In an effort to provide our customers with the best Web experience, we have updated IE 4.5 to include the latest Apple QuickTime technology, the QuickTime 2.0.1 plug-in which is compatible with QuickTime 3.0. For new users, the appropriate QT plug-in will be installed when IE 4.5 is downloaded. An IE 4.5 Plug-in application is available to update existing IE 4.5 installations.

IE 4.5 originally shipped version 1.1.1 of the QuickTime plug-in because shipping the latest version of the plug-in, version 2.0.1, would have broken QuickTime support in IE 4.5 on machines that were not running QuickTime 3.0. We have listened to customer feedback, however, and have gone back and made the installation technology more intelligent. We have done this by updating our installer to check to see which version of QuickTime is in use. If QuickTime 3.0 is in use, IE 4.5 will install the QuickTime 2.0.1 plug-in to ensure that IE 4.5 gives customers the best QuickTime experience of any Mac browser. If a previous versions of QuickTime is in use, IE 4.5 will install version 1.1.1 of the plug-in so that users of previous versions of QuickTime are not forced to upgrade if they don't choose to. The IE 4.5 Plug-in Updater will allow current IE 4.5 users to update the QuickTime plug-in within Internet Explorer automatically without having to download IE 4.5 again.

You can tell if you have the older installation of Internet Explorer 4.5 by examining the creation date of the Microsoft Internet First Run file found in the Microsoft Internet Self-Repair folder in the Microsoft Internet 4.5 (or Internet Explorer 4.5) folder. Select the file and choose Get Info from the File menu. A creation date before Jan 28, 1999 indicates the older installation. If you have the older installation and wish to update it, download the IE 4.5 Plug-in Updater which is available for download here. After downloading the IE 4.5 Plug-in Updater, decompress it, open the IE 4.5 Plug-in Updater folder, double-click IE 4.5 Plug-in Updater and follow the instructions. This information applies only to US versions. If you have a non-US version, refer to the IE 4.5 Plug-in Updater Read Me for more information.

Note: The Apple Sherlock button is available in Internet Explorer 4.5 only if you are currently using Mac OS version 8.5 or 8.5.1. If you are using an older version of the Mac OS, the Apple Sherlock button will not appear.

If you are using Mac OS version 8.5 or 8.5.1, Apple Sherlock must be installed in its default location in order for the Apple Sherlock button to be available in the Internet Explorer 4.5 toolbar. The default location of Apple Sherlock is the Apple Menu Items folder in your System Folder. The Apple Sherlock button will not appear in the toolbar if an alias to Apple Sherlock is placed in the Apple Menu Items folder.

Some QuickTime 3.0 features don't seem to be available in Internet Explorer 4.5.

Some users have noted that Internet Explorer 4.5 does not ship with the latest plug-in (version 2.0.1) for Apple QuickTime 3.0, but instead ships with version 1.1.1 of the Apple QuickTime plug-in which doesn't support additional media formats. This was a design decision to support users who aren't currently using QuickTime 3.0. Microsoft shipped the QuickTime 1.1.1 plug-in because shipping the 2.0.1 plug-in would have broken QuickTime on machines that aren't running QuickTime 3.0 (Mac OS versions earlier than 8.1). An AppleScript will be posted to the MacTopia Web site by the end of the week that will migrate the plug-ins users had installed with their previous browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape). Users can also simply manually move or copy the contents of their old plug-ins folder to the IE 4.5 Plug-Ins folder. If you have not previously installed QuickTime 3.0, it is available at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/.

My Java Virtual Machine is reset to Apple MRJ whenever I visit a site with a Java applet.

The Microsoft Virtual Machine is no longer supported by Microsoft. It is incompatible with Mac OS version 8.5. When a Java applet is loaded, the Java Virtual Machine is reset to the default Apple MRJ to avoid compatibility problems with Mac OS version 8.5.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 installed Text Encoding Converter 1.3.1 rather than 1.4.

The Text Encoding Converter 1.4 is incompatible with Internet Explorer 4.5 when used with Mac OS versions earlier than 8.5. In order to avoid compatibility problems, Text Encoding Converter 1.3.1 is installed with Internet Explorer 4.5 on Mac OS versions earlier than 8.5.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 is using a lot of memory (or is causing the System to use a lot of memory).

Some users have noted that the memory used by Internet Explorer 4.5 or the System increases as they load a number of different sites with Microsoft Internet Explorer. This is not a memory leak. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 uses Temporary Memory to increase performance. In Mac OS 8.0 and later, Temporary Memory is shown in the About This Computer dialog as part of the Application heap (the amount of memory the dialog indicates Internet Explorer 4.5 is using). In Mac OS versions before 8.0, Temporary Memory is shown in the About This Macintosh dialog as part of the System heap (the amount of memory the dialog indicates the System is using). This Temporary Memory is purgeable so that if another application needs memory, it is automatically freed up.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 doesn't seem to release memory that it should.

Internet Explorer uses Temporary Memory which should be freed up automatically when another application requests it. There are some circumstances in which that memory will not be released. Temporary Memory is not released if granting that request for memory will not be beneficial. For example, if an application needs 20 MB to launch, the Largest Unused Block reported in About This Computer is 18 MB, and IE is using 5 MB of Temporary Memory, you might expect that IE will always release that memory in order to allow the application to launch. But, in order to launch, the application needs 20 MB of contiguous memory. If the 5 MB of Temporary Memory when released would not be contiguous to the 18 MB block, then releasing that memory would not allow the application to launch even if it was released. In this case, Temporary Memory is not released.

The balance between performance and resource use is always a difficult one. Internet Explorer maintains a cache of recently used pages and images in order to increase performance. Several pages and the images associated with them are kept in memory for each open window. This subset of viewed pages and images, while in Temporary Memory, is not purgeable as long as the window associated with them is open. In order to make more Temporary Memory purgeable (and available to other applications that request memory), close as many open windows in Internet Explorer as possible.

There is a long delay when Internet Explorer 4.5 launches.

Some users are experiencing a delay while waiting for Internet Explorer 4.5 to finish launching. If you have a large history file or favorites file, Internet Explorer will take a while to load all that information when it launches. Internet Explorer has not changed in this regard between versions 4.01 and 4.5. The size of the history file can be set in the Web Browser Advanced settings in Preferences. The default setting of 300 will avoid the "delayed launch" problem.

I moved the Internet Explorer 4.5 alias to another location and get an error message when I try to use it.

In some cases when the Internet Explorer 4.5 (or Outlook Express) alias provided with the default installation is moved to another location, the alias will fail to resolve properly. You will see a dialog reporting "The alias 'Internet Explorer 4.5' could not be opened, because the disk 'INSTALL', which contains the original item, could not be found." This is a byproduct of the drag and drop installation.

If you want to move the Internet Explorer 4.5 alias to another location, locate the Internet Explorer 4.5 application and create a new alias. This alias that you create can be moved anywhere you choose.

Why won't AutoFill fill in my password or credit card number for me?

AutoFill does not offer a password or credit card field because that information would be easily accessible to anyone who you had granted access to your machine or had physical access to your machine. We discourage you from adding information such as passwords, credit card numbers, and other private information used for secure transactions to the AutoComplete entries as well for the same reasons.

Why doesn't AutoFill always fill in every field correctly?

AutoFill attempts to match information entered in your AutoFill Profile with fields on the forms you see in Web pages. This is not always possible. Some fields are named or labeled in such a way that the association with data in your AutoFill Profile is not obvious. Additional HTML elements near a field can sometimes confuse AutoFill, causing it to fill in incorrect data or not to be able to fill in any data. AutoFill highlights any information it flows into a form so that you can verify that the information is correct.

QuickTime, QuickTime VR, QuickDraw 3D, and the QuickTime logo are all trademarks of Apple® Computer Inc. Shockwave is a trademark of Macromedia® Inc. Acrobat is a trademark of Adobe® Systems Incorporated. All other brand and product names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective holders.