Internet Explorer 8 Pushed to Users in April

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Starting on or about the third week of April, users still running Internet Explorer 6 or Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 will get a notification through Automatic Update about Internet Explorer 8.

Unlike other updates, which can download and install automatically per the user's settings, IE8 may download to the PC -- but it requires the user's consent to install.

This 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 an organization uses Automatic Update to keep Windows up-to-date but wants to manage its own deployment of IE8, a free Blocker Toolkit is available that will block automatic delivery of IE8. This blocker toolkit was released in January 2009 and has no expiration date.

For more information, see Prepare for Automatic Update distribution of IE8.