update Microsoft said Friday that it is halting development of future Macintosh versions of its Internet Explorer browser, citing competition from Apple Computer's Safari browser.

Microsoft plans to keep the existing versions of IE available on its Mac Web site. The company is releasing a minor upgrade--IE version 5.2.3--to the OS X browser on Monday. Although a minor update to the Mac OS 9 version of the browser will also come within the next month, it is unclear how many releases will follow. "It depends, as things come up," Sommer said.