Internet Explorer 5.5

A Hands-on test of Microsoft's latest browser

The so-called Platform Preview release of Internet Explorer 5.5 became "officially" available December 3rd, with a second beta released Feb. 16 and a final "gold code" build released to manufacturing in June, 2000 for a July 12, 2000 release. English  and International versions of the final 5.5 release became officially available on July 12th, along with a  readme file describing the changes and recommended installation procedures.

PC Buyer's Guide has been testing the final release on a variety of web pages with good results (however, see our list of caveats at the bottom of this article). Some of the changes are subtle, and the main improvements are the addition of a print preview command in the File menu (finally!) and improvements to the security defaults -- most importantly, the inclusion of  better than 40-bit cipher strength encryption by default. We had previously upgraded our IE5.0 installation to 128-bit cipher strength; IE5.5 preserves those settings. New installations will yield a minimum of 56-bit encryption. We tested the 5.5 builds 5.50.4030.2400 and "Gold code" build 5.50.4134.600 under Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows 2000 and build 5.50.4134.0100 and build 3406 in a Release Candidate of Windows Millennium Edition; the final version of Windows Me includes a version of the browser functionally similar to the Gold Code release.

The official release versions for English, German, Korean, Japanese and Chinese users are available on Microsoft's website (for those who know where to look) and vary in size depending on which components are already present on your system. On one of the systems we tested, the update was 12MB in size; on another, a "typical" installation was 18MB. In either case, the installation proceeds much as it does when upgrading version 4.0 to the 5.0x release. There's also an uninstall option, in case you decide to revert to your previous release. The installer provides a default "easy install" option, or you may elect to specify which components are installed. The update includes new releases of Outlook Express  (still identified as Outlook Express 5, although the About... screen reveals a new version number), MSN Messenger, and Windows Media Player (now at version 6.4.07.1028). When you choose to perform a custom installation, you will see some additional options not installed by default: additional web fonts, foreign languages and -- surprise! -- the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine. Web folders and NetMeeting services are also optional.

Print Preview is, for most people, the standout feature of this upgrade. It allows you to see how a web page will print right on your screen. This is especially useful in cases, such as the one shown here, where the original page is on a black background, and you're not sure how it will translate to the printed page. We also tested this feature with frames-based pages with good results. With Print Preview, you can zoom in or out of the page, print or choose print setup, or even browse to other pages using back and forward buttons.

RealGuide  and Discuss
In the View menu's Explorer bar submenu, you may find a couple of new additions, depending on other software you've installed on your computer: RealGuide and Discuss. The RealGuide option brings up a frame at the bottom of the screen with "Search for Audio & Video" and "Live Radio & TV" pop-ups. With these, you can launch the Real G2 Player (which isn't installed by the Microsoft installer) and listen to or view music, news or other netcast events.

The Discuss option is apparently only available if you've installed Office 2000, which provides these services. When Office 2000 is available, Internet Explorer 5.5 gains a few new features, including the ability to specify a Discussion Server and toolbar links to MS Word and FrontPage 2000 editors for working with XML and HTML pages, respectively.

Some functions may seem new to IE 5.5, but are potentially present in earlier IE releases, depending on what options you elected to install. One of these is the Microsoft Wallet, a secure repository for private information for Internet Shopping, which shows up in the Internet Options under Content > Personal Information, if installed.

Internally, IE 5.5 includes fixes for many browser security issues discovered and patched since the release of IE 5.0, plus some intriguing new technology under the hood:

Betanews reports: "Technology wise, version 5.5 features an enhanced HTML component that supports custom DHTML tags and ViewLink, a way to create custom controls in HTML documents without the use of ActiveX. It also supports more cascading style sheets (CSS) and HTML+TIME, which adds timing and media synchronization to HTML pages. This release also gives users more control over scroll bars, frames, pop-up windows, menus, and adds an interesting new feature - vertical text."

The Microsoft Developers Network provides additional details and examples.

One subtle change in Internet Explorer is the way the "Work Offline" command now works. Apparently due to security issues with the previous design, IE5.5 now allows the Work Offline command to be accessed only from an IE window other than the first one that opens (i.e., when you first launch the browser). Thus, you can right-click a link, select "open in new window and then access the "Work Offline" command from the File menu.

There are other subtle changes, too. In the Internet Options, under Advanced, you'll find new options to "Enable Folder view for FTP sites" (previously, this was listed as "Use web-based FTP") and "Reuse windows for launching shortcuts."

Outlook Express sports a few minor changes. You'll find a new MSN Messenger Service option in the Tools menu and a Newsgroups... menu item. MSN Messenger is similar to AOL's Instant Messenger or ICQ instant chat facilities. Unfortunately, compatibility with AOL's messaging "standard" emerged briefly during the pre-beta phase, but has not made it into this release. Still, the ability to see if people you know are online, and send and receive instant messages, are attractive new additions to Outlook Express.

The Mail Rules and News Rules items here have some helpful example rules you get you started. There's also a Receipts item in the options here, allowing you to specify options such as "request a read receipt for all sent messages." There's also an new "Exit an log off identity" option in the File menu.

And that, aside from the Windows 2000-style logo treatment on the Internet Explorer splash screen and a different default link on the Help menu's Online support option, is about the extent of the changes in IE5.5. We encountered no unusual problems or crashes during our tests, and all of our old email messages and addresses were preserved during the upgrade.

As noted on www.wugnet.com, IE 5.5 can be installed on any version of Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0. Unlike some beta versions, the official release of IE 5.5 also installs without difficulties on Windows 2000.  Recommended, with the following caveats:

1. Some functions enabled by the new release, such as scriptable scroll bars that allow developers can change their colors ("IE5.5's greatest addition," according to a reader named 'CLaW') will not display using other web browsers.
2. Billy Wilson of VoodooExtreme found that IE5.5 caused compatibility issues with his website's data input scripts. Other sites, such as webreference.com, note nagging incompatibilities with HTML 4.0 conventions and CSS2 standards.
3. One reader advises us that installing IE5.5 under Windows NT with Service Pack 6 seemed to cause some misbehavior, apparently leaving explorer.exe processes running after opening and closing explorer windows. Indeed, there are several messages in the Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 newsgroups about comctl32.dll ver 5.81, included with IE5.5, causing strange problems and crashes. We encountered no such problems under Windows 98 SE or Windows 2000.
4. Remember to check Microsoft's Windows Update site for updates and security patches periodically. Also, we've read reports of possible problems while un-installing IE 5.5. It is always prudent to make a backup of your important system files before making any major change or update to your computer's operating environment. We'd recommend backing up your favorites and email addresses -- just in case.
5. Those upgrading to the SP2 service pack upgrade for Internet Explorer 5.5, released July 31, 2001 may find that in addition to closing some security gaps, it has the effect of preventing QuickTime movies on Web pages from playing in IE. Apple says it is working with Microsoft to resolve the issue and will post a fix the problem "soon." (Read more.)

For Further Reading:

• Review: Internet Explorer 5.0
• Internet Explorer 5.0 vs. Communicator 4.5
• Windows 98 SE
• www.wugnet.com
• Betanews: Microsoft Preps IE 5.5 Public Launch
• MSDN: What's New In Internet Explorer 5.5
• TechWeb: Microsoft Confirms IE 5.5 Un-Install Bugs
• TechWeb: Beta releases of new Microsoft products
• TechWeb: IE5.5 Fails the Test
• WebReference.com: This is not a review of IE 5.5