IE 7 Installation Question

[fischerm]

The following question came in via our website.

When IE 7 comes out will I have do manually uninstall the version of IE 6 that I have on my computer?

Anyone have any experience installing IE 7 yet? When I installed it on one machine in my office it seemed to completely overwrite IE 6, I can only find 7 to launch now. (Which sucks for web development).

[dcv]

You don't have to manually uninstall IE6 when installing IE7 since, as you said, IE7 overwrites it.

I hear it'll be part of the next round of Windows updates.

There are ways to install IE7 alongside IE6 for web-development purposes. Well, at least you could with the betas - I don't know if they broke it for the final release. Just ask almighty google.

[bgwinkel]

Yeah, it overwrites IE 6.

Actually, that's not specific enough...it eliminates parts of IE 6, disables some other functions, and then cripples the remaining ones. Because it's built into Windows it cannot be completely removed. So, technically, you should be able to find a way to run them side by side.

However, you can force IE 7 to render pages as IE6 through a doctype tag.

[dparm]

If you want to keep IE 6, you can always install Microsoft Virtual PC (which is free), create a basic XP install, and just not install updates. This would let you test things on IE 6.

[waltersp]

If you want to keep IE 6, you can always install Microsoft Virtual PC (which is free), create a basic XP install, and just not install updates. This would let you test things on IE 6.Free? Or Free trial? I thought it was something you had to pay for after 30 days?

[nlopez]

VPC is free last I heard, but XP isn't. Unless they made an exception for VPC running extra copies of XP is probably against the EULA

[bgwinkel]

I've always been confused about that...do you have to buy a new license to run it as a vitual machine...even if it's the same copy that's installed? I think the legality of that is pretty fuzzy. I mean, you're still running the same Windows XP on the same hardware. Microsoft's been so obsessed with OS licenses being tied to hardware nowadays, I'd feel safe about installing the same copy I have on my computer on a virtual machine running on the same hardware.

[nlopez]

well, what does to Windows activation do if you install it on two different machines and try to active? The virtual machine is very different than your real hardware.

[bgwinkel]

I don't know...I remember Paul Thurrott complaining about the fact that the "This copy of Windows is not genuine" thing popping up on his VMs, and he's a veritable Windows guru.

I guess you just wouldn't activate it. Virtual machines are usually wiped constantly anyway...

[dparm]

WGA has given true negatives/false positives according to Paul.

But obviously on a VM you should install a legitimate copy of Windows and activate it, otherwise you're breaking the law. Many UA departments have license agreements to distribute additional copies of Windows (Eller college, ECE, etc) so that might be the best avenue for obtaining a legal copy.

If all else fails, the bookstore sells copies for $74.

[jharriso]

Doesn't OSCR have access to the university sitelicense of XP? Shouldn't the cost be minimal or even null to use the same license key we use for our workstations on a vpc machine?

[dcv]

I think that this is still the easiest way to have IE6 and IE7:

http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/archive/2006/07/26/IE7-Standalone-_2800_Updated-for-IE7-Beta-3_2900_.aspx

[nlopez]

For OSCR, yes, I think so. I think we're paying Microsoft by the FTE, or something like that where the exact count of machines, virtual or not, isn't a problem. That's just for OSCR machines though.