Microsoft is warning that some users will be unable to revert to
an older version of its Internet Explorer browser if they upgrade
to
version 8.
In a blog posting, Redmond said that users who were running
Windows XP Service Pack 3 would be unable to remove the browser
and install a previous version.
The issue arises when a user installs the SP3 update if they
have previously installed the first beta release of
Internet Explorer 8.
After installing the recently-released Beta 2 version of IE8,
the user will be unable to revert to older versions of IE.
The problem does not affect future upgrades. Although most users
would not seek to revert to older versions of software, the issue
could potentially affect the work of developers and beta testers of
systems in businesses.
To avoid the issue, Microsoft says XP users who have installed
SP3 after the IE8 beta 1 release should manually uninstall the
browser.
Users of other operating systems are being advised to do the
same, although there have been no reports of other operating
systems being affected by the downgrade issue.
The problem first came to light this May, with SP3 also
preventing IE7 users reverting to IE6.