I thought it was worth sharing this - IE 7 will be available to everyone, even those people who "have not paid" for their Windows XP OS.  Many people seem to think this is purely an anti-firefox move (http://www.websearchguide.ca/netblog/archives/006622.html)

IE 7 Update Drops WGA Validation Requirement

Microsoft is making its Internet Explorer 7 browser available to all Windows XP users—even those using pirated software—and installation will no longer require that the operating system first be validated as genuine.

The company said the move is about security and ecosystem safety, because if even one user in a network is not using the security enhancements provided in IE 7, that user places the entire network at risk.

"Microsoft takes its commitment to help protect the entire Windows ecosystem seriously, and we're taking a step to help make consumers safer online. We feel the security enhancements to Internet Explorer 7 are significant enough that it should be available as broadly as possible, and this means making it available to all users of IE 7-compatible Windows operating systems," Steve Reynolds, program manager for Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., told eWEEK.

"With today's Installation and Availability Update, IE 7 installation will no longer require Windows Genuine Advantage validation, and will be available to all Windows XP users," he said.

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Reynolds also claimed in a blog posting that the browser, which was released in October 2006, "is well on its way to becoming the most used browser in the world, and we've seen lots of evidence that IE 7 makes it safer and easier to accomplish everyday tasks online."

As evidence, he said the built-in phishing filter has protected consumers from known phishing Web sites an average of 900,000 times a week, and that it is also the "first and still the only browser with native support for extended validation SSL [Secure Sockets Layer] certificates, which help prevent online fraud."

At the time of IE 7's initial release, Gary Schare, director of Windows product management, told eWEEK that the most significant new features in the browser were the many security improvements, tab browsing, and the inclusion of RSS discovery and subscription along with a platform to make that data available to any application that wants to use it.

IE 7 Update Drops WGA Validation Requirement

ttfn

David