18th October - Auto Updates 1st November - YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

[Rubber Duck]

Internet Explorer 7 is coming this month ... Are you ready?
The final release of Internet Explorer 7 is targeted for release October 18th …and will be delivered to customers via Automatic Updates starting November 1st, a few weeks after it’s available for download. Are your Web sites, extensions, and applications ready? Microsoft recommends that Web sites and applications be reviewed and made ready for the release of Internet Explorer 7 this month.


http://blogs.msdn.com/hied_mid-atlantic/default.aspx

[GS]

WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!

[BillW]

November 1....hey they promised us October!

[Rubber Duck]

These are target dates and can only be moved forward in my opinion.

[Rubber Duck]

The guy Scalo who broke this on the Chat is saying Multilingual on the 18th October. It looks like all languages are going to fly together.

[Lidador]

Digg this!!!

[Rubber Duck]

Just seen this flash through. Things not as clear cut as it would seem?

Tony Chor [MS] (Expert):
Q: [32] Can you confirm the rumours stating that IE7 will be released on the 18th of October?

A: There are a lot of questions surrounding the final release date and the rumors about when we're going to release. As we've stated on the blog, we plan to ship before the end of the month. It will go up on the Download Center first (and will always be available there). A few weeks after release, we'll start sending IE7 out over AU as well. If you want to block the AU deployment for your company, we strongly recommend having the blocker tool in place by November 1.

Dave Massy (Moderator):
Q: [188] What is the release date for IE7?

A: This month. No matter how many times people ask that quesiton today the answer will be the same



Sean [MS] (Expert):
Q: [100] Hey what is the date for IE7 RTM in hebrew?

A: We'll announce the dates for localized versions of IE once we announce the final RTM date.


Max Stevens [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: [304] Have you already done the rtm, and final, build?

A: We never know if the current build is going to be the final build until we ship it to the web

Dave Massy (Moderator):
Q: [293] When is the offical release date?

A: This Month. No matter how many times people ask that question here today. The answer will remain the same

Dave Massy (Moderator):
Q: [315] How long time will be between compilation of RTM (final build) and its release at Automatic Updates?

A: A few weeks is the plan. We recommend that people be ready by Nov 1st if they wish to use the blocking tool to prevent AU deployment.

[BillW]

I think they have "removed" the mention of the October 18th date from the blog.
It was there, maybe I missed it. But end of October, November 1st seems solid.

[Rubber Duck]

Interesting. Yes, it seems to have gone.

I think one of the reasons Microsoft is cagey about dates is that they wish to avoid a co-ordinated DDOS attack. A moving target is much more difficult to hit. I don't believe they ever intend to hit their targets exactly, but prefer to release generally slightly in advance. Stay alert tomorrow, which I felt was always slightly more likely than Wednesday.

[Drewbert]

And of course, there's nothing to stop them geotargeting the beginning of the offering of IE7, so that only users in certain states of the USA and (say) Australia, get to see the offering in the first 24 hours.

Only a few sleeps left!