Microsoft said Friday that it is halting development of future Macintosh versions of its Internet Explorer browser, citing competition from Apple Computer"s Safari browser.
Although Microsoft may continue to provide security and performance updates, no major new releases are planned, Microsoft Product Manager Jessica Sommer told CNET News.com. Sommer said that, with the emergence of Apple"s Safari browser, Microsoft felt that customers were better served by using Apple"s browser, noting that Microsoft does not have the access to the Macintosh operating system that it would need to compete.
"No IE 6 is planned," Sommer said in a telephone interview. "Safari is turning into a better answer for (Apple) customers."
On the Windows side, Microsoft has said that it will stop development of standalone versions of Internet Explorer, instead evolving the browser as part of future updates to the Windows OS.
Apple has released several test versions of Safari, but the final 1.0 version of the browser has not yet appeared.