Microsoft Corp. Monday told Mac users of its Internet Explorer that they should switch to a rival browser such as Apple's Safari before IE support ends.

Although the Redmond, Wash.-based developer stopped work on the Mac edition of IE more than two years ago, its previously published lifecycle for the browser set Dec. 31, 2005 as the end-of-support date. No security or performance updates will be issued after the end of this month, Microsoft said in a bulletin on its Mactopia site.

A month later, Jan. 31, 2006, the browser will be pulled from the Mactopia site, and will no longer be available for downloading.

Mac users, said Microsoft in the bulletin, should "migrate to more recent Web browsing technologies such as Apple's Safari." Other alternatives include Firefox and Opera, both which are available in versions for Mac OS X.