[phileysmiley]

You may recall a couple of weeks ago when MS sent me IE8 during an Automatic Update and people thought something funny was going on.
get-links-to-open-new-tab-in-ie8-t108679.html?hilit=internet%20explorer%208

Well...

I8 Released As Critical Update For XP
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @11:34PM

Binestar was one of several readers writing in to note that Microsoft is listing IE8 as a critical update to Windows XP. CNet reported a couple of weeks back that Microsoft would be rolling our IE8 to users in a gradual fashion, and requiring an opt-in before installing it. Opinion has been split as to whether IE8 is worth installing or not. Binestar notes delicately, "For those not interested in upgrading to IE8 at this time, the MSDN released information back in January on how to keep IE8 off your machine."

[NT50]

I installed it today on a computer at school to test it out with the engineering software I teach with and nothing woudl work. I would advise for people to stay away from it for now.

[mnemonicj]

I would assume that it is only a critical update if you actually use it.

I am trying to think of all of the browsers that I would use before IE:
Mozilla Firefox
Opera
Google Chrome
Safari
Netscape

Please feel free to add any I am missing.

[NT50]

We use Firfox at school due to the security reason.

I am one of the few that has IE enabled on my computers due to the fact my software does not see anything but IE.

[phileysmiley]

Even when I completely got rid of IE on my laptop awhile back, with Firefox and Chrome I still could not see or work with certain sites. For example, I could not see or access certain MS sites and downloads without using IE. And every so often there are sites which render better in IE or videos that don't play well in other browsers.

Even if I never "use" it I still needed to have it available.

Not to mention that I help design websites and test them for friends and I need to be able to see how they look in IE since many people still use it.