From...

April 1, 1999
Web posted at: 8:50 a.m. EST (1350 GMT)

by Peggy Watt

(IDG) -- Early users of Internet Explorer 5 should expect some long lines and bumpy roads before you hit the smooth ride, say some of the first ones behind the wheel.

The traffic jam occurs online; would-be users and Microsoft itself note that the download times are long because the lines are clogged. That's because, Microsoft representatives say, more than 1 million downloads occurred the first week IE5 was available.

To illustrate its claim of popularity, the company notes that more people downloaded IE5 during its "opening weekend" than the total number who caught the debuts of all five Academy Award Best Picture nominees combined.

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The bumpy rides can occur primarily to overeager drivers. Microsoft is up front about advising users to remove any beta copies of IE5 before installing the shipping version. Ignoring that advice can cause problems that result in a system freeze, some users have found. It's safe to install IE5 on top of earlier shipping versions, however, such as IE4.

Even those who experienced a rough start say they are impressed with the updated browser, which sports among its new features an intelligent Related Links feature that refers surfers to similar sites; a refined AutoSearch; streaming audio support on the toolbar; and tighter integration with e-mail, notably its Outlook Express, also updated to Version 5.

The usual bumps

And users are discovering the usual driver incompatibilities that occur not infrequently with major application upgrades. The BugNet Web site lists problems with drivers with Diamond Multimedia products, and claims some incompatibilities with Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol as Microsoft implements it in the server operating system Windows NT 4.

Diamond Multimedia has posted new drivers for its Viper V550, Monster 3D II X100 and Monster Fusion Z100 graphics accelerators, and urges users of those boards who want to run IE5 to update their software.

As for the PPTP problem, Microsoft representatives acknowledge that sometimes, during remote dial-up connections, a two-call PPTP sequence may be interrupted when connecting with a virtual private networking server. The user doesn't get a connection, and needs to manually stop the process and restart. Microsoft has posted background and suggestions in a Knowledge Base report on its Web site.

Some criticisms and concerns are still floating through cyberspace in chat rooms and Usenet sessions. The prospective IE5 user should beware -- or at least be informed.

Compliance complaints

IE5 isn't completely compliant with Web standards defined by the W3C consortium, an international industry consortium supported by academia and business. Microsoft agrees -- but maintains IE is as compliant as any other browser available.

"Until somebody ships a browser with better standards support, it's a moot point," says Dave Wascha, product manager for the platforms marketing group. He notes that W3C standards are still evolving, and that some functions are specific to a small number of users. "Our browser has been around longer than the spec, and it's only been around for three years," Wascha adds.

In fact, strictly adhering to some parts of the W3C spec could prevent viewing of older Web pages, Wascha says.

Rival Netscape has announced plans to make its Communicator and Navigator browsers 100-percent compliant, but it also falls short currently.

And, as PC World tests show, users may experience some IE5 culture shock if they take advantage of the customization features that tie the browser to particular Web portals. AltaVista, Excite, Lycos, Go, Snap, Yahoo, and MSN all offer branded versions of IE, tailored both by the portals and the users. But once a user customizes IE, it's difficult to return it to a portal-less state.

Representatives of some of the portals pushing branded editions of IE say users need to replace one scheme by installing another on top. Even that leaves some residue. Others say users must uninstall IE5 and reinstall it to purge the custom elements.