With Internet Explorer finally getting auto updates for the first time this year, the UK lead for the product has told TechRadar that she has quelled a 'reasonable amount of internal panic' from the Microsoft enterprise teams.
Auto-updating to the latest browser has been a big boon for rivals like Chrome, and clearly makes sense for the consumer, but Microsoft has resisted until now because of the impact it could have on businesses.
However, with Brazil and Australia serving as the pilot countries for auto-updates, Microsoft remains convinced that it has put safeguards in place that will ensure major clients like the British civil service will not be brought to their knees by sudden change.
Makes sense
"To consumers it makes sense," UK IE lead Gabby Hegarty told TechRadar. "There's been a lot of really positive feedback from developers.
"The reason we haven't done it sooner is because of enterprise but the way that it has been implemented has been done very much with enterprise in mind.
"There was a reasonable amount of internal panic from the enterprise guys, which I had to calm down; things like the massive public sector in the UK are obviously very locked down…but because they are so locked down they won't get this update.
"Most consumers will get this upgrade because most consumers are opted in to Windows Update, most businesses won't because they are opted out."
IE 9 and beyond
Hegarty is desperate to show off Internet Explorer at its best, and conceded that people's perception of it is coloured by the often dated version they use in the office.
"It's really frustrating," she said. "That's been our biggest problem.
"There's massive amount of work goes on internally to upgrade companies to Windows 7 and therefore the latest version of IE, but there is still some ways to go there obviously.
"Auto-update 100 per cent makes sense to do; the enterprise is still going to be an ongoing problem with us. It's the biggest companies with the biggest number of machines that are the problem.
"We're making inroads but its slower progress than on the consumer side of things."
