There is no greater hint about the release of a new version of Internet Explorer (IE) than the release of an auto-update blocking tool from Microsoft. Microsoft released the IE10 auto-update blocking tool on Jan 30, 2013 and sure enough we are now seeing the release of IE10 (released from preview status) and soon to be auto-updated on a Windows 7 desktop very near you.
That said, a large number of corporate clients will not want/need to auto-update their version of IE. And, that is why Microsoft has been so kind to release a special tool (that needs to be run on each desktop) that will disable the auto-update to Internet Explorer 10.
Microsoft provides the following notes about the blocking tool:
- For computers running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, the Blocker Toolkit prevents the machine from receiving Internet Explorer 10 via Automatic Updates on the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites.
- The Blocker Toolkit will not prevent users from manually installing Internet Explorer 10 from the Microsoft Download Center, or from external media.
- Organizations do not need to deploy the Blocker Toolkit in environments managed with an update management solution such as Windows Server Update Services or Systems Management Server 2003. Organizations can use those products to fully manage deployment of updates released through Windows Update and Microsoft Update, including Internet Explorer 10, within their environment.
- Even if you used the Blocker Toolkit to block Internet Explorer 8 or Internet Explorer 9 from being installed as a high-priority or important update, you will still need to use the Internet Explorer 10 version of the Blocker Toolkit to block Internet Explorer 10 from being installed. There are different registry keys used to block or unblock automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 9 and Internet Explorer 10.
In case you were wondering, about the current utilisation of IE across the five versions now available.
You have to these numbers with a slight pinch of salt, as enterprise data will not be recorded and therefore will not be appropriately represented here.
You can download the IE10 blocker toolkit here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36512
Just a quick note on this Microsoft download. I am a little surprised that the file is an EXE format, rather than the standard MSI (Microsoft Installer) format. The first is that EXE's are hard to download in a corporate environment. Second, EXE's are hard to decompile and edit setting compared to the open table structure of an MSI Installer file. Not, that I have been known to favour a particular installation format before… :)
References:
IE10 Blocker tool released for Windows 7
Internet Explorer Statistics
http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/26/4029306/internet-explorer-10-windows-7-download
IE10 Blocking Tool released for Windows 7
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