Microsoft, appealing to the needs of enterprises everywhere, releases tools to block major versions of the assorted software coming down Windows Update. Of course, this also signals an impending release of whatever it intends to block. Most recently: Internet Explorer 11.

IE11 continues the trend of standards compliance and, until I get my hands on it, at least looks comparable to the best of the rest. Not much is known about how Microsoft has or will comply with the Khronos Group industry body but they are at least dipping their toe into WebGL support; I hope they can continue to progress their browser if only for selfish reasons. I do not see Internet Explorer taking over Firefox and Chrome in my personal usage but, especially if WebCL follows WebGL, it will be nice to eventually support every browser.

While Microsoft has not put an official release date, due to the blocking tool, it is expected to arrive for Windows 7 in the late October to early November time frame. Users of Windows 8.1 will receive it much earlier, this Thursday (October 17th) when the operating system hits Windows Store.