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Windows pirates get IE7 amnesty
No more checks for bootleg XP users.
By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Published: 01:35 GMT, 08 October 07
Windows pirates can now download and run Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft has said.
From the moment it released IE7 almost a year ago, Microsoft has restricted the browser to users who can prove they own a legitimate copy of the operating system by passing its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation test.
Microsoft had said rights to IE7 was one of the rewards for being legal. It has now changed its mind, saying the move is in users' best interest.
"Because Microsoft takes its commitment to help protect the entire Windows ecosystem seriously, we're updating the IE7 installation experience to make it available as broadly as possible to all Windows users," said IE program manager Steve Reynolds in a company blog. "With today's 'Installation and Availability Update,' Internet Explorer 7 installation will no longer require Windows Genuine Advantage validation and will be available to all Windows XP users."
Microsoft has consistently touted IE7 as a more secure browser, and patch counts back that up. In the past 11 months, IE6 for Windows XP SP2 has been patched 22 times, with 20 of them rated critical. IE7 for XP SP2, however, has been patched only 13 times; 10 of those fixes were ranked critical. In fact, when Microsoft announced that IE7 would not be offered to users running illegal copies of XP, some analysts questioned the company's commitment to security.
This is the first time that Microsoft has removed a WGA check for a major product. Windows Defender, the company's anti-spyware software, and Windows Media Player 11 both still require validation.
Several people who left comments on Reynold's post wondered if there's more to the decision than meets the eye. "I am guessing that this is in reaction to Firefox's growing market share," said someone identified as Dileepa. "I am not surprised at this at all."
Mozilla's Firefox has gained some ground on IE since IE7's launch. According to Net Applications, a web metrics company, Firefox's share is up by about two percentage points since October 2006, while IE6 and IE7 combined slipped by more than three points.
IE7's uptake was dramatic late last year, when it went from about a 3-percent share in October to 18 percent in December, but growth has slowed. Since April it has increased its share by four percentage points, but almost all of it was at the expense of IE6.
The IE7 update also sports a few tweaks: The menu bar is now visible by default, and a new administration kit includes a revamped MSI installer to smooth corporate deployment.
Users can download IE7 or wait for it to appear in Windows Update as a high-priority item. It will take several months for Windows Update to roll out IE7 to all XP customers, and anyone dissatisfied with the new browser can downgrade to IE6 by using the Add/Remove Programs control panel tool.
A blocking tool kit is still available for companies and organisations that don't use Windows Server Update Services and want to permanently prevent IE7 from automatically installing on PCs equipped with IE6.
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Add your commentComments
xwindowsjunkie | Published: 20:45 GMT, 12 October 2007
Pure Marketing move. It also probably comes with a cmponent that reports back to the mothership the email address of the illegal OS or perhaps the CD Key code of all users. That way they can keep track of how many legal copies they've actually sold. My XP box seems to quieted down on the WGA crap anyway. I've been keeping track of how many times and when it calls home and its down to once a week.
Milton da Silva | Published: 20:28 GMT, 12 October 2007
100% maketing stagetgy .....
spacenaut | Published: 09:41 GMT, 10 October 2007
Mozilla Firefox is ahead!
Archit Shrivastava | Published: 06:59 GMT, 10 October 2007
there are already some packages available to fool the WGA system. so Pirates are anyway using those. by making it freely downloadble it will be in reach of common persons. So, i think its a good move to get back the market capitalization
Mikey | Published: 04:49 GMT, 10 October 2007
This isn't that big a deal, considering the WGA check is a joke. Any windows pirate with half a brain that WANTED to run IE7, has already been running it anyway. As for the "WANTED" remark, most IT savy people don't like IE. As a software developer though, I love it, especially since I get javascript line-by-line debugging with visual studio 'orcas'.
Steve Adams | Published: 23:42 GMT, 09 October 2007
Hmmmm, interesting. So in the future IE7 will be available to all will it? Good cus at the moment, somehow, i have a very poor Windows Explorer which constantly fails and error reports are the main feature of my screen. I have tried to locate IE6 in numerous places but to no avail so this could save me from several new mice!!! Anyone have an suggestions for me in the meantime please??? dx-hbk-hhh@hotmail.co.uk Thanks, Steve :-)
TrattoVideo | Published: 22:40 GMT, 09 October 2007
"The menu bar is now visible by default" - wow, what an advance that is. Maybe soon maybe I can open a HTML file on my own hard disc without IE's pop-up "Danger!" message. Or even print pages by default at 100% instead of having IE7 shrink them to fit, even when they fit anyway. It's junk.
Chris | Published: 21:29 GMT, 09 October 2007
About time they realised, if they have a population unprotected by updates, then viruses flourish, just like human vacinations.
s_s | Published: 21:14 GMT, 09 October 2007
I wonder about money being the reason. I remember when anti-virus started. Much of it was free to download and use. virus protection became such a need and the market needed guarantees to some degree so virus protection is now a high dollar industry. I don't see browsers doing the same because the only real looser in browser wars were companies who charged.
Cardin | Published: 12:02 GMT, 09 October 2007
A move Microsoft should have done long ago... If it wants to retain any market share it should have allowed anyone to download and use IE7