Internet Explorer 5: Search and Explore

Rants and Raves

IE 5 is the browser many love to hate. Like a pup that looks cute at the pound (or in this case, sounds good in the marketing materials) but later reveals a penchant for gnawing expensive shoes (or trashing your system), it's guaranteed to frustrate you. Here are some things about IE 5 that deserve a thwack on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper--and a few others we find irresistible.

IE 5 Rants

Image Toggling Give us one toolbar button to turn images on and off, so we can speed downloads of slow, graphic-heavy sites. And don't point us to the Power Tools utility. Build it in.

Organize Favorites The AutoComplete integration with Favorites wins a thumbs-up from us, but the awkward interface for organizing, moving, and sorting bookmarks does not. It's far simpler to find the Favorites folder on your hard drive and make changes from there.

Outlook Express 5 IE's Internet mail client, a competitor to Netscape's Messenger, still has a long way to go before it's perfect. Though the interface is simpler than the version in IE 4, it's still confusing in spots, and its wide range of powerful features can be overwhelming.

IE 5 Raves

Web Form AutoComplete A dramatic reduction in repetitive typing compensates you generously for the slight unease of knowing that all your best secret words are stored in a local file. Remember: They're encrypted.

Smaller Footprint Apparently someone was listening after all: Now you can ditch the push channels, choose your own e-mail client, and get Java when you need it. A 6.5MB minimum size makes this a beta you can download in your lifetime.

Persistence Finally, no more navigating through endless frames just to rediscover information that you found on a previous expedition. Go straight to the treasure trove by using persistent states.