[WEB4LIB] Case for Internet Explorer 5

[Andrew Mutch]

Ely,

When you run the setup for IE5, you have the option of doing a "custom" installation
that allows you to select which components you want installed.  I'm not sure what the
size of the "minimum" install is but it think it is more than 7 MB.  Also, you'll find
that there will be additional components that you will want to install that it might
consider "extras" but are really standard - like the Java machine.

You can pick and choose which language components you want to install - there are quite
a few to pick from.  You probably won't need or want to download other components like
FrontPage Express which bloat out the full install.  As far as I know, there in no
charge for IE5 or any of the add-on components.

I would say the features that I consider improvements in IE5 include:

* Faster at loading pages.
* Better compliance with HTML and CSS standards
* Additional security settings for both the browser and the underlying OS [ability to
hide drives, etc.] - I think Bob Sullivan mentioned you can get down to the level of
restricting which tool bar buttons are shown.
* The multi-language support.

I think the print preview option is only available in the 5.5 Beta.  In terms of
comparative install sizes, I wouldn't say it is much worse than IE4 - both are
bloated.  As for this statement:

'our tech support cannot "support" IE5 without additional training, plus they do not
want to spend time and money upgrading something with only a miniscule benefit'

Your technical support people should be embarrassed to even make a statement like
that.  I can't imagine what kind of "training" one would need to migrate from IE4 to
IE5 - it isn't that difficult a product to migrate to - the only additional costs I
could even imagine is updates to documentation, a couple hours spent becoming familiar
with the new features and similar activities.  Someone made a comment recently about
this kind of "technical support" - don't settle for those kinds of responses.  Tell
them you want it done and they just need to tell you how they are going to make it
happen.

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI

Some of the benefits of IE 5 include:

* Better standards support for HTML and CSS
* Much faster than IE 4
* Additional security

Ely wrote:

> Hello All,
>         I work in a public library service, and am wanting to get Internet Explorer
> 5 put on our public internet terminals. Currently we have Internet Explorer
> 4. The main reason I want IE5 is for the Multilingual support it offers. I
> understand IE5 usually comes as a basic 7 MB file, which will download
> components as needed. As our public NT-Internet machines are locked down
> from meddling, we would need to install all these components at the initial
> installation. A full install of IE5 is around 110 MB.
>         I have a couple of questions:
>         a) I don't know all the extra features of IE5, but other than the basics,
> we mainly want the LOTE languages most prevalent around our area (Chinese,
> Vietnamese, Greek, others would be a bonus). Can you pick and choose which
> parts of the bonuses you download?
>         b) Is the full/extra program charged for?
>
>         We also need to put the case to our parent organisation as to why IE5 meets
> our business needs better than IE4 (our tech support cannot "support" IE5
> without additional training, plus they do not want to spend time and money
> upgrading something with only a miniscule benefit). So we need to prove why
> IE5 is better.
>         It is quite difficult finding comparative information on the internet,
> since IE5 came out so long ago already. But, so far I have (collected from
> various web sites, some referring to different versions of IE5):
>
>         PROS:
>         * IE5 is faster
>         * allows customising of toolbars
>         * the Search explorer bar which you can choose which search engines are
> launched when you perform a search, and can repeat it quickly with other
> search engines
>         * the drop down list of sites matching when you begin typing in a URL (as
> opposed to IE4's single autocomplete)
>         * Mail upgrades (which are of no use to us as these features are locked
> down anyway)
>         * friendlier and easier to novices
>         * can search history and favorites
>         * XML support (which I have no idea what that means)
>         * print preview (good to save money)
>         * Administration Kit available for full customisation
>
>         CONS:
>         * large install size
>         * not many major interface improvements over IE4
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Ely.