Asked to explain the rationale for limiting IE 7.0 to XP SP2 users when the majority of businesses are still running Windows 2000, Barzdukas left the door open slightly.
"Windows XP SP2 is the scope of the project at the moment. That's what we feel comfortable committing to. We haven't closed the door on potentially providing it to other platforms," he said.
In the past Microsoft said that a new version of Internet Explorer was to be launched with Longhorn - but as they are feeling the hot breath of alternative browsers such as Firefox the company decided to launch IE 7 sooner.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer lost about 5% market share to other browsers over the last six months, but they still hold approx. 90 percent. A test version of IE 7 is planned to be launched this summer.
More info at eWeek