Windows Automatic Update Could Keep You Up Late

The Internet Explorer web browser is being paraded as an "important update" to Windows but it could bring your business serious woes.

November 07, 2006
Found in: Articles : Editorial : General Interest :

Summary

We mentioned earlier that two major web browsers -- Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox -- were being updated in November. This article discusses the former and why you might want to delay upgrading if you can. If you are concerned about your own web site compatibility, you may be interested in Enthusiast Browser Insurance℠.

The Update Balloon Cometh Microsoft chose to send out the browser upgrade through its Windows Update system which every Microsoft Windows PC uses to get security and other updates for the operating system. The challenge with this is the web browser update may appear to be a system or security update with greater priority than is actually true. You don't have to perform the upgrade right now and there is good reason not to. The first sign of the update is this Windows Update Balloon in your Windows task bar: What You Don't Know Could Hurt The left column of this article is a little known set of three checklists Microsoft presents to those who wish to install Internet Explorer manually via the Microsoft web site. This is the preferred method of upgrade but Microsoft thought differently. The first of these checklists is directed toward "Consumers" which probably includes most of you reading this article so that will be my focus. The first sign of trouble is that the checklist begins with "After you install Internet Explorer 7..." even though many considerations remain prior to installing the new version. I have listed a few of the big ones below. Dependent Programs Many programs use pieces or components of Internet Explorer to display information or browse the Internet without leaving the application. For example, Intuit's QuickBooks uses Internet Explorer to display online banking and other information inside QuickBooks. Once Internet Explorer is upgraded, if no update for QuickBooks is available or it is not correctly installed, this program may become unusable. There are many examples like this as Microsoft has encouraged software companies to use Internet Explorer components within their applications for years. You certainly want to do your homework so you can avoid having to work from home.

Non-Standard Web Sites

This is the first update to Internet Explorer in over five years. Unfortunately, since IE owns over 80% of the web browser market it gives Microsoft the liberty to just put it out there and expect others to figure it out. Ultimately the burden of this first falls to web site owners and businesses and then to their webmasters or web site technology experts. These experts have commonly built web sites for only a single web browser, namely Internet Explorer 6.0. Since Internet Explorer 7.0 is very different in how it reads and displays a web site to users, many of these web sites will malfunction or be totally unusable within the updated browser.

So if online banking, stock trading, shopping, or other routine and vital uses of the Internet are part of your daily activities, you may want to contact these companies to check compatibility or delay your IE 7 update until you feel safe and comfortable doing so.

You Can Delay The Upgrade

Given that Windows alerts users that their PC is "potentially unsafe" if fully automated updates are disabled, many will experience much lost sleep and frustration over the unanticipated impact of this upgrade. There are rumors that an IE installation choice screen will appear giving users a choice to update later but ultimately Microsoft wants everyone to upgrade so below is a sure way to prevent the upgrade.

Microsoft offers an "Internet Explorer Blocker Toolkit" that will block IE 7 from installing automatically and the same toolkit can be used to enable the upgrade at a later date.

Added Comfort

Most people do not realize there is a choice in how you browse or surf the Internet. Many believe that the new features delivered in this upgraded version of Internet Explorer were a response to the growing popularity and features of the Mozilla Firefox browser. To add a level of comfort and reduce the chances of web site incompatibility, download the free Firefox browser and install it. It will not affect any other programs on your computer and will import Internet Explorer bookmarks and settings for you.

_{*We do our best to insure the information here is accurate. However, given the myriad of configurations that exist each experience may be different and the advice of a professional is encouraged.}