I've no idea what it'll do if I upgrade to it, so I'm sticking with IE6 on my PC, and IE7 on everyone else's.
"In this case, we are afraid to be evil." (Score:3, Insightful)
Google: Don't do evil.
Microsoft: Evil for profit.
Google: It's finished, but we call it beta.
Microsoft: It's beta, but we call it finished. (All of our customers are part of our beta test team.)
"Internet Explorer 8 will no longer replace the default browser when a user selects the 'Use express settings' option during installation.
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But we are afraid of another anti-trust investigation.
Perhaps I'm paranoid, perhaps I'm a fanboy, perhaps I love spreading FUD, or perhaps I've never heard anything from Microsoft that ever even remotely sounded like this:
We heard a lot of feedback from a lot of different people and groups and decided to make the user choice of the default browser even more explicit
Something just doesn't sound right, and I doubt I'm the only one feeling that.
Re:Browsers War (Score:4, Insightful)
And then you just leave yourself with outdated and potentially bug-riddled software still installed on your machine. The better option would be to remove IE completely if you don't use it, but that's obviously not possible ;)
Re:Browsers War (Score:5, Interesting)
All my machines went to IE8, even though I use Firefox as my browser of choice. Three reasons:
1: Security. You always want stuff that handles protentially hostile code as updated as possible. IE6 was made for the security threats of 2001. IE8 is made for far more current threats. Nothing is perfect, but IE has gotten a lot better as times have gone on. It has decent clickjacking protection, and seems to have had done a good job in standing up to NSS Labs's security tests.
2: Features. Auto-zapping all history and cache, and InPrivate browsing make it decently usable for those sites which require IE, or don't work well with Firefox.
3: Compatibility mode. There are some sites which still assume that everyone is going to be using IE6 for the forseeable future.
Re:Browsers War (Score:5, Funny)
Kindly fall into line behind the blind F/OSS advocates to add your X to the list of people who think Microsoft is bad like the rest of the sheep without considering any alternate opinion! Your valid reasoning is not welcome here.
Re:Browsers War (Score:5, Funny)
Since the "whoosh" meme is a bit played out, I'll try a different one: ::Toooooooooooooot::
Hear that? That's the sound of you missing the boat.
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Get out more!
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1: Security.
QFT.
I am finding I'm running into many applications that use embedded IE to access the internet. Two off the top of my head are Steam and Darkfall Online - Steam of course uses it for its store, community pages, and in-game overlay's web browser, while Darkfall used a horribly implemented system for its journal, clan pages etc.
There are many others, and if you're using one which happens to stumble upon a compromised site you'd be better off with a newer IE, I'd think.
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on wine AFAIK, you don't actually need to install IE to get steam working, there is some sort of hack to get it working using gecko! can this be done on windows? OFC if embedded IE uses IE6bugs then IE8 with compatibility mode is probably your only choice,
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on wine AFAIK, you don't actually need to install IE to get steam working, there is some sort of hack to get it working using gecko! can this be done on windows?
There is a wrapper around Mozilla [www.iol.ie] that exposes it via the same COM interfaces that IE provides for hosting purposes. It would be possible to use that, and write a simple stub DLL that would be registered for CLSID_WebBrowser (MSHTML), but would instead instantiate CLSID_MozillaBrowser (the wrapper). Once done, all applications on the system should pick the new engine. It would be somewhat more complicated to do this for specific apps only, but still possible if you intercept DLL calls using something like D [microsoft.com]
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You can actually do it on Windows. MSHTML.dll (the Trident rendering engine) is the default rendering engine on Windows, but it can be replaced - pretty sure it's just a registry key. Of course, anything that relies on it actually being Trident will break - Steam on Wine is good (although not perfect) but there are other, much more painful examples - but it's theoretically possible.
Wine implemented the Gecko "IE" feature because they needed *some* rendering engine, but they're working on a proper MSHTML imp
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Heck, I have applications on my machine that use IE as their display engine (I guess). So when IE gets upgraded, my scanner software stops working. Finally HP addressed it with a patch so it'd use IE 8 but it was annoying for a bit that I couldn't use the HP software to change the default settings.
[John]
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3: Compatibility mode. There are some sites which still assume that everyone is going to be using IE6 for the forseeable future.
Short of rubbish sites that require ActiveX, I've found most sites made for IE6 render better in Firefox than IE8.
I suppose that's why there is a compatibility mode. But to me, this isn't a positive I'd go around boasting about.
I'm happy they finally got security "right". I'd lump it up there with Safari and Firefox. (though not Chrome or Opera, until it's proven itself for a while)
Re:Browsers War (Score:5, Interesting)
If you don't use IE do not upgrade it and it won't change your default browser
Or you can update it and just be sure to uncheck the "default browser" option. I realize that not everyone knows how to do that but its not one of the harder things to change.
I do find it funny though that all of these companies are essentially fighting over the users ignorant of how to do such things. I suppose it makes sense in a way, if you can snag the majority of these people, you'll have them for ages AND you'll never have to give them new features because they won't understand how to use them anyways. They'll be endlessly happy with whatever you throw at them as long as it doesn't complicate things any more for them and still lets them access the internet.
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And being clueless, they're far more likely to click on an advertisement, thinking it's a legitimate search result. Which company wouldn't want them using their own browser!? ;D
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Biggest OS retailer on PCs. Ignoring the notion that a mac isn't a PC (are modern 'PCs' any closer to an IBM PC than a wintel mac?), MS do have the vast bulk of the market on desktop and laptop personal computers.
This is where they have a monopoly. The issue, in general, though, is less that they have the monopoly than that they abuse the fact they have one.
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apple absolutely has used their "monopoly" on ipods to gain a market. In this case it's online distribution of music.
Apple and toyota seem to have a halo around them, they are still publicly traded corporations, and at their core are just the same as MS or any other business.
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While neither a lover of Microsoft or Apple, calling Apple a monopoly is simply ludicrous. They hold about 3% of the global PC market (~7.7% in the US), 1% of the global cell phone market, and by some estimates about 23% of the Personal Digital Music Player market (Source: http://tinyurl.com/nm3m4n [tinyurl.com]). Certainly not a monopoly in any of the markets. Microsoft on the other hand has ~90% global market share.
As far as why Apple is not abusing monopoly laws with their iTunes software as it relates to the iPo
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Remember "monopoly" does not mean "highest marketshare." per se. From dictionary.com:
MS has a monopoly (as determined by a US court) on OS for Intel
Re: (Score:2)
What I'm asking is this: What makes it a monopoly?
Fuck off, if you are really interested in this there are numerous resources on the internet explaining it in great detail.
You might as well come here asking about the moon landing...
Go back to neowin...