Microsoft pulls IE 5.5 SP2 download to push IE 6

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In an effort to push adoption of IE 6.0, Microsoft quietly yanked Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2 from its download site.

Ironically, IE 5.01 SP2 is still available as it is primarily used by businesses running Windows 2000. Because business customers are less prone to upgrade, Microsoft tends to offer such fixes longer than it does for consumer customers.

As Microsoft say on their website...

When a version of Internet Explorer enters the Extended Support phase (like what has happened to Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2), this means the browser version will no longer be available to download, but will continue to receive no-charge security updates until the end of the Extended Support period.

For Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2, the end of the no-charge support period is December 31, 2003. Security updates will continue to be available to current Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 users until the end of this no-charge support period.

According to reports, upgrading directly to Internet Explorer 6 from IE 4 has a tendency to cause errors on older operating systems such as Windows 98. By first upgrading to IE 5.5, most problems are eliminated. (I just did this this morning, went from IE4 > IE 5.5sp2 >IE 6 sp1 on a friends PC, no sweat! Ed.)

Sources told BetaNews that Microsoft support representatives were left out of the loop and received no advanced warning that version 5.5 would be pulled. Support technicians have resorted to having customers download a CNET-branded version of IE 5.5 that is still available.

News source: BetaNews

View: Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 sp2 notification

How many beta builds of Windows Server 2003 have there been?
The development team creates a new build each night, and at checkpoints creates interim builds that are made available to beta testers. Beta 1, Beta 2, Beta 3, RC1 and RC2 are the key development milestones.

How many beta testers were there for Windows Server 2003?
Nearly 300,000 customers, partners, OEMs, developers and other testers had access to the beta releases, beginning with Beta 2.

What product line does Windows Server 2003 follow?
Windows Server 2003 is the best upgrade for Windows 2000 Server and Windows NT4 customers. The next product to follow Windows Server 2003 will be Blackcomb.

What's the current timeline for the first service Pack for Windows Server 2003?
This information is not yet available.

What flavors of Windows Server 2003 are there?
There are currently four editions of Windows Server 2003: Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition and Datacenter Edition. The Enterprise and Datacenter Editions will be available in both 32- and 64-bit versions.

Does Microsoft support Windows Server 2003 when modified as per Neowin Workstation Guide?
Windows Server 2003 is a server product.

(8 replies) #1 mintll on 20 Mar 2003 - 18:36

Why not make it availible for Windows 95 users even thought there making nothing new for 95 they could al least let them download the old stuff

#1.1 xStainDx on 20 Mar 2003 - 18:43

Windows 95 is EOL. Thats the end of that discussion. Move along please.

#1.2 mintll on 20 Mar 2003 - 19:02

[neoquote=#1.1 by xStainDx]Windows 95 is EOL. Thats the end of that discussion. Move along please.

[/neoquote] So they still should want the remaining Windows 95 users using their browser

#1.3 FISKER_Q on 20 Mar 2003 - 19:08

Did they ever release winsock2 for win95?

#1.4 quanta on 20 Mar 2003 - 19:45

Nooo, they want to force Win95 users to go out and buy WinXP to get a current version of IE! Not really a big deal, not as bad as cutting off support for Win98SE last July. If you're gonna use IE, might as well use the latest version...less bugs all in all. P.S. Web designers will also thank you, since they don't have to do the CSS "Box Model hack" for IE 5.5 anymore.

#1.5 Jason on 20 Mar 2003 - 20:40

Win98SE has not stopped being supported, end of life is January 16, 2005

#1.6 gameguy34 on 20 Mar 2003 - 21:30

may i ask why any of you still have windows 95? i'm not saying you have to have the newest version, but at least get win98 or win2k preferrably...

#1.7 quanta on 20 Mar 2003 - 21:53

It does look like that Win 98 /98SE's official EOL date is 2005. However, you already cannot get WHQL certified drivers for Windows 98/98SE for any new products (Audigy 2, Radeon 9700, etc.). They'll start charging you if you for any active support and extended hotfix support after this July, and they'll stop posting any bug fixes at all by Jan 2004. So really, that 2005 date is a bit misleading. That is the date they're going to remove all W98 self-serve online support from Knowledge Base and WindowsUpdate.

#1.8 leebobs on 21 Mar 2003 - 13:37

Anyone on 9X hang your head in shame.... NT Rules

(1 reply) #2 Mr. Black on 20 Mar 2003 - 19:03

More bad choices from Micro$oft...

Never ceases to amuse me...

#2.1 Jason on 21 Mar 2003 - 00:32

Not really IE6 is free still and better than IE 5.5 And Win 95 is now dead according to MS.

Last edited by 9969 on 21 Mar 2003 - 01:37

#3 Avenger on 20 Mar 2003 - 20:00

A Cnet branded version of IE? God forbid.

(2 replies) #4 brew crew on 20 Mar 2003 - 21:49

funny that IE 6.0 and 6.0 sp1 both have the alexa spyware key in them, but IE 5.5 sp2 does not. I know of many people that have downgraded to 5.5 sp2 just because of the alexa key, quess their gonna have to downgrade even further now.

Opera is looking better everyday.

#4.1 Jason on 21 Mar 2003 - 14:15

ad-aware removes it, so its no big deal.

#4.2 JaggedFlame on 21 Mar 2003 - 21:20

Alexa is not spyware. It needs to send some information so it can get the Related Sites to the website you're looking at.

(3 replies) #5 leebobs on 20 Mar 2003 - 22:14

Who is not on IE6 anyway???

#5.1 mr_da3m0n on 21 Mar 2003 - 00:07

Many Many Many Many people. Just about everybody not using XP in corporate environnements

#5.2 kal-ky on 21 Mar 2003 - 12:18

And MacOS users and Linux users and Gecko based browser users. And I know a lot of ppl who work for the government still uses NS4.x at work.

#5.3 leebobs on 21 Mar 2003 - 13:36

Hmmmm... Fair enough but I am not sure whether or not it is still sensible or indeed secure to use any MS IE except IE6 and people should look to come out of the stone age... Big steps are being made to make IE6 the most secure browser in the world, and with its continued distribution with XP and soon Windows 2003, I can see problems being found and solved faster than ever!!

#6 wizardswarrior on 21 Mar 2003 - 06:03

No java

#7 Galley_SimRacer on 21 Mar 2003 - 06:56

Death to IE!

#8 DsnBehind on 21 Mar 2003 - 08:30

[QUOTE]...a CNET-branded version of IE 5.5 that is still available[/QUOTE] I completely loathe C|NET: gigantic ads and paid-for reviews.

(1 reply) #9 eilegz on 21 Mar 2003 - 16:37

for me people version 5 was the best IE version i liked version 4 too but since version 6 IE it looks bloated and slower than earlier version anyways i use netscape 7.02 (mozilla 1.02) and its great so people time to switch tire of security and stability get mozilla or opera or phoenix tell microsoft that or they improve IE and they will stick with it

#9.1 y_notm on 21 Mar 2003 - 19:59

it [I]looks[/I] bloated and slow? have you used it? its far and above 5.x in speed on any windows platform.

#10 eilegz on 21 Mar 2003 - 16:38

by the way people using xp can install ie 5.5 over version 6 i never did that just to ask what happen did someone tried?

#11 Angel Blue01 on 21 Mar 2003 - 22:49

I agree that they should keep it around for the Win95 users, at least on an FTP server somewhere...

#12 Johnr on 21 Mar 2003 - 23:19

Grr This is the best version of the lot and no way am I installing a CNET branded version

#13 axdamax on 23 Mar 2003 - 21:14

You can [still

] download IE 5.5 SP2 [84 MB] from Browsers Evolt [the *unbranded* M$ release, SSL 128-bit encryption]: http://browsers.evolt.org/download.php?/ie/32bit/5.5_SP2/ie55sp2.exe or from: http://helpdesk.uvic.ca/how-to/support/win95/msiexpl.html or go to [for more details]: http://members.aol.com/axcel216/toy.htm#NET

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