IE7 to be distributed via Automatic Update

Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via
Automatic Updates soon after the final version is released for Windows XP,
planned for the fourth quarter of 2006. Sorry... when it comes to precise dates,
those who know will not say, and those who say cannot know ;-) 

Some important notes... firstly, although IE7 will be offered via Automatic
Updates, Automatic Updates will first notify users when Internet Explorer 7 is
ready to install and then show a welcome screen that presents key features and
the choices to “Install, “Don’t Install” or “Ask Me Later.” In
short, you won't be forced to install it, it won't be a silent install, it won't
be a hidden install.

Secondly, I will have another gem to share with you regarding the installation,
but can't tell you what that is without permission.. suffice to say the team has
been reading the IE groups, and has been taking on board what is being said, and
has addressed a pretty important issue.... there are a lot of people who are
going to be awfully pleased.  

Thirdly, Microsoft will provide a free Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit for
enterprise customers who may want to block automatic delivery of Internet
Explorer 7 in their organization. The Blocker Toolkit will *not* expire and will
include a Group Policy template and an executable script. The Blocker Toolkit
will be/is available from the Microsoft Download Center to provide ample lead
time for deployment. Additional information for IT administrators will be/is at
the Windows Update/Microsoft Update site on TechNet.

More info and screenshots are available on the IE blog:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/26/678149.aspx

Will the prompts be informative enough of the fact the while IE7 is really a
high-priority update, IMO, to IE6, that it is, indeed, an upgrade to IE6 as
well? 

Or will it be sufficiently vague as to that fact, and prompt a lot of both bad
ink and user backlash as to take away from what is, undoubtedly, the best IE
ever?

IANAL, but anything less than total disclosure that it is a new IE entirely
might be seen as a violation of covenants made after the antitrust trial.

The classic blue IE7 installation screen will appear, and the buttons as
described will be there.  The text (in real big letters) on the opening screen
is "An Upgrade to Internet Explorer is ready to install".  Hopefully
that will be clear enough for everybody.

Hello there, Sandi from Down Under.Sandi:The classic blue IE7 installation
screen will appear, and the buttons as described will be there.  The text (in
real big letters) on the opening screen is "An Upgrade to Internet Explorer
is ready to install".  Hopefully that will be clear enough for
everybody.I'm afraid not!

Not talking about myself, or my clients, for whom I'm banging the gong often.

I would almost require (ask?) that Microsoft insert another prompt or two prior
to installing it. 

Believe me, when the cattleherd users get whipped into a frenzy, by so-called
knowledgeable 'columnists' in their local fish-wraps, especially the clowns at
the New York dailies, it would seem like Microsoft was trying to pull a fast
one, slipstreaming IE7 into the systems of the unwitting proletariat.

The current PR fiasco, this time well deserved, over WGA notifications, would
seem minor. WGA Notifications is, afterall, presented to users as a 'Critical
Update'. Critical to MSFT, but to to any other human on Terra Prime.

Looking at the photograph in the post on Sidebar's blog, I personally do not
think it would please detractors or the /. crowd.

It should not be too much to make it 

A unique and standalone update, and 
Add one or two more confirmation screens both requiring formal user assent to
install IE7, such as typing "I agree" or such.

Then again, what do I know?

I always wondered if microsoft thought about still offering a
"classic" mode for IE7 to remove some of the change over problems (eg
same layout but there are tabs etc to get people used to it one bit at a time)