Internet Explorer takes one from Chrome’s playbook with automatic upgrades

Internet Explorer 6 - Countdown

Microsoft Internet Explorer, the most widely used web browser in the world is stepping up and is taking one from Google Chrome’s playbook moving forward, by adding automatic upgrades to all Windows users — that of course, have Windows Update turned on and they have opted in — to the latest and more stable version of the software.

Users who are running Windows 7, Windows Vista and even Windows XP will benefit from this new change. And  initially users will be updated to the latest version of IE9.

Automatic upgrades will also help Microsoft to finally get rid of Internet Explorer 6, which its usage still at 8.3% worldwide, and to keep users safer from online threats (e.g., socially engineered malware), which typically affect more outdated software.

Starting next month, January 2012, Windows users in Australia and Brazil are going to be the first ones on getting automatic upgrades to the latest version of Internet Explorer, and gradually the feature will be rolled out throughout the world — still not words when the new update changes are going to come to the States –.

The company also commented that this will shrink to 1% the usage of IE6, which means that this will hopefully nuke this obsolete piece of software technology once and for all, that no one should be using by now!

If there are users that do not wish to embrace the change to a safer web browser software, Microsoft will allow users to opt-out and even uninstall any of the updates that they don’t like. Also users that have declined previous installation of IE8 and IE9 through Windows Update will not receive automatic updates.

“10 years ago a browser was born. Its name was Internet Explorer 6. Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern Web standards, it’s time to say goodbye,” — The software maker said.

Source Windows Team Blog

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.