Microsoft Preps IE 5.5 Public Launch
Unfortunate for those on slower connections, Internet Explorer 5.5 is much larger than previous releases because it will eventually add many user interface enhancements to Windows, as well as browser updates. This Platform Preview will be the first public beta of the upcoming browser.
Technology wise, version 5.5 features an enhanced HTML component that supports custom DHTML tags and ViewLink, a way to create custom controls in HTML documents without the use of ActiveX. It also supports more cascading style sheets (CSS) and HTML+TIME, which adds timing and media synchronization to HTML pages. A new print preview feature allows users to preview HTML documents before printing, directly in Internet Explorer. This release also gives users more control over scroll bars, frames, pop-up windows, menus, and adds an interesting new feature - vertical text.
Aside from improving HTML support, Internet Explorer 5.5 is slated to add HTML-based 'activity centers' to Windows. These centers serve to focus certain interests into easy to use desktop enhancements. For more information, read our coverage of Windows Millennium , which was originally scheduled to contain the centers.
Internet Explorer 5.5 may be freely downloaded from Microsoft. The two options for install include 'Minimal' and 'Customized.' We recommend customizing your install, as minimal does not include all of the Web features standard in IE 5.0.
The IE 5.5 Active Setup may be downloaded at http://download.microsoft.com/download/ie5/55pprevu/5.5/W9XNT4/EN-US/ie5setup.exe