Internet Explorer was released to the public earlier on March 14th. Now Microsoft is making plans to download it to Windows users via the update system. Apparently with the 2.3 million downloads that occurred during the first 24 hours, Microsoft now want to be sure that users are aware and using their latest browser.

Other issues

Just exactly how will the rollout occur? Will is be staggered, say over several days? Will it be continent based, time Zone based? Those are some questions that may affect how successful the product roll out will be. Then too, there is the issue that IE9 32 bit is fast, but ie9 64 bit is not. So will the download include one or the other, and will users be able to select which one they want? And will it be considered a “critical” download or “important?” These questions still have to be addressed.

This is not new

Nonetheless, this type of move by Microsoft has occurred before.  Microsoft did the same with IE 8. But in that case, it involved Windows XP and Server 2003, and the update as marked as high-priority. Whereas, on Windows Vista and Server 2008 the roll out was designated as “Important.” Moreover, users were also prompted as to whether they wanted to be asked about installing IE 8 later, to install it immediately or to not install it at all. This kind of detail still has to be presented on the IE9 roll out. Microsoft also had a blocking tool. Where users could block the download and implementation of the browser. For example, IT managers may not want to implement the browser without further testing.

Browser Push

This browser push comes at a time when other browsers are also making headlines with their own downloads.  Firefox 4, for example, was downloaded 5.5 million times in its first 24 hours. And watch what will happen with Google, Opera, and Safari. Everyone wants to have the latest browsers available for the public.

Source: ZDnet