Apple had to bundle IE with every Mac and obviously wanted it to be great. Nonetheless, Grewal explains why the release of IE 5 was so important for Apple and Microsoft, specifically as Microsoft battled with the Department of Justice over antitrust concerns:įor Microsoft, IE 5 demonstrated their “commitment” to their lucrative Office for Mac customers, gave them an edge in the browser wars, and was meant to take some of wind out of the DOJ’s anti-trust case. Long-time Mac users will remember that Internet Explorer first came to the Mac in 1996, and was bundled with Mac OS 8 in 1998. In a new blog post, Grewal offers some interesting tidbits on that development process, as today marks the twentieth anniversary of Internet Explorer 5 for Mac’s unveil. His first project was working on the team developing Internet Explorer 5 for Mac –– which he describes as “the most important release of Internet Explorer for the Mac, and the last release.” Jimmy Grewal served as a Program Manager for Mac Internet Explorer at Microsoft, joining the company in 1999.
