Downloading Internet Explorer

Summary: Downloading Microsoft Internet Explorer for the Macintosh from a PC. Installing it on a Macintosh (HFS) medium from a PC.
 

Introduction

Internet Explorer is a Web navigator software distributed freely by Microsoft. Since this product outrageously dominates the market, no additional comments are necessary.

Downloading Site

Microsoft Internet Explorer is accessible from its Downloading Page. A screen shot is given below:

In the example above, we selected the English version and the MacBinary format. The file size is 7 229 568 bytes.

Real Application or Installer?

The downloaded program is an installer and not the real application. The name of the downloaded file (on the PC) is "ie5en.bin". When you copy this file to the Macintosh medium, the name (stored in the container) becomes "Internet Explorer 5.smi".
This is the program that the user will have to launch if s/he wants to install the browser. You should therefore specify it in a readme file. The installation is a rather lengthy process, because the program first uncompress itself and produces an installation folder which should be copied to the hard disk, before starting the browser for the first time (initialization).
Please also note that autostarting the installer should be considered as a really bad practice, since the majority of computer users already has some kind of browser installed. More, you probably don't have to choose the browser and should leave your user free to make her/his own choice.

 
Pierre Duhem (ex-Logiciels & Services Duhem)
3, rue Pierre Haret - F-75009 Paris (France) - Tel. (+33) [0]149 700 455
web: http://www.macdisk.com