Internet Explorer 8 is set to receive a significant market share bump next week as Microsoft begins pushing its latest browser to users who have Windows’ automatic-update feature turned on. The update process will be gradual and will appear listed as ‘high priority’ for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users or as ‘important’ for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.


Although the code will be downloaded automatically, users will have to opt in to have the browser installed. Administrators who want to deploy IE8 in their own time can also block the browser’s download entirely using its Bitlocker Toolkit released in January and get it manually here. Microsoft has already pushed the final version of Internet Explorer 8 via Auto Update to customers who had installed the beta version of its browser.