So it has happened. According to a transcript of an interview with Internet Explorer team member at Microsoft, IE will no longer be developed as a standalone product:
Q: when / will there be the next version of IE?
A: As part of the OS, IE will continue to evolve, but there will be no future standalone installations. IE6 SP1 is the final standalone installation.
Q: Why is this? the anti-trust? (no further standalone)
A: Although this is off topic, I will answer briefly: Legacy OSes have reached their zenith with the addition of IE 6 SP1. Further improvements to IE will require enhancements to the underlying OS.
Well, there you go. IE is dead, unless you give Microsoft more money for Longhorn. IE will probably be even more integrated in the future and essentially the web browser will become the OS. So if you're using Windows 95, 98, ME, or even XP you're not going to ever get a new version of IE. Great isn't it? Thanks Microsoft! So until Longhorn is released (could be a while), IE users are going to be stuck with an outdated browser. This is bad news for standards compliance and bad news for the users, even though they don't know it.
Simple alternative: Don't use IE! Use Mozilla, Firebird, Opera, something!
Well... yeah... but you gotta think of all the other people who don't care about other browsers when IE is just right there when they turn on their computer.
Speaking of which, I'm actually on a PC with the latest Mozilla on it... I'd make it default, but I rarely get on my PC anymore. :P Plus my family would go "What's this 'Mozilla' thing?" and I'd have to put IE back into default.
Install Firebird! It actually looks a lot like IE, your family might not even notice the difference. That is, until popups stop poping up.
Suck a donkey's bootyhole, Microsoft.
"IE users are going to be stuck with an outdated browser."
You're telling me that IE isn't outdated already? Woah.
Tom, you're right. IE is outdated now. Bad CSS implementation and lack of proper PNG support really tick me off.