Finally – it’s here. And how… WOW!!!

This is the first time Microsoft’s products keep the promise. The stakes were high, the expectation even higher and the tension massive. The result? What a browser!!!

If you are not sure yet
Check out MacTopia’s IE5 info at: http://www.microsoft.com/Mac/IE/IE5/ie5features.asp.
You will find very detailed information on all new features and many screen-shots. There is another “auto-demo” which is really pretty cool but I would not recommend to call it at poor line condition (at least 4.8kbps recommended). The site may be a bit slow these days as the release has been started yesterday. But it’s worth it!

The offer
IE5 is available as 128bit software (means highest security level) and in English plus Japanese (more languages coming soon). So, you may have some trouble showing special letters with this first version if you call sites with special symbols as Cyrillic or the like. IE5 is free (as usual), but they take a small charge for sending a CD-ROM (US$9.94, Can$15.95).

Installation
If you want to go ahead and download the software, just check this site: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/download/en/default.asp. With the release of IE5 Mac Microsoft has revamped Outlook Express Mac to the bugs-fixed version 5.0.2. The site offers several different downloads: IE5 only, together with Outlook 5.0.2, Outlook only or an order procedure for the CD-ROM, including all of the above.
I downloaded IE5 plus the new Outlook version. The 11.6MB took 43 minutes at average put-though speed of 5.2kbps. You can choose Mac Binary or HexBin file types, choose depending on your compression software. After download the file expands automatically and (other than Netscape Smart Update) can be saved to use it later again. Installation very fast and easy. If you have worked with a former IE version, all configuration will be carried over, including Outlook data.
In case you have not worked with IE or Outlook yet, there are easy to handle and well working import tools for bookmarks and address books etc. build-in.

What’s new?
Despite of the looks pretty much everything is new with this browser. Here are some highlights:

A) New “Tasman” rendering engine, incorporating all new and upcoming web and html standards. Pages can be seen as programmed now and would load a lot faster than before (wow, I really mean it: a lot!!!), compared to Netscape and depending on content all pages I have worked with since yesterday would load at least 30% faster, some much faster!

B) New button, menu layout, 9 iMac inspired flavors. Toolbar can be configured freely now – very neat: open a html document and just drag-drop the buttons and separators on the right place. Very intuitive.

C) New scrapbook, saves pages as a snapshot, means the status and content of the site does not change there. Great for any work where you need reference of older pages to compare with updated versions.

D) The left-side tabs for favorites, search and scrapbook run a lot faster now. Another great improvement is the search function in the left side window, it would open the result site in the main window now by default.

E) Related links button (as known from Netscape, well MS has always been the world champion in copying and making it better, with their support across the net they will most likely even have better and deeper results from that feature).

F) Auto-address and auto-fill-In improved. Displays all type-ahead URL’s in a new drop-down menu, starting with the shortest match.

G) Auction manager build-in. What a great idea!!! The browser keeps track of auctions you participate, reminds and alerts you automatically on any events and deadlines. Why didn’t I think about that before?

H) The favorites toolbar shows folders now, very easy to navigate.

There are many more, smaller improvements and the overall performance shows a major success for this new browser. I was really surprised about all the new features and improvements, especially because they left all good features and well known values of the older version 4.5.

Conclusion
When you own a Macintosh computer and really need the speed and ease of use on the web, there is just no way around the all new IE5Mac Edition! Especially the intuitivity and speed (cache is working much better and already visited sites open up incredibly fast!) will give AOL-Netscape a bad time, just before they want to release their new Netscape 6 (BTW: platform independent). I have never been that impressed by any of MS’s products before. Still, I won’t become a member of any of their fan clubs but I am a strong supporter of their Apple-MS move and the resulting products. First time in my life: Well done, Billy, well done!!!

PS: Bank of America - AGAIN - would not accept this browser. Similar trouble with many browsers on Mac - see my other review about Bank of America Online.




Recommended: Yes