MSIE Security Updates

AnamanFan writes "Microsoft has released version 5.2.1 of Internet Explorer for Mac OS X. The only notes I have been able to find on the update is that it 'provides all the latest security and performance enhancements for Internet Explorer 5 for Mac OS X.' Be warned that the installer forces all other running applications to quit, but does not require a reboot and (seems) to not change your Internet browser settings, in case you're using another browser." Also released was MSIE 5.1.5 for Mac OS, which "resolves all security vulnerabilities in previous versions of Internet Explorer 5." Heh.

Comments

All of them?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are any of IE's 18 known vulnerabilities patched in this update?

Re:All of them?

[Gogo Dodo]

MSIE for Macintosh and Windows do not share the same codebase so many of the vulnerabilities reported for IE for Windows is irrelevant on the Mac. For example, all of the Outlook and ActiveX stuff won't work on a Mac.

No IE for Me (Finally!)

[BitGeek]

Having spent most of the last year using IE under OSX (and suffering). When Mozilla 1.0 was released, I switched, and other than some minor stability issues I'm happy.

So, there's no longer a reason to use IE on the mac, and its reign should be at its end.

Requiring you to quit other applications is unacceptable for an application install, absolutely unacceptable.

As to security, I simply don't trust MS anymore. And I'm happy to be pretty much MS free.

PS- to anyone who thinks about running Entourage, it has a 2G mail limit. Their integer actually wraps at 2G so you reach that much mail (and it caches EVERYTHING- news, mail, images, even deleted stuff, so it doesn't take that long) and you're SOL. The app tries to open the file, then starts seeking at a negative index into it and crashes. Serves me right for using an MS product, forewarning to everyone else. (Yes, Mail.app crashed one too many times for me. Still looking for a good mail client.)

When there's no browser competition, IE was good. But now there's everything- Mozilla, Chimera (really promising), Opera, iCab, OmniWeb and probably other lesser known browsers. That's quite a selection with Mozilla being actually usable, Chimera coming quickly and Opera, iCab and OmniWeb being late "beta" quality. OmniWeb 4.1 might actually be usable, but its too early to say. (Usable to me is a browser that goes a week regularly without crashing, beta is one that can't.)

Re:No IE for Me (Finally!)

[foniksonik]

You should try out Mail.app again. Since the last update it has improved in performance and stability.

I used to have problems with large mailboxes as well in Mail but now it is working quite well.

Too funny....

[HiredMan]

This was a very plate-of-shrimp moment.

I was surfing this article in OSX IE 5.2 and since I have points I moderating a comment as "funny". When I clicked the "Moderate" button IE blow up on me and want away!

Ack - started returned to the article and it died on me again. Damn... that really sucks. Anyway - third times a charm. Or maybe iCab is the charm...

=tkk

PS All M$ sekurity updates should very clearly read "fixes all KNOWN security issues" - a very important detail.

Re:How to install w/out restart

[Melantha_Bacchae]

An AC wrote:

> It will make you authenticate and agree to the
> license,

In light of some of the EULA tricks Microsoft has been pulling on the PC side lately with security updates, I would strongly suggest that people doing this install carefully read the license first. Some of Microsoft's new rights granted by these EULAs have been pretty scary: being able to automatically put anything on your computer that they feel like, having the ability to arbitrarily disable programs and data files, etc.

The alternative is to find another browser whose author(s) you feel you can trust not to try and take over your Mac.

"At this moment, it has control of systems all over the world.
And...we can't do a damn thing to stop it."
Miasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millenium (Japanese version)
Don't worry, Godzilla stopped it!

The reason for the installer

[Phrogz]

There was a lot of outrage on the mailing lists and version tracker as to why this version (including 5.2.0) of IE used an installer (and such an annoying one at that) rather than drag-and-drop. The response from Dan Crevier (below) over at MS shows that they're not a bunch of mindless dolts, and that we power users who hate installers over drag-and-drop need to remember that sometimes installers can actually be better for novices (if done right):

Novice users are likely to drag the new IE software somewhere on their machine but then click on the Dock icon to launch IE. Unfortunately, this will launch the old version. Users need to either install it over the old version or they have to update their Dock. We're still trying to figure out the best solution that's easy for novice users and not incredibly annoying for experienced users.

IMO, the ideal solution would be drag and drop, where running an old copy of the program quietly checked to see if a newer version was installed and took some 'appropriate' action if one was found. (Auto-update aliases? Probably bad for folks with multiple installs for testing purposes. Hrm...)