Here’s an interesting little tidbit buried in a Microsoft TechNet Q&A session:

As part of the OS, IE will continue to evolve, but there will be no future standalone installations. IE6 SP1 is the final standalone installation. … Legacy OSes have reached their zenith with the addition of IE 6 SP1. Further improvements to IE will require enhancements to the underlying OS.

Very interesting, especially in light of the blogged to death $750 million AOL/Microsoft settlement that includes licencing IE to AOL for the next seven years (and possibly sounding Netscape’s death knoll). Makes me curious just how that’ll work.

Also — does this also kill IE for the Mac? IE already hadn’t been updated for the Mac in ages, and with the proliferation of alternative browsers available out there for OS X — including Apple’s own Safari — has Microsoft decided it’s time to concede the browser war as far as the Mac platform goes?

(via Jeffrey Zeldman)

[See also: Netscape Has Left the Building | Custom MT skins? | It’s not my fault IE sucks. Get a real browser. | Cross-platform compatibility…ugh | Credit where credit is due ]

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