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Could this leave Safari and Opera users vulnerable, making them think their browser is safer than others?

And what about all the Internet Explorer users still using IE 6 or IE 7? That is a much worse figure than either Opera or Safari!

I was under the impression that IE updates were quite regular and came with the auto update?

Just look at the figures!

IE 6 still has over 35% of the market share, IE 7 is still around the 30% mark and IE 8 (2 (3?) months after its release) is still in single figures for adoption!

A lot of people switch off automatic update and won't upgrade past IE6, even though it has been out of support for a couple of years!

How do 'normal' people find out how to turn them off? IIRC they are buried somewhere in the control panel, a place most people would rather not delve...

I believe IE updates are done via the Windows Updates tool, which the majority of people will have swicthed on by default.

I could be wrong though.

Not to mention corporates who ban updates to IE6 by policy and stop the installation of third party browsers...

People switching off automatic updates is one of the things that allows so much malware to spread. Much of it uses exploits which have already been patched (I'm not just talking about MS software here). Look at Conficker, the exploit it uses was patched about 4 or 6 months before Confiker turned up!

We have about 5000-6000 PCs at work and the majority are still on IE6. We have 3rd party apps that will only work with IE6. Shocking really.

I'd tell them you are updating to IE 8 for security reasons, now that IE6 has no more support, and they need to provide an update...

I mean, it has been out of support for several years, that means they have had more than enough time to get it working with IE 7 or a standards compliant browser, instead of just extorting money out of their customers for nothing...

Its truly scary how many organisations I come across are in the same situation including several that are x list

I routinely update all my apps even if I do not use them that much. I pick up details from macupdate news letters, RSS feeds and then run Appfresh as well. That way my apps are always up to date. Whether Safari and Opera users are more vulnerable is pure supposition. Many are owned by individuals rather than companies so would actually be more up to date than corporate users who probably assess the need before updating.

Companies are one thing, but I got the impression the article was talking about everyday consumers, at which point I know someone like my brother or my Mum wouldn't have a clue about turning auto-updates off, and leave them as they came when they bought the system...

Looking at the figures, it seems an awful lot of people do know how, or have had versions of Windows before updates were automatically turned on. I also think, once that patch (or on a new install), it actually asks whether you want them turned on or not... The user can still reject automatic updates.

During the Windows update process all the installs were automated but the IE7 update had the option to skip it didnt it? As in you were presented with a seperate window asking if you wanted it installed. I guess thats why so many people still have IE6. They would have clicked the 'no' button.

I think that a lot of the machines that have IE6 are likely to be in this no automatic windows updates category, and then the corporates/public bodies making up the rest.

Pre Service Pack 1, Automatic updates was not turned on by default, and a lot of people got this as a pirated version with the hacked WPA. So it's unlikely that we'll see the end of this particular nightmare for a long time.

I work in the web design sector working with public bodies who seem to have last deployed IT equipment back in 2001, as they mostly run IE6/IE7 and have no option to upgrade, if on IE6. These bodies are also the least likely to get updates to their software that might mean that they could use IE7. The standard of IT provided to agencies of the government is beyond appalling as far as I can tell.



Yeah but doesn't AU continue to nag you? Unless there is a persistent no option? I can't recall to be honest.