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The icon for Internet Explorer for Mac.
Internet Explorer for Mac (also referred to as Internet Explorer for Macintosh, Internet Explorer Macintosh Edition, Internet Explorer:mac or IE:mac) was a proprietary web browser developed by Microsoft for the Macintosh platform. Initial versions were developed from the same code as Internet Explorer for Windows. Later versions, particularly with the release of version 5, included the Tasman layout engine.
As a result of the five-year agreement between Apple Inc. and Microsoft in 1997, it was the default browser on Mac OS and OS X from 1998 until 2003 when it was superseded by Safari with the release of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.
On June 13, 2003, Microsoft announced that it was ceasing further development of Internet Explorer for Mac, with the final update being released on July 11, 2003. The browser was not included in the default installation of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" which was released April 29, 2005. Microsoft discontinued support for the browser on December 31, 2005, and removed the application from their Macintosh downloads site on January 31, 2006.
History[]
Versions of Internet Explorer for Mac were released starting with version 2 on April 23, 1996, to version 5, which received its last update on June 16, 2003. Versions of IE for Mac typically lagged several months to a year behind the Windows version; despite this, some unique features were added, such as the Tasman layout engine.
Internet Explorer 2.0 for Macintosh[]
- See also: Internet Explorer 2
The first version of IE for Mac OS was a beta version of Internet Explorer 2.0 for Macintosh, released on January 23, 1996, as a free download from Microsoft's website. This version was based on Spyglass Mosaic, a web browser licensed from Spyglass. It was available for both 68k and PowerPC-based Macs running System 7.0.1 or later, and included support for the embedding of multiple multimedia formats into web pages, such as AVI and QuickTime formatted video and AIFF and WAV formatted audio. On April 23, 1996, the final version was released. In August 1996, version 2.1 was released, which only focused on bug fixes and stability improvements, but also added new features such as support for NPAPI and QuickTime VR.
Internet Explorer 3.0 for Macintosh[]
- See also: Internet Explorer 3
On November 5, 1996, Microsoft announced the release of a beta version of Internet Explorer 3.0 for Macintosh. This release added HTML 3.2 support, CSS, Java applets, and ActiveX controls. The final version was made available on January 8, 1997, and added SSL and NTLM security protocol support, as well as the PICS and RSACi rating systems that can be used to control access to websites based on content ratings.
Internet Explorer 4.0 for Macintosh[]
- See also: Internet Explorer 4
At the 1997 Macworld Expo in Boston, on August 6, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates announced a partnership between Microsoft and Apple. Among many things, Apple agreed to make Internet Explorer the default browser instead of Netscape Navigator.
On January 6, 1998, at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, Microsoft announced the release of the final version of Internet Explorer version 4.0 for Macintosh. Version 4 included support for offline browsing, Dynamic HTML, a new faster Java virtual machine, and Security Zones that allow users or administrators to limit access to certain types of web content depending on which zone (for example Intranet or Internet) the content was coming from. The most publicized feature of Internet Explorer 4.0 was support for Microsoft's Active Channel technology, which was intended to deliver regularly updated content that users could personally tailor to their interests. However, Active Channel failed to reach a wide audience.
At the same event, Apple announced the release of Mac OS 8.1, the version of Mac OS to bundle Internet Explorer as its default browser per the agreement with Microsoft; however, version 4.0 was not ready in time to be included so version 3.01 was bundled on the CDs.
At the following year's San Francisco Macworld Expo on January 9, 1999, Microsoft announced the release of Internet Explorer 4.5 Macintosh Edition. This new version, which dropped 68K processor support, introduced Form AutoFill, Print Preview, the Page Holder pane which lets a user hold a page of links on one side of the screen that opens pages in the right hand and support for Mac OS technology like Sherlock.
Internet Explorer 5 Macintosh Edition[]
- See also: Internet Explorer 5