Microsoft is quite aware that businesses will find it much more of a hassle to deploy a whole service pack in order to install IE9, let alone move from Windows XP and IE6/IE7 straight to Windows 7 SP1 and IE9. This new tidbit explains why, earlier this week, Microsoft used the The Windows Blog to tell businesses not to wait for the final version of IE9, saying they should move to Windows 7 Enterprise and IE8 now. Now it appears IE9 will require Windows 7 SP1. Microsoft has previously released new Windows versions with new versions of IE (IE6 came with Windows XP, IE7 came with Windows Vista, and IE8 came with Windows 7). The decision is a curious one if we remember the company's insistence that IE9 is not dependent on any future releases of Windows. When Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 9, Windows 7 users will need to have Service Pack 1 before they can install it, according to the Internet Explorer 9 Beta FAQ for IT Professionals. Microsoft did confirm, however, that IT pros will be able to add IE9 to existing Windows 7 images in order to streamline the deployment process.

Windows XP users are unable to install Internet Explorer 9, and now it looks like Windows 7 RTM users won't be able to either, at least once the final version hits the 'Net.

Internet explorer 9 windows xp