SEATTLE, WA – Microsoft officially announced Monday that as of the end of the year, the company will no longer support its Internet Explorer Web browser for the Macintosh, and will provide no additional performance or security updates from that point.“In accordance with published support lifecycle policies, Microsoft will end support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31st, 2005, and will provide no further security or performance updates.”

The decision came as no real surprise; Microsoft had announced its intent to drop IE for Mac over 2 years ago, citing competition from Apple’s “Safari” browser as the main reason for its decision.

“On June 2003, the Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit announced that Internet Explorer for Mac would undergo no further development, and support would cease in 2005,” Microsoft said in a statement released by the company.

In addition to pulling support for the product, Microsoft will no longer offer the browser for download, as of the end of next month.

“Additionally, as of January 31st, 2006, Internet Explorer for the Mac will no longer be available for download from Mactopia. It is recommended that Macintosh users migrate to more recent Web browsing technologies, such as Apple’s Safari”.

Judging by the reactions on various blogs and tech message boards, the Mac community is hardly mourning the passing of IE for Mac. Most users said they had long ago given up on IE, opting instead for Firefox or Safari for their Mac-based Web browsing. The only potential inconvenience would be to sites that were designed specifically for compatibility with IE for Mac, and do not offer alternatives that are Firefox or Safari-friendly.