Pop-Up Blocker Will Be Turned On By Default With SP2

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115264,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115264,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, in addition to providing a host of security enhancements, will block pop-ups in Internet Explorer by default, Microsoft says. The beta version of the Windows XP update released in December last year always included a pop-up blocker, but the feature was turned off by default. Starting with the latest test version of Service Pack 2 (SP2), called Release Candidate 1 (RC1), pop-up blocking will be activated by default, according to an update to the fact sheet for Windows XP SP2 on Microsoft's Web site."<br /><br />I truly hope that every Web designer out there who thought that a pop-up windows was a "cool" place to put navigation or another key element to the site is now re-thinking the merits of that approach. Pop-ups must die.

[greenmozart]

I am by no means a web developer, but I did design my company's web site. Just like most sites out there we use new windows for external links. Some pop-up blockers on the market have caused problems with this by preventing even those new windows from opening. I hope SP2 doesn't cause the same problem. I agree pop-ups must die, but hopefully the pendulum doesn't swing too far in the other direction.

[brntcrsp]

Well, if it's anything like how mozilla firefox handles popups then it shoud be doable. As long as you're not using javascript too much to force the popups then you should be fine. If you are, the browser should inform the user that there are possible popups and they might want to allow them for site usability. I can customize which sites I allow popups from (like ebay for instance).

[Robert Levy]

Useless trivia... my roomate is the tester for this feature :)