IE8 Blocker Toolkit Now Available (Block automatic installation of IE8 via Windows Automatic Update)

Microsoft believes IE8 helps make browsing the web faster, easier, safer and more reliable. To help users be more secure and up-to-date, Microsoft is distributing IE8 via Automatic Update (AU) and the Windows Update (WU) and Microsoft Update (MU) sites much like for IE7.

Microsoft knows that in a corporate environment, the IT organization will often want to delay the introduction of a new browser until they have tested compatibility with internal applications and sites.  Microsoft has done a lot of work in IE8 to maintain compatibility with sites designed for Internet Explorer 7, for example compatibility view and the compatibility meta tag. 

However as Microsoft knows many IT organizations will still want to test the browser before it is deployed.  Therefore to help prevent users from installing IE8 through Automatic Update before compatibility testing has been completed, Microsoft is providing the IE8 Blocker Toolkit. This toolkit has no expiration date and can be configured either by running the registry file on the client machines or via Group Policy in domain joined environments. The Blocker Toolkit is available today from the Microsoft Download Center.

IE8 will be available for users on the following platforms:

• Windows Vista 32bit and 64bit,
• Windows XP SP2 and above,
• Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 and above

If you previously used the IE7 Blocker toolkit to block IE7 from being offered as a high-priority update, you will need to run the IE8 version of the Blocker Toolkit to block IE8 from being offered via AU.

Organizations that use an update management solution such as Windows Server Update Services or Systems Management Server 2003 do not need to deploy the Blocker Toolkit.  Windows Server Update Services and Systems Management Server 2003 allow organizations to fully manage deployment of updates released through WU and MU, including IE8.  For more information about the IE8 Blocker Toolkit, check out this link.

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