
IE9 Won't Support Windows XP - ecaron
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100318/tc_pcworld/ie9wontsupportwindowsxp
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mseebach
I don't get why people are upset that IE9 may not run on XP. Did they think
that running XP is a perpetual entitlement to be able to run all future
Microsoft software? What can IE9 do that's so important that IE8 or any of the
competing browsers can't do?

~~~
BSeward
I don't think it's people running XP who are disappointed. If this news means
much to you you're probably tech-savvy enough to have installed a more capable
browser.

Developers must be disappointed because this means the millions of non-tech
users running XP (and not interested/capable in upgrading to 7) won't be
automatically upgraded to a browser that can run websites built on modern
technologies. Consumer-oriented HTML5-powered webapps will continue to require
kludges or hacks or concessions to work for many users, and will keep
requiring these until a critical mass of grandpa- or aunties-owned computer
machines break and grandpas and aunties go to the Best Buy and get new ones.

~~~
j_baker
Having to support decrepit platforms that nobody wants to program on anymore
is part of being a developer. They will change, but they'll always be there.

~~~
Groxx
But must they make it worse _every_ time they touch a browser?

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InclinedPlane
To turn the logic around here. If MS should feel obligated to make sure all
its software works on windows XP, then shouldn't web developers continue to
feel obligated to make sure all their websites work on IE6?

~~~
tsuraan
That's a bizarre statement; MS wrote XP, and it wrote IE6. Why would MS
supporting or failing to support its own software have any relation on third
parties supporting MS's software?

~~~
InclinedPlane
The point I am making is that this logic doesn't work, MS has no obligation to
make IE9 run on XP. MS continues to release patches for both XP and IE6, and
that's all the obligation it has in terms of support. They have no obligation
to release new browsers for old operating systems.

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dirtbox
It's not even a browser at this point, it's simply a closed test suite.

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CWIZO
I don't see how this will affect anything. Those who are still using IE6 had
plenty of time to upgrade to IE7/8, what makes you think that once IE9 comes
along, everybody will suddenly upgrade?

~~~
calvin
It's because this means all the PC users who stay on Windows XP will be
perpetually using IE6/7/8. IE9 usage will only grow as adoption of Vista/7
picks up. In essence, IE9 will have slower marketshare growth and web
developers will be forced to cater towards the XP-using masses for another 5
years or more.

~~~
zokier
I'd guess there are 3 types of people:

1) Those who just use computers as they come out of box. These users will have
Windows 7/Windows Vista and therefore are capable of running IE9

2) Those tech savvy people who insist on installing XP. They are smart enough
to install and use some alternative browser (fx/chrome)

3) Those who are using that 10 year old computer and are using it as it came
from the box. These people are the problem (in addition to corporate droids)

~~~
GHFigs
_Those who just use computers as they come out of box. These users will have
Windows 7/Windows Vista_

Most netbooks sold in the last few years have run Windows XP Home, and some
continue to ship with it. Granted, many of the buyers probably fall under your
type 2, but not all of them.

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awt
So, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox can run on XP and support HTML 5, but IE 9
can't? Wow. What a kick in the nuts. 10 more years of IE6.

~~~
fnid2
IE9 on XP won't fix the problem, because IE6 will still run on Windows 7.

~~~
CoreDumpling
IE6 is packaged with XP. A large part of why it's around is that people who
bought XP couldn't be arsed to upgrade to anything better.

If some corporate IT department wants to upgrade to Windows 7 but still
reinstall IE6 over it for some crufty legacy app compatibility, I think
they'll probably have much bigger problems that would make the OS upgrade
pointless altogether.

Granted, Windows 7 currently ships with IE8, so we'll still have the same
problem for a while.

~~~
fnid2
They will _have_ to install ie6, some of them anyway, because there are a TON
of applications out there built to IE6 that are years old with no one to
support them and many of them have code bases that have disappeared.

It's a sad situation really. It's easier to install IE6 than rewrite the apps
to work with another browser.

~~~
1010011010
Targeting IE for "web" apps resulted in unupgradable windows-only apps plus a
lie. The lie that they were "web apps". A cautionary tale about Microsoft
lock-in causing damage to the web and to IT as a whole.

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mbenjaminsmith
I guess this means if I want to not break the law I have to buy another,
heavier os to VM for testing. Do I really have to buy win7 or vista just to
test another substandard browser? (Screams at ms, shakes angry fists towards
the heavens.)

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martingordon
It's up to web developers to take the plunge and decide to stop supporting
IE6.

Stop complaining about having to support IE6/IEx, bite the bullet and just
direct people to download a competent browser.

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zandorg
All they need is a flag which says 'This is XP, don't use those features'.

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InclinedPlane
Considering that the IE ship train has been tied to Windows for the past
several cycles and IE9 will ship with Windows 8, this is hardly surprising (at
that time XP will be 3 releases prior).

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motters
Hah. Now there's a surprise. Just business as usual for Microsoft.

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catfish
Microsoft is making a business decision that makes sense.

For them.

For those of us who prefer not to DRM our machines to death, XP is going to be
around for some time to come. Most folks like us stopped using explorer long
ago.

This decision helps open source browsers gain greater market share so I
welcome it.

Anything Microsoft does that helps open source alternatives is win in my book.

Thanks MS!!!!

~~~
j_baker
Erm.... Microsoft is a _business_. They are required by law to consider their
shareholders' interests above all else.

