SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 5, 1999 — Today at MacWorld Expo, Microsoft Corp. continued its tradition of delivering innovative products to Macintosh customers by releasing new versions of Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.5, Outlook® Express 4.5 and a vibrant new Web site dedicated exclusively to Macintosh customers – Microsoft MacTopia. Built by the same team that created Office 98 Macintosh® Edition, the new releases of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express as well as Microsoft MacTopia continue the legacy of pioneering new features and functionality in the Macintosh versions of Microsoft products. By applying the knowledge acquired through extensive Macintosh customer research, Microsoft is able to deliver the best and most innovative software to meet the unique needs of Macintosh customers.
Designed to deliver a simple, hassle-free browsing and e-mail experience, Internet Explorer 4.5 and Outlook Express 4.5 help end users accomplish the Web tasks that they perform every day more quickly and easier than ever. For example, users can now automatically fill out their name and address in Web forms with just a single click of the mouse with Form AutoFill – a feature pioneered first in Internet Explorer 4.5. New functionality in Internet Explorer also makes browsing the Web easier, faster and more fun. With Internet Explorer 4.5, common tasks like printing Web content now work the way users would expect: New print preview in Internet Explorer 4.5, for example, shows users how a Web site will print before printing it. The updated versions of both Internet Explorer and Outlook Express provide world-class support for Apple technologies coupled with seamless integration with the Mac OS.
Microsoft has taken its commitment to the Macintosh community a step further by creating the Microsoft MacTopia Web site, located at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/ . MacTopia is not only a consolidated product information site for all of Microsoft products for the Macintosh, it is also a vibrant, interactive site where Macintosh customers can find a plethora of resources. Customers can access links to news and information affecting the Macintosh community, or visit areas specifically designed for home, business or education customers. In addition, MacTopia provides users with the ability to interact with the Macintosh community – visitors can chat with other Macintosh customers, interact with key Macintosh industry leaders, participate in a product feedback forum or sign up for a quarterly newsletter.
“Macintosh customers continue to benefit from the spirit of cooperation between Apple and Microsoft, with new versions of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express adding to the growing number of ‘Macintosh-first, Macintosh-best’ products coming from Microsoft,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s interim CEO. “Plus, MacTopia promises to be the place for Macintosh Web surfers to easily find out about Microsoft products and offerings for the Macintosh.”
“Last year, Microsoft’s mission with Office 98 was to deliver an innovative, Macintosh-specific product to our Macintosh customers,” said Ben Waldman, general manager, Macintosh business unit, Microsoft. “We are now thrilled to further this mission with our new Internet products, Internet Explorer 4.5, Outlook Express 4.5 and Microsoft MacTopia, which provide Macintosh customers with new functionality and features designed specifically to meet their needs.”
Microsoft Innovations for Macintosh
The following features are key innovations that are available first and only in Internet Explorer 4.5 and Outlook Express 4.5 Macintosh Editions.
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Form AutoFill. Ordering products and services over the Internet has never been easier. With just a single click of the mouse, Internet Explorer 4.5 automatically and intelligently fills in a user’s name, e-mail alias and address into a Web form, helping customers save time and eliminating repetitive, mundane tasks.
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Page Holder. The new Page Holder feature in Internet Explorer 4.5 allows users to divide a window into two panes, placing one page with links in the left pane while displaying the corresponding content in the right pane. This alleviates the common and frustrating task for users of repeatedly clicking the Back button to return to where they started.
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Adjustable Print Preview. This new feature in Internet Explorer 4.5 gives users powerful control over print functions while making printing fast and easy. Users can view a Web page before printing, and Print Preview provides multiple layout and graphics options that will alter the printed page to their specifications. Printing now works the way users would expect: Internet Explorer 4.5 automatically scales most Web pages to fit one page.
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Drag & Drop Install. First pioneered in Office 98, Drag & Drop Install is a revolutionary new way to install Internet Explorer and Outlook Express 4.5: Users simply drag the program folder to their hard drive and launch – no rebooting is required. Drag & Drop Install greatly reduces the time for installing – on average installing Internet Explorer and Outlook Express 4.5 takes less than 10 seconds. And since Internet Explorer 4.5 is less than 7 MB in size, it is the smallest, easiest browser to install today.
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Self-repairing applications. To make it easier for users to manage their software, Internet Explorer and Outlook Express 4.5 are designed to be self-maintaining. The browser and e-mail program proactively fix problems without requiring user intervention.
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Mac OS 8.5 Sherlock integration. Internet Explorer 4.5 supports Sherlock, a new Mac OS 8.5 technology. The integration between Internet Explorer 4.5 and Sherlock allows users to search for similar content on the Web, to summarize the current Web page to the clipboard and to open Sherlock from within Internet Explorer.
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Auto Text Clean Up. This set of five easy-to-use tools in Outlook Express 4.5 helps users improve the look and readability of incoming e-mail messages. For example, mail sent through various Internet gateways is often poorly formatted by the time it reaches the recipient. Outlook Express 4.5 now provides the ability to rewrap paragraphs to make the e-mail easier to read.
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Support for AppleScript. AppleScript is becoming more and more important to users of the Macintosh who create custom solutions – especially with the improved support for AppleScript introduced in Mac OS 8.5. Every aspect of Outlook Express 4.5 can now be controlled by AppleScript.
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Performance enhancements. Internet Explorer 4.5 now launches more than two times faster than the previous version, making it faster than ever.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 and Outlook Express 4.5 Macintosh Editions are available today in eight languages worldwide (English, French, German, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Danish) and can be downloaded, free of charge, at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/ie/ (connect-time charges may apply). In addition, Microsoft is scheduled to launch the Japanese version of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express 4.5 next month. Microsoft MacTopia is also available today and is located at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/ .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing everyday.
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