Microsoft Internet Exporer 8 coming in Aug

Microsoft plans to deliver Internet Explorer 8 via Windows Server Update Services starting Aug. 25.

WSUS(Windows Server Update Services) will update older Microsoft browsers, such as IE6 or IE7, Aug. 25 or thereafter. The update only works with Windows operating systems that support IE8, such as Windows Vista and Windows XP, along with Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.

Users running Windows 7 Release Candidate likely won’t be affected by the WSUS update because Microsoft typically doesn’t update test versions of its products that way. WSUS is a free Windows Server add-on for updating products in environments with multiple PCs.

Microsoft is instructing organizations that want to delay upgrading to IE8 via WSUS to turn off Automatic Update on their WSUS servers before Aug. 25. After that date, organizations can synchronize the WSUS servers and reject the IE8 update.

Organizations that maintain Web-based applications that rely on older browsers probably want to delay upgrading to IE 8. They can block the upgrade through WSUS or Microsoft’s System Center management tools.

WSUS shouldn’t be confused with Windows Update and Microsoft Update. Those services typically deliver updates to individual Windows users, either by requested download or automatically.