Windows XP Windows XP: No IE9 for you

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Windows XP: No IE9 for you




Windows XP: No IE9 for you
Microsoft becomes first major browser maker to drop support for world's most popular OS

Computerworld - Microsoft's new browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), will not run on Link Removed XP, now or when the software eventually ships, the company confirmed Tuesday.

The move makes Microsoft the first major browser developer to drop support for XP, the world's most popular Link Removed, in a future release.

Although Link Removed excluded Windows XP from the list for the IE9 developer preview, it sidestepped the question about which versions of Windows the final browser would support. In an IE9 FAQ, for example, Microsoft responded, "It's too early to talk about features of the Link Removed Explorer 9 Beta" to the query, "Will Internet Explorer 9 run on Windows XP?"

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This dialog box pops up during attempts to install IE9 Platform Preview on Windows XP.

That caused some users to demand a straight answer. "Please tell whether the final version will run on Windows XP SP3 or not," said someone identified as "eXPerience" in a comment to a blog post by Dean Hachamovich, Microsoft's general manager for the IE team. "If not, please be clear about it. Really, enough is enough of keeping users in the lurch about Windows XP support."

Others bashed Microsoft on the assumption that IE9 would never run on XP. "Dropping Windows XP support is one of the worst decisions ever taken by [the] IE team, probably even worse than disbanding the IE team back in the IE6 days," claimed an anonymous commenter.

Microsoft had offered up broad hints that IE9 was not in Windows XP's future, however. Tuesday, a company spokeswoman said the new browser needs a "modern operating system," a phrase that hasn't been paired with Window XP for years. "Internet Explorer 9 requires the modern graphics and security underpinnings that have come since 2001," she added, clearly referring to XP, which appeared that year.

Windows XP's inability to run the Platform Preview or the final browser stems from, IE9's graphics hardware acceleration, which relies on the Direct2D and DirectWrite DirectX APIs (applications programming interfaces). Support for those APIs is built into Windows 7, and was added to Vista and Link Removed last October, but cannot be extended to Windows XP.

Some users worried that by halting browser development for Windows XP, Microsoft would repeat a current problem, getting customers to ditch IE6 for a newer version. "Those who choose to stay with XP will be forced to [then] stay forever on IE8, which will become the new IE6," said a user named Danny Gibbons in a comment on Hachamovich's blog.

Tough, said Sheri McLeish, Forrester Research's browser analyst. "This is the stick to get off XP," she said. Windows XP users will solve the browser problem themselves when they upgrade, as most eventually will, to Windows 7. "What are they going to do, go to Linux or run XP forever?" she asked.

Still, IE9's inability to run on Windows XP will prevent it from becoming widespread until the nearly-nine-year-old OS loses significant share to Windows 7. According to Web metrics company NetApplications' most recent data, if IE9 was released today, it would be able to run on just over a quarter -- 27% -- of all Windows machines.

No other major browser maker has announced plans to stop supporting Windows XP, but several have dropped other operating systems or Link Removed. Last month, for instance, Mozilla said it would not support Apple's Mac OS X 10.4, known as "Tiger," in future upgrades to Firefox. Google's Chrome for the Mac, meanwhile, only runs on Intel-based Macs, not on the older PowerPC-based machines that were discontinued in 2006.

The IE9 Platform Preview can be downloaded from Microsoft's site. It requires Windows 7, Vista SP2, Windows Link Removed 2008 or Windows 2008 R2.






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This article discusses Microsoft's decision not to support Windows XP with Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) and the implications of this choice. Here's a summary of the key points:

• Microsoft confirmed that IE9 would not run on Windows XP, making it the first major browser developer to drop support for the popular operating system in a future release.
• The decision not to support Windows XP with IE9 was based on the browser's reliance on modern graphics hardware acceleration technologies like Direct2D and DirectWrite, which are not available in Windows XP.
• Some users criticized Microsoft for this decision, expressing concerns about the impact on XP users who would be stuck with older versions of Internet Explorer like IE8.
• Forrester Research's browser analyst, Sheri McLeish, mentioned that this move could serve as an incentive for Windows XP users to upgrade to newer operating systems like Windows 7.
• Other browser makers have not announced plans to drop support for Windows XP, but they have made decisions to discontinue support for older operating systems or hardware configurations.
• The IE9 Platform Preview is available for download but requires Windows 7, Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2 to run.

This shift highlights the importance of keeping up with modern operating systems to access the latest browser features and security enhancements. Windows XP users are encouraged to consider upgrading to newer versions of Windows to benefit from ongoing browser support and compatibility improvements.