What's wrong with IE 5.5?

No, not the JS and page rendering problems!

[gmiller]

So... Any clue why MS withdrew IE 5.5? How serious could the problem be? Some major security issue? Does it automatically download and launch the NS6 installer or something? ;)

[tedster]

Microsoft is certainly being tight-lipped about it. The IE home page was a big white blank this afternoon, and the download page just said 5.5 was no longer available.

My first guess is that someone found a big hole in Active X controls that lets a malicious programmer deep into the client's system. MS has had some minor problems in that area several times since the launch of 5.5. It's just a guess, however.

Integrate the browser too deeply with the O/S and you just might open up a can of worms.

[tedster]

The silence on this issue is getting unnerving! I can find no media attention and Microsoft even pulled the one terse sentence from their site which said that 5.5 was not available. Now the page is blank.

gmiller, when did you first learn about MS pulling Explorer? Is it related in some way to the recent hacker attacks?

It's like the elephant standing in the middle of the room that no one will mention.

[rcjordan]

Here ya go, tedster. Not much info, but at least someone has spotted the elephant.

Microsoft temporarily halts IE 5.5 downloads [infoworld.com]

[Brett_Tabke]

My first thought was due to the Sun java ruling. They are yet again playing with the code.

[sean orourke]

You're right, the silence IS deafening. There is a mention at ZDNET (which includes the Talkback feature for rumors and speculation).

Downloads of MS IE 5.5 halted temporarily [zdnet.com]

[sean orourke]

Wow, I get sidetracked with a /. article momentarily and RCJ & Brett have already jumped in.

-- you've got to wake up pretty early in the morning... ;)

[tedster]

The MSIE and SP1 downloads are back with no further information. My guess - there probably won't be.

[gmiller]

Just saw an article on C¦Net and ZDNet with links to sites carrying a leaked beta of IE6. Sadly, I don't have Win2k installed on any of my machines, so I can't check it out.