Microsoft Nixes Internet Explorer for Mac

Citing competition from Apple's own Safari browser, currently in beta testing, Microsoft announced it would cease future development of Internet Explorer for Mac OS X. Redmond says it will continue to support the browser and is expected to issue a security and performance update shortly, but IE 5 will be the last release for Mac users.

While IE 5 was the primary browser for Mac OS X upon its release in 2000, rivals such as the Gecko-based Camino and Safari have far surpassed IE in terms of features and speed. Microsoft claims Apple has better resources to create a browser because they control the underlying operating system.

Apple first unveiled Safari last January at Macworld. Safari utilizes the KHTML rendering engine from KDE's Konqueror Web browser and sports Apple's brushed metal theme. While Safari is presently in its beta stages, Apple is expected to release the final version 1.0 shortly.

Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit will instead focus all of its efforts on the next release of Office for Mac OS X. The company is also working to complete an update to Virtual PC for Mac, the application it acquired from Connectix earlier this year.

Although company representatives said nobody was laid off as part of the decision, Jimmy Grewal, product manager for IE for Mac, announced his intentions to leave Microsoft. "It's time for a change," Grewal wrote on his personal Web site. "With the end of development of Mac Internet Explorer, I will be leaving Microsoft and moving on to pursue other interests."