Explorer update for OS X

Microsoft on Wednesday updated the Internet Explorer 5.1 Preview Release for Mac OS X. The Redmond, Wash.-based company shipped an earlier version available only on the Mac OS X CD. The new version fixes some bugs and adds features. Among the new features: the ability to select links on a Web page by typing the first few letters on the keyboard; improved plug-in support, including QuickTime 5; support for USB printers and scroll-wheel mice; and content viewable in six languages.

The updated browser, which is not the final release, requires Mac OS X 10.0.3. That latest version of OS X can be retrieved using the operating system's software update feature. Although Internet Explorer takes advantage of Mac OS X's advanced features, it is considered a "carbon" application, or one that was converted to the new version of the operating system from the old. By contrast, Omni Group's OmniWeb 4 browser was written from the ground up for Mac OS X using the "cocoa" development environment.