Autodesk has issued a “hotfix” for the incompatibility issues in DWF-related products created by changes in Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 7.
As reported recently in AECnews, the new version of Internet Explorer (IE7) makes several changes that affect a variety of other programs. In Autodesk’s Design Review 2007 and DWF Viewer 2007, the changes in IE7 affected program menus and the use of DWF files embedded in Web pages.
A hotfix occurs when software code needs to be added to an existing program without benefit of a more formal and polished upgrade or service pack. The anticipated release of IE7 on November 1 as an automatic update to Windows XP forced Autodesk to take immediate action to protect users of the two DWF products.
Detailed instructions for downloading and installing the DWF/IE7 hotfix can be found at Beyond the Paper, the blog of Autodesk employee and DWF programmer Scott Sheppard. In rare situations, Sheppard says, the hotfix will not be able to detect the presence of DWF Viewer. In these cases it will be necessary to uninstall and reinstall the viewer.
"Autodesk and Microsoft work together closely," Sheppard told AECnews. "We certainly were aware that Internet Explorer was to be released. During the time of its development, Internet Explorer 7 was a moving target. It was quite possible that this issue would be corrected in Internet Explorer 7 before its final release. When it became apparent that this was not the case, Autodesk reacted swiftly on behalf of its customers and released a hot fix."
Autodesk is to be commended for making this hotfix available before IE7 starts arriving unannounced on desktops later this week. And we all need to remember that—Microsoft protestations notwithstanding—Internet Explorer is for good or for ill an integral part of the Windows operating system.
--RSN