Microsoft rolls out IE8 via automatic update

[a href="http://www.microsoft.com" target="_blank"
rel="nofollow"]Microsoft[/a] will this week begin rolling out [a href="http://www.itpro.co.uk/610250/internet-explorer-8-review"]Internet Explorer 8 (IE8)[/a] as an automatic update, but with the option to “opt out.”

Announced on its [a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/04/10/prepare-for-automatic-update-distribution-of-ie8.aspx" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"]blog[/a] on Friday, the IE8 browser will be offered to IE6 or IE7 users who are on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 using Microsoft Automatic Update. While it will be pushed to them, users will still be able to opt out of the download as it takes a manual click to install.

“Last week, we released IE8 via Automatic Update to users still running pre-release versions of IE8 (Beta 2 or Release Candidate 1). The goal was to make sure users who chose to install IE8 have the latest up-to-date version," said Eric Hebenstreit, Microsoft's lead IE8 program manager

“This [latest] rollout will start with a narrow audience and expand over time to the entire user base. On Windows XP and Server 2003, the update will be High-Priority. On Windows Vista and Server 2008 it will be Important.”

If you opt out of the automatic updates there is still the option to install it via the Microsoft website.

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