Tag: RTW

IE8 RTW

August 25, 2009 by Jason

Microsoft is pushing forward with the availability process of Internet Explorer 8, with a new wave of downloads scheduled to hit today, August 25th, 2009. The Redmond company announced since the end of June 2009 that it would start serving IE8 RTW to business users by the end of August, and the bits come right on schedule. The gold build of Internet Explorer 8 will be offered to all companies leveraging the software giant’s update server distribution solution designed to help administrators manage Microsoft Update releases across corporate networks.

“Starting Tuesday August 25, 2009, Internet Explorer 8 will be made available as “update rollups” via WSUS (Windows Server Update Services). This is critical for customers who manage their desktops via WSUS; they need to be aware of these updates and make necessary preparation to insure there are no unintended upgrades to Internet Explorer 8 on their desktops,” revealed Kevin Dean, Microsoft technology specialist, Education.

Ahead of August 25, WSUS admins had the option to disable auto-approve for “Update rollup” packages in Windows Server Update Services. In such scenarios, IE8 would only be offered to machines across a network after the updates were manually approved by the administrator. Business users and admins should be aware that even in the context in which Auto-Approve for “Update rollup” is enabled, the IE8 EULA still has to receive manual approval before the browser is installed on all downstream clients. Read More»

Users Control IE8 Automatic Upgrades

May 04, 2009 by Jason

Starting in the third week of April, Microsoft has debuted automatic upgrades to Internet Explorer 8. IE6 and IE7 users running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are being offered IE8 as an update via AU. Still, Microsoft has stressed the fact that Internet Explorer 8 delivered through Automatic Updates will not in fact install automatically. Instead, end users must opt in for the upgrade from previous versions of Internet Explorer for IE8 to happen.

“IE8 will not automatically install – the user has control over whether to upgrade to IE8. When offered IE8, three choices are offered: Ask later, install, or don’t install. If one chooses “Ask me later” then IE8 will continue to be offered via Automatic Update, and choosing “Don’t Install” will cause IE8 to no longer be offered via this method. Users who choose “Don’t Install” can still download IE8 [from the Download Center] or from Windows Update as an optional update,” explained Eric Hebenstreit, lead program manager. Read More»

Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 RTW

February 16, 2009 by Jason

New storage features have come to Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP SP3 and releases of the Windows Server platforms. Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 was released to web (RTW) and is now available for download and integration with the supported operating systems. This is the finalized version of Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0, with Microsoft cooking the pack since 2008. In fact, in August 2008, the Redmond company was dropping a pre-release version of the solution via Microsoft Connect.

“The Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 includes the following features: Image Mastering API Update for Blu-Ray Media – this feature enables the Windows platform to do master style optical burning on Blu-Ray media. Smart Card Driver – this release provides support for new form factors, such as ICCD,” Microsoft revealed.

“The following system requirements are necessary to install the Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0 – the system must be running one of the following operating systems: Read More»