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I have the belief that Internet Explorer 9 unable to run on Windows XP is really marketing. But I want to ask you if there really is a technical reason why Microsoft didn't release Internet Explorer 9 on Windows XP?
Karim
Posted 2011-03-16T17:24:45.280
Reputation: 1 062
55
Internet Explorer 9 makes use of two features available in Windows Vista and Windows 7, Direct2D and DirectWrite to speed up the user experience and they are unavailable in Windows XP. There are some minor security features that rely on the newer OS's security models and also make it incompatible with Windows XP.
Get the full down low at Ars Technica - The most modern browser there is: Internet Explorer 9 reviewed.
Patrick
Posted 2011-03-16T17:24:45.280
Reputation: 1 216
I'm surprised at the Direct2D part - but perhaps it's a specific version. – ChrisF – 2011-03-16T17:44:50.620
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@ChrisF I think Microsoft is starting a determined push to get people to stop using their outdated software. Between writing some of their newer software only for Vista/7 to actually encouraging people to stop using Internet Explorer 6 they are getting serious.
– Patrick – 2011-03-16T17:51:08.9071Also, microsoft stands to benefit by releasing a newer browser on their newer operating systems, as users who are interested in the security benefits will need to upgrade operating systems, leading directly to sales of microsoft products. – zzzzBov – 2011-03-16T20:09:47.650
@zzzzBov Who would continue to write new software and updates for a decade old software package? It makes no sense from a management, technical, or financial overhead POV. – Patrick – 2011-03-16T20:18:54.130
@Patrick, XP SP3 came out in 08 if i remember right. I believe you may have heard of an operating system called Unix that is still being developed/extended. Netscape source became a browser I currently use. It makes all the sense in the world to keep extending/improving stuff that works. – zzzzBov – 2011-03-16T20:21:46.280
6@zzzzBov true, but many of the programs today that run on top of Unix or Linux would not run on the earlier versions of their respective OS. And even though XP SP3 came out just a few years ago, the underpinnings of the operating system are 10 years old. Imagine trying to run the latest software on Ubuntu 4.10, which btw, Canonical stopped supporting in 2006. – Patrick – 2011-03-16T20:42:02.177
@Patrick, i agree that pushing people to the latest/greatest does have advantages, my point was that microsoft also gains financially which makes it a win-win situation for them. – zzzzBov – 2011-03-16T21:03:40.597
2@Patrick, I don’t see how D3D/DW have any bearing since many people run Windows 7 on a video card that does not support DX10, so they are still unavailable anyway. Besides, acceleration isn’t really a technical reason since without it, pages could still run albeit slower (read the same speed as they have for the last 20 years). – Synetech – 2011-03-16T22:49:55.330
@zzzzBov I agree with you there. :-) – Patrick – 2011-03-16T23:11:33.863
@Synetech inc. Exactly, so what would XP users gain from upgrading to IE9? If it brings no improvement there is no point releasing it for XP. Also, I'm pretty sure most fairly modern (read: last 4 years) graphics cards support DX10, so hardware acceleration is quite a major plus. – Connor W – 2011-03-16T23:15:07.000
@Connor W IE9 is not about Faster Graphics, there is javascript,css and other stuff which dont need a graphic card.this is a web browser, not crysis!!! – Karim – 2011-03-16T23:18:51.160
@Karim I believe IE9 is about more standards compliance, more security, and faster operation. – Patrick – 2011-03-16T23:21:45.443
@Patrick that is right. but the graphics is not the best part of IE9. i mean most websites wont be using any features to show the power of GPU. so microsoft could have supported Winxp in order not to loose their market share of browsers (by writing software renderers if Direct2D and directWrite is not available as Firefox does) :) – Karim – 2011-03-16T23:27:19.293
1@Karim The graphics improvement isn't just for actual images, it's also used for text, css & javascript handline. I don't think they are actually going to lose any browser marketshare because of this decision though. Most people using IE, I believe, will probably stay on IE 8 and not necessarily switch to another browser. – Patrick – 2011-03-16T23:31:16.030
1I don't think anybody's saying MS couldn't make it work on XP, just that the technologies it's built upon don't work on XP. Sure, they could special-case it for XP, but why? Additionally, DirectX has no problem running on your processor, albeit less quickly, so even if your card isn't a powerhouse you can still use the more advanced technologies. It's a case of scaling up to better tech, rather than only catering to the bottom line. – Phoshi – 2011-03-16T23:33:43.027
@Phoshi exactly, there isn't any good reason (in microsoft's opinion) to put the effort into enabling IE9 on XP – Patrick – 2011-03-16T23:36:59.533
2And the pinning thingy is not possible in XP. – bobbyalex – 2011-03-17T08:53:24.800
I had to upvote Bobby there, it made me chuckle. As true a point as it is, it was just funny to see that one, short comment there after that debate xD – James Love – 2011-03-17T09:16:32.757
@BobbyAlexander: Or Vista, but IE9 is on Vista anyway. – Powerlord – 2011-03-17T13:26:31.963
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Well, they could have written Internet Explorer 9 to work on Windows XP. Part of the reason is to move people away from Windows XP, but that's not JUST marketing, Windows XP really is outdated and full of security flaws. It's in everyone's best interest to ditch it, not just Microsoft and hardware vendors...
MetaGuru
Posted 2011-03-16T17:24:45.280
Reputation: 3 589
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MS, like many software companies, don't make decisions purely on technical bases. This decision, more than likely, was based on the costs of continuing support on older platforms, and the loss of sales of newer platforms. XP is ingrained in millions of desktop PCs sitting in offices and any small additional excuse to get these corporate IT behemoths to upgrade their Windows licenses is going to be a strategic move for MS.
DA.
Posted 2011-03-16T17:24:45.280
Reputation: 565
3
Ars Technica - Why Microsoft did the right thing in ditching Windows XP for Internet Explorer
The above article goes into more detail, there is shown that it also turns out that Firefox does support Direct2D & DirectWrite on Windows Vista & 7 but on Windows XP it falls back to software mode. But I wouldn't blame Microsoft for not writing this functionality into Internet Explorer 9...
Karim
Posted 2011-03-16T17:24:45.280
Reputation: 1 062
2
The outdated kernel of Windows XP doesn't include new features that Internet Explorer 9 needs to function, such as Direct2D and a few others (mentioned in answers elsewhere).
However,they were able to work around it, but dude seriously, Windows XP now needs 3 more years to be teenager!
SAFAD
Posted 2011-03-16T17:24:45.280
Reputation: 121
15Probably because mainstream support for XP was discontinued in April 2010. – Hydaral – 2011-03-17T01:24:54.043
Damn. That means I have to buy a new operating system just so I can carry on testing my web pages in all the IE versions. – Matt Gibson – 2011-03-17T11:01:52.120
2@MattGibson I'm trying to convince my boss to buy me a new computer because of this :-) – Patrick – 2011-03-17T12:29:58.550
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@Matt: “I have to buy a new operating system just so I can carry on testing my web pages in all the IE versions.” — I understand the frustration, but “just”? How much does Windows 7 cost, and how much money do you earn from making web pages? I suspect it’s worth it. Also note that Microsoft provides Virtual PC images of Windows XP with IE 6/7/8 installed on them for testing purposes. This run in Virtual PC (which is free) on Windows 7 Professional, and VMWare on Mac OS X.
– Paul D. Waite – 2011-03-17T15:50:11.0902
@Paul I earn very little from web design; that's a spare-time hobby/learning exercise more than anything else; my paid day gig is data warehousing. In my case, in fact, it's probably not worth it until the next paying job comes along. I'll look into those VM images, though, thanks for the pointer! At the moment I'm using VirtualBox with IETester which meets my minimal requirements. I guess I find the thought of an upgrade extra-annoying because I only use Windows for about an hour every month, at home...
– Matt Gibson – 2011-03-17T16:02:26.197@Matt: ah, that’s understandable. – Paul D. Waite – 2011-03-17T16:07:24.493
@nnewton "discontinued in April 2010" is not a technical reason. win 7 EXE still runs on windows XP and even some run on windows 98. – Karim – 2011-03-17T17:53:23.270
Depends on which kind of depth you need but http://browsershots.org/ helped me :)
– Pitto – 2011-06-08T17:16:04.027