Microsoft has added Internet Explorer 8 to Windows’ Automatic Update, and marked it as a high-priority update.
Starting on or about the third week of April, users still running IE6 or IE7 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 will get will get a notification through Automatic Update about IE8. 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.
This means IE6 should be taking another big hit as more people are prompted to upgrade. Users are given an option to decline the update, but I think we can count on a large percentage of people accepting the install. IT departments will have the ability to prevent the update from being rolled-out over a network.
Hopefully this will encourage home users (who have no reason to not upgrade) to install a marginally better browser.
Via @NETTUTS.
