Microsoft is pulling support for IE 5.2.2 for the Macintosh. i can’t say this is a huge deal for me personally, as i only rarely use IE on my mac, but on a grander scale, it’s fairly disturbing. on one hand, competition is what stimulates innovation in any software arena.
it’s nice to have as many browsers (or any other software product, for that matter) on a given platform. with IE essentially being killed off, that is one less browser to push the others to be truly great (which, by the way, the Mac has 2 of the best browsers out there, Camino and Safari). MS’ attitude of “we can’t compete, so we’re taking our ball and going home” is childish, but it’s their prerogative. Also, from a standards standpoint, you hate to see IE go. not because they support w3c standards – as a matter of fact, it’s quite the contrary.
the ’standards’ i speak of are the ‘IE-only’ ActiveX controls, scripts, etc that have essentially ruined the web over the years. by imposing their own ’standards’ and not obeying the ones agreed on by EVERYONE ELSE, they have created a harsh choice for web devs. everywhere – create for IE, or create for everyone else.
since IE comes bundled with widows by default (which around 90 of the world uses), well, there you go. of course they’re going to code to suit that browser. without IE supporting the newest ‘IE-only’ standards on the Mac, it’s going to be an uphill battle to get support for some sites that only accept IE connections (although, safari has a perfect UA spoof that tells the banking site that it is IE 5.x – i’ve tried it personally and it works fine). anywho, like i said, i personally don’t use IE anyway, so the fact that they’re pulling the plug doesn’t hurt me. but on a grander scale, it sucks to see them go, even if most mac users don’t use IE 5. i guess it was just the safety net, to know you had something to fall back on if some web dev. wrote their site only to work with IE. another discussion on the subject: @ Slashdot. @ Bill Stevenson’s Blog (a very well written synopsis). Microsoft: No new versions of IE for Mac By Ian Fried Staff Writer, CNET News.com June 13, 2003, 2: 33 PM PT Although Microsoft may continue to provide security and performance updates, no major new releases are planned, Microsoft Product Manager Jessica Sommer told CNET News.com.
Sommer said that, with the emergence of Apple’s Safari browser, Microsoft felt that customers were better served by using Apple’s browser, noting that Microsoft does not have the access to the Macintosh operating system that it would need to compete. “No IE 6 is planned, ” Sommer said in a telephone interview. “Safari is turning into a better answer for (Apple) customers.” On the Windows side, Microsoft has said that it will stop development of standalone versions of Internet Explorer, instead evolving the browser as part of future updates to the Windows OS. Apple has released several test versions of Safari, but the final 1.0 version of the browser has not yet appeared. An Apple representative was not immediately available for comment. Microsoft’s decision creates a conundrum for Mac users seeking maximum compatibility.
Many Web sites are designed to work best or, in some cases, only with Internet Explorer. Although Apple has worked hard to gain compatibility with the vast majority of sites, it is not clear what the effect will be from the most commonly used browser abandoning the Mac market. Overall, Internet Explorer has more than 95 percent of the browser market, according to market researcher WebSideStory, followed by Netscape with somewhere above 3 percent, and all others hovering below 1 percent.
Microsoft plans to keep the existing versions of IE available on its Mac Web site. The company is releasing a minor upgrade–IE version 5.2.3–to the OS X browser on Monday. Although a minor update to the Mac OS 9 version of the browser will also come within the next month, it is unclear how many releases will follow. “It depends, as things come up, ” Sommer said.
The company had agreed to provide Mac versions of the browser–as well as its Office suite–as part of a five-year deal with Apple that has now lapsed. Microsoft said in April 2002 that it would continue to develop Mac software but would only commit to one version at a time and would make its decisions based on whether such products make business sense. However, Sommer said that the company is moving ahead with the next version of Office. “We are absolutely still on track with Office, ” she said. “We’re working on the next version of Office.
We are working on the next version of Virtual PC for the Mac.” Sommer would not say, however, when those programs will arrive. Microsoft acquired Virtual PC–which lets Windows programs run on the Mac–and other assets of Connectix in February. Sommer said that no one was laid off as part of the IE move.
However, the program manager that headed the development of Mac IE, Jimmy Grewal, is leaving the company. “It’s time for