Internet Explorer is the Microsoft's tentative to make a Web browser for Mac users.
I was curious to see how IE 5 behaves on a Mac and that's the reason why I wrote this review. This is an old application, so don't expect a lot from it. Microsoft ceased the development of this browser on the Macintosh platform. Fortunately, today this browser is only available for Windows users.
I had some trouble with it right after I installed it, maybe because it's a PowerPC application. It works on Intel Macs, but it works Microsoft style. You have to "start it twice, to get it to work". Well, I had to start it more than that. The third time I started this application, it gave me some clues about how it parses the Web pages. It works quite slow compared to other Web browsers, and it takes just as much memory as the
Firefox 2 that I am currently using. This is understandable, because it's an old application and it wasn't build for this testing platform.
I couldn't find an old Acid test, so I tried with
Acid2. So far, I tested only browsers that pass or fail this test. This program is so old that it isn't even Acid2 compatible.
I could use some tabbed browsing, but this has been implemented only in the Windows version of this product, starting with the 7th version. The only thing that I actually like about this browser is the possibility to switch fast and easily the color theme of the browser. I might add that this kind of feature isn't available for IE 5 Windows users.
Pluses: it allows you to switch fast and easily the color themes.
Drawbacks / flaws: since this a old browser, you should expect many unpleasant surprises, especially if you use a Mac powered by Intel chips.
In conclusion: this is an ancient piece of software, and it's very appropriate for a software museum. This program reminds you that once upon a time, Mac users could use the same browser as the Windows users. However, Macintosh moved forward.
version reviewed: 5.2.3
