IE 9 Won't be Supported by XP
PrintIf you’re still running XP after all these years, odds are you’ve settled in nicely and don’t plan to leave until you have no choice. Well, that might be happening sooner than you expected. Microsoft announced today that they were working on Internet Explorer 9, and that it would not support Windows XP. This could be a sign that Redmond is putting XP development permanently on the back burner.
The new browser will be heavily dependent on hardware acceleration that just isn’t possible on Windows XP. IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch even went so far as to day that a “modern browser” would require “modern operating system”. Those in the know were fully aware this might happen, as Microsoft announced the need for hardware acceleration at last year’s PDC. In the end, when IE9 hits next year, XP will be ten years old. It might be time to give Windows 7 a shot. Take it as a sign.
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MleB
March 17, 2010 at 7:20am
What? People still use IE? I assume its because its still those who buy and use whatever is on their machine (the Walmart shopper) rather than by an educated, personal choice. Certainly, other than by Windows Update nagging, I wonder who will download and use IE otherwise.
I 'downgraded' to XP from Vista when a netbook purchase included that OS. It boots faster than a colleague's Win7 and, with some knowledgeable tweaking, it does precisely what I need the computer to do. Safely.
Upgrading to Win7 offers me no recognizable value (and somewhere near a $300 hit to do so legally) - so I guess I'll 'miss out' on IE9. No loss there.
That said, Firefox needs to be a lot better (lighter, faster and less of a resource hog) sooner rather than later.
nekollx
March 17, 2010 at 9:09am
Windows 98 is perfect! We don't need these new fangled XP Boxes!
Seriously
Let
It
Go
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Lhot
March 17, 2010 at 6:31am
I still use Internet Explorer 6....no Inet Explorer since has interested me. One simple reason is that stupid ribbon bar. I now have to hit an extra key "alt" to get the menu bar i once had readily available...now thats NOT what I call progress :/
The "CLOUD" is the biggest mistake this country has made...EVER !
Caboose
March 19, 2010 at 9:10am
Hitting alt, clicking view, clicking toolbars, and checking off Menu Bar is a pretty quick, 3 second fix! I prefer to not have the menu bar visible all the time as the window is just that much bigger, less clutter, and all the options that i want are easier to access via keyboard shortcut, or are a button on the ribbon...
Pretty quick, easy and simple if you ask me.
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
cheeseglue
March 17, 2010 at 1:36pm
I prefer Chrome and don't normally defend IE8, but seriously... IE6??
You can just right click and enable the menu bar permanently in IE8.. but what's the need when everything is available via the icons on the right?
... and I guess support for transparent PNGs and decent CSS handling are a bad ideas too?
nekollx
March 17, 2010 at 1:39pm
CSS is a tool of the devil.
GIT OF MAH LAWN! *shakes cane*
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
BAMT
March 17, 2010 at 1:15pm
IE6 and Konqueror (KDE3) FTW! (without considering real, not IE/IE's equivalent web browsers)
But really, what kind of XP user wants to upgrade that browser?
FirstPersonGentleman
March 16, 2010 at 10:44pm
But internet explorer won't be missed. I dumped it back in the early 2000's in favor of whatever mozila's browser was back then, then switched to firefox when it came out. It's too late to gain the support of users like myself who was never enticed to go back to IE.
M-ManLA
March 16, 2010 at 9:51pm
GOOD! I loved XP, but it is about 80 years old in technology terms, and it is time to let it go. I did, and maybe you should too.
Electronically charged
gendoikari1
March 16, 2010 at 7:48pm
Wait, if they say a "modern" browser requires a "modern" OS, then why would they drop XP support with IE 9? Internet Explorer is the antithesis of modern!
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Kamicrit
March 16, 2010 at 5:10pm
Sooner or later this would have to happen, and i guess XP's time has come. What next, dropping drivers/updates?
COMMANDER_COOK
March 16, 2010 at 5:38pm
You can't blame Microsoft. It's just time to let go.
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bjoswald
March 16, 2010 at 4:19pm
You can block ads in every browser if you use Ad Muncher.
Oh, and yeah, Opera is great -- to the 5 people who actually use it.
dax
March 16, 2010 at 5:52pm
Get your head off your ass, Opera 10.50: 8,600,000 downloads, Opera mobile: 950,000 downloads. And in case you wonder, Firefox: 22,000,000, Explorer: 13,000,000, Chrome: 1,600,000.
snapple00
March 16, 2010 at 10:44pm
And even though it has been downloaded 8.6 million times, 5 of those people actually use it.
agredon
March 20, 2010 at 12:58pm
I downloaded both Opera and Chrome at some point. Hated Chrome. Opera was OK, but I still prefer Firefox.
To0nces
March 17, 2010 at 4:19am
Lol yeah exactly. I downloaded it, and quit using it shortly thereafter. Wasn't great and some websites I visited didn't even work with it.
dax
March 17, 2010 at 10:22am
Such as? I had a problem with deviantart once, I inspected the code and the javascript was full of errors. I submitted the report with the url and the javascript issue and they fixed it on the next version three weeks later, even when it was not their problem. I wish I could say the same about other open source projects such as KDE, some bugs were left unattended for over 6 years. Opera is user friendly not idiot friendly, if it turns out the coder is an absolute moron, you can simply mask it as another browser and reload if that's an issue. To this date the only websites I haven't been able to visit properly were updates.microsoft.com (doesn't let me download without explorer) and msdn.com (already fixed years ago). If you post the websites then I'll submit the reports myself.
nekollx
March 17, 2010 at 11:32am
I wish more people were like you. Making a content rich site isn't easy, mistakes will happen and you can't prescreen everything to catch it. But instead of saying "hey i found something broken and here's what" you get "the site doesn't work, fix it! you suck."
and all i can do is sign go "what doesnt work!"
"everything i'm trying to look at."
Real helpful there
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Cache
March 16, 2010 at 7:08pm
Opera Mobile is a damned fantastic program. While I use FF on my home/work systems (hey, I've gotta have my add-ons), I would sooner delete all personal info from my phone than delete Opera Mobile.
snapple00
March 16, 2010 at 4:11pm
Who cares. Its a web browser. I can never really tell that much of a difference between any of them.
The only reason I use Firefox is so I can block all advertisements.
Cruzg10
March 16, 2010 at 4:04pm
I love how microsoft assumes anyone with common sense will still use Internet Explorer. You couldnt pay me to use internet explorer. Id rather be stabbed with the round end of a spoon than use internet explorer.
katravax
March 17, 2010 at 6:59am
They're talking to their large customers, larger businesses. Internet Explorer is doing very well there. Many companies restrict installation of any other browser.
Sebie Kay
March 17, 2010 at 8:30am
Me thinks that it's easier for them to restrict net access when they force employees to use just one browser. If they had to take into account all web browsers, large companies would be having a headache, depending on how the restrict new access.
But, then again.. thats just my 2 cents. Thats from 5 year old technology standards, from when I was still in the field. I'm sure things have changed a lot since then.
-=Do unto others... THEN RUN!!=-
dax
March 16, 2010 at 4:03pm
I don't see Internet Explorer as a modern browser, far from it. On the other hand, Opera actually is a modern browser, it can run on 7, Vista, XP, Linux and mobile phones. I see all this as a move from Microsoft, they want people to get rid of XP once and for all.
darkstorm977
March 16, 2010 at 3:57pm
xp was good at its time but windows 7 is the best and windows 7 makes xp look like mac rofl
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