Microsoft Ceases Development On Internet Explorer For Mac

by , 6:00 PM EDT, June 13th, 2003

The news has swept the tech world: Microsoft will no longer develop Internet Explorer for the Mac. According to MacUser UK, the company says it will continue to support the existing release, and MacCentral is reporting that one final release will be available soon, and that version 5 will be supported with maintenance releases. From MacUser UK:

Roz Ho, the general manager of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, has confirmed that no future versions of Internet Explorer will be released for the Mac.

Ho says that the decision has been made to make way for Apple's own Safari browser. 'Some of the key customer requests for web browsing on the Mac require close development between the browser and the OS, something to which only Apple has access,' she explained.

You can find the full article at MacUser UK's Web site.

In other Microsoft-related news today, Big Redmond bought a Linux company, and then announced it would discontinue that company's popular Linux antivirus solution. Microsoft's competitors have also said that Microsoft is abusing the terms of its antitrust settlement with the DoJ.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Look for an extended commentary on this development from TMO on Monday. The short version is as follows: IE is no longer needed on the Mac platform because Apple's Safari and the open source browsers are frankly far superior products, but that's only because Microsoft hasn't put any work into IE for the Mac in years. It's a chicken and egg thing. In the meanwhile, this is a clear effort to undermine support for the Mac platform, and yet more proof that the antitrust settlement foisted on us by the DoJ (and agreed to by the presiding judge) is an utter and complete failure. Again, look for extended commentary from TMO on Monday.