Internet Explorer 4
Encyclopedia
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 (abbreviated as IE4) is a graphical web browser released in September 1997 by Microsoft
, primarily for Microsoft Windows
, but also with versions available for Apple Mac OS, Solaris, and HP-UX
and marketed as "The Web the Way You Want It".
It was one of the main participants of the first browser war. Its distribution methods and Windows integration were involved in United States v. Microsoft
. It was superseded by Microsoft Internet Explorer 5
in March 1999. Version 4.0 was included with Windows 95
OEM Service Release 2.5 and 4.01 in Windows 98
, in addition the Internet Explorer layout engine Trident
was introduced. It attained just over 60% market share by March 1999 when IE5
was released. In August 2001 when Internet Explorer 6
was released, IE4.x had dropped to 7% market share and IE5 had increased to 80%. IE4 market share dropped under 1% by 2004.
Internet Explorer 4 is no longer available for download from Microsoft. However, archive 16-bit and 32-bit versions are publicly available on the Evolt.org browser archive. These include Internet Explorer 4.0 (16-bit), Internet Explorer 4.01 (32-bit), Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1 (32-bit), and Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2 (32-bit). You can upgrade to a later version of IE such as 5 or 6.
" would result in the traditional Windows Explorer being replaced by a version more akin to a web browser interface, as well as the Windows desktop itself being web-enabled via Active Desktop
. The integration with Windows, however, was subject to numerous packaging criticisms (see United States v. Microsoft
). This option was no longer available with the installers for later versions of Internet Explorer but was not removed from the system if already installed. Internet Explorer 4 introduced support for Group Policy
, allowing companies to configure and lock down many aspects of the browser's configuration. Internet Mail and News was replaced with Outlook Express
, and Microsoft Chat
and an improved NetMeeting were also included. This version also was included with Windows 98
. Version 4.5 (only for Mac) dropped support for 68k
Macs, but offered new features such as easier 128-bit encryption. The last non-Mac version, was 4.0 Service Pack 2, however. Uninstalling IE4 became the subject of concern to some users and was a point of contention in later lawsuits (see Removal of Internet Explorer
and United States v. Microsoft
.)
, Microsoft announced the release of the final version of Internet Explorer version 4.0 for Macintosh. Version 4 included support for offline browsing, Dynamic HTML
, a new faster Java virtual machine
and Security Zones that allow users or administrators to limit access to certain types of web content depending on which zone (for example Intranet or Internet) the content was coming from. At the same event, Apple announced the release of Mac OS 8.1
, which would be bundled with IE4.
At the following year's San Francisco Macworld Expo on January 9, 1999, Microsoft announced the release of Internet Explorer 4.5 Macintosh Edition. This new version, which dropped 68K processor support, introduced Form AutoFill, Print Preview, the Page Holder pane which let a user hold a page of links on one side of the screen that opened pages in the right hand and support for Mac OS technology like Sherlock
.
On November 5, 1997 a beta of IE for Unix 4.0 was released for testing on Solaris. On January 27, 1998 it was reported that IE 4.0 for Solaris was due in March; Tod Nielsen, general manager of Microsoft's developer relations group, joked that "he wanted to launch Internet Explorer 4.0 for Unix at the Ripley's Believe It or Not!
museum
in San Francisco" because of skepticism
from those who suspected IE for Unix was vaporware
. It was further reported that versions for "HP-UX
, IBM AIX
, and Irix
" were planned. (Note that at the time MainWin XDE 3.0 was only available for the "Solaris SPARC
2.51 platform", but MainWin XDE 2.1 was "available on Solaris SPARC 2.51, Solaris Intel 5.5.1, SunOS
4.1.4, Irix 5.3, Irix 6.2, HP UX 10.2 and IBM AIX 4.1.5.") On March 4, 1998 IE 4.0 for Unix on Solaris released. Later that year a version for HP-UX was released.
, Windows Desktop Update
, Channels
, Frontpage Express, Netmeeting, NetShow
, Web Publishing Wizard, Microsoft Chat
2.0 and Progressive Networks
Real Player. Outlook Express 4
replaced Internet Mail and News.
Other new features including Dynamic HTML
, inline PNG, Favicon
s, a parental rating system, and the ability to 'subscribe' to a website in favorites, where it would notify the user of an update. Stephen Reid of PC Pro
noted in his review:
Internet Explorer
4.0's optional Windows Desktop Update
that allows the user to add HTML content to the desktop
, along with some other features. This functionality was intended to be installed on the then-current Windows 95
operating system, and later Windows 98
. Active Desktop placed a number of "channels" on the user's computer desktop
that provided continually-updated information, such as news headlines and stock quotes, without requiring the user to open a Web browser
.
type which allows synchronizing website content and viewing it offline. It makes use of the Channel Definition Format
, which is a way of defining a website's content and structure. Each country had different channels, so picking a country during the installation of IE 4 (and therefore Windows 98
) was important. Channels could be displayed in a Channel Bar and made heavy use of Dynamic HTML
.
features later introduced with the Windows 98
operating system
for older versions of Microsoft Windows
. The Windows Desktop Update also added the ability to create desk-bands like the quicklaunch bar. It also updated the Windows file manager, explorer.exe (also a shell), to be more modular and extensible.
to allow software developer
s to easily add web browsing functionality to their own applications. It presents a COM
interface for accessing and editing web pages in any COM-supported environment, like C++
and .NET
. For instance, a web browser control can be added to a C++ program and Trident can then be used to access the page currently displayed in the web browser and retrieve element values. Events from the web browser control can also be captured. Trident functionality becomes available by connecting the file mshtml.dll to the software project.
module designed as a plugin for Internet Explorer 4.0, and provides added functionality. Most BHOs are loaded once by each new instance of Internet Explorer.
, Windows 98
, Windows NT 3.x
, and Windows NT 4.0
(Service Pack 3 or later). Version 4.0 was included in the first release of Windows 98, although the second edition included IE5. However, major OS releases after Win 98 SE, such as Windows 2000
, supported Internet Explorer 5
(or higher). Internet Explorer also supported HP-UX, Solaris, and Mac OS. IE4 supported 68k
Macs, although this was dropped in Internet Explorer 4.5.
or above, 16Mb of RAM, 11Mb of disk space (minimum for install).
IE 4.5 did not support 68k Macs.
(SGC). 256-bit encryption would not become available in IE for nearly 10 years until the Windows Vista
version of Internet Explorer 7
.
128-bit encryption was available or included for these versions:
If it was not possible to upgrade to 128-bit, then 40-bit (SGC) was standard.
Shdocvw.dll version numbers plus related notes. major version.minor version.build number.sub-build number
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, primarily for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, but also with versions available for Apple Mac OS, Solaris, and HP-UX
HP-UX
HP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
and marketed as "The Web the Way You Want It".
It was one of the main participants of the first browser war. Its distribution methods and Windows integration were involved in United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft was a set of civil actions filed against Microsoft Corporation pursuant to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Section 1 and 2 on May 8, 1998 by the United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states. Joel I. Klein was the lead prosecutor...
. It was superseded by Microsoft Internet Explorer 5
Internet Explorer 5
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 was a graphical web browser released in March 1999 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but initially with versions available for Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. It was one of the main participants of the first browser war...
in March 1999. Version 4.0 was included with Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
OEM Service Release 2.5 and 4.01 in Windows 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
, in addition the Internet Explorer layout engine Trident
Trident (layout engine)
Trident is the name of the layout engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer.It was first introduced with the release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 in October 1997; it has been steadily upgraded and remains in use today...
was introduced. It attained just over 60% market share by March 1999 when IE5
Internet Explorer 5
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 was a graphical web browser released in March 1999 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but initially with versions available for Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. It was one of the main participants of the first browser war...
was released. In August 2001 when Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems...
was released, IE4.x had dropped to 7% market share and IE5 had increased to 80%. IE4 market share dropped under 1% by 2004.
Internet Explorer 4 is no longer available for download from Microsoft. However, archive 16-bit and 32-bit versions are publicly available on the Evolt.org browser archive. These include Internet Explorer 4.0 (16-bit), Internet Explorer 4.01 (32-bit), Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1 (32-bit), and Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2 (32-bit). You can upgrade to a later version of IE such as 5 or 6.
Overview
The Internet Explorer 4 Beta was released in April 1997, and Beta in July that year. Internet Explorer 4 was released to the public in September, 1997 and deepened the level of integration between the web browser and the underlying operating system. Installing version 4 on a Windows 95 or Windows NT 4 machine and choosing "Windows Desktop UpdateWindows Desktop Update
Microsoft's Windows Desktop Update was an optional feature included with Internet Explorer 4 , which introduced several updated shell features to the Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 operating systems...
" would result in the traditional Windows Explorer being replaced by a version more akin to a web browser interface, as well as the Windows desktop itself being web-enabled via Active Desktop
Active Desktop
Active Desktop was a feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0's optional Windows Desktop Update that allows the user to add HTML content to the desktop, along with some other features. This function was intended to be installed on the then-current Windows 95 operating system...
. The integration with Windows, however, was subject to numerous packaging criticisms (see United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft was a set of civil actions filed against Microsoft Corporation pursuant to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Section 1 and 2 on May 8, 1998 by the United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states. Joel I. Klein was the lead prosecutor...
). This option was no longer available with the installers for later versions of Internet Explorer but was not removed from the system if already installed. Internet Explorer 4 introduced support for Group Policy
Group Policy
Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems. Group Policy is a set of rules that control the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides the centralized management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and...
, allowing companies to configure and lock down many aspects of the browser's configuration. Internet Mail and News was replaced with Outlook Express
Outlook Express
Outlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9...
, and Microsoft Chat
Microsoft Chat
Windows Chat is a simple LAN-based text chatting program included in the Windows NT-line of operating systems, including Windows NT 3.x, 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It utilizes the NetBIOS session service and NetDDE. Users can chat with each other over a LAN or the...
and an improved NetMeeting were also included. This version also was included with Windows 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
. Version 4.5 (only for Mac) dropped support for 68k
68k
The Motorola 680x0/m68000/68000 is a family of 32-bit CISC microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and were the primary competitors of Intel's x86 microprocessors...
Macs, but offered new features such as easier 128-bit encryption. The last non-Mac version, was 4.0 Service Pack 2, however. Uninstalling IE4 became the subject of concern to some users and was a point of contention in later lawsuits (see Removal of Internet Explorer
Removal of Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer removal has changed over its version history, but the nature of many of its upgrades and installation methods have been a matter of public interest. The first version to be included was version 2 with Windows 95 in late 1996...
and United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft was a set of civil actions filed against Microsoft Corporation pursuant to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Section 1 and 2 on May 8, 1998 by the United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states. Joel I. Klein was the lead prosecutor...
.)
Internet Explorer version 4.0 for Macintosh
On January 6, 1998, at the Macworld Expo in San FranciscoSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Microsoft announced the release of the final version of Internet Explorer version 4.0 for Macintosh. Version 4 included support for offline browsing, Dynamic HTML
Dynamic HTML
Dynamic HTML, or DHTML, is an umbrella term for a collection of technologies used together to create interactive and animated web sites by using a combination of a static markup language , a client-side scripting language , a presentation definition language , and the Document Object Model.DHTML...
, a new faster Java virtual machine
Java Virtual Machine
A Java virtual machine is a virtual machine capable of executing Java bytecode. It is the code execution component of the Java software platform. Sun Microsystems stated that there are over 4.5 billion JVM-enabled devices.-Overview:...
and Security Zones that allow users or administrators to limit access to certain types of web content depending on which zone (for example Intranet or Internet) the content was coming from. At the same event, Apple announced the release of Mac OS 8.1
Mac OS 8
Mac OS 8 is an operating system that was released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It represented the largest overhaul of the Mac OS since the release of System 7, some six years previously. It puts more emphasis on color than previous operating systems...
, which would be bundled with IE4.
At the following year's San Francisco Macworld Expo on January 9, 1999, Microsoft announced the release of Internet Explorer 4.5 Macintosh Edition. This new version, which dropped 68K processor support, introduced Form AutoFill, Print Preview, the Page Holder pane which let a user hold a page of links on one side of the screen that opened pages in the right hand and support for Mac OS technology like Sherlock
Sherlock (software)
Sherlock, named after Sherlock Holmes, was a file and web search tool created by Apple Inc. for the Mac OS, introduced with Mac OS 8.5 as an extension of the Mac OS Finder's file searching capabilities. Like its predecessor, it can search for local files and file contents, which it does using the...
.
Internet Explorer 4 for Unix
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Ripley's Believe It or Not! is a franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims...
museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in San Francisco" because of skepticism
Skepticism
Skepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere...
from those who suspected IE for Unix was vaporware
Vaporware
Vaporware is a term in the computer industry that describes a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually released nor officially canceled. Vaporware is also a term sometimes used to describe events that are announced or predicted,...
. It was further reported that versions for "HP-UX
HP-UX
HP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
, IBM AIX
AIX operating system
AIX AIX AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive, pronounced "a i ex" is a series of proprietary Unix operating systems developed and sold by IBM for several of its computer platforms...
, and Irix
IRIX
IRIX is a computer operating system developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to run natively on their 32- and 64-bit MIPS architecture workstations and servers. It was based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. IRIX was the first operating system to include the XFS file system.The last major version...
" were planned. (Note that at the time MainWin XDE 3.0 was only available for the "Solaris SPARC
SPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....
2.51 platform", but MainWin XDE 2.1 was "available on Solaris SPARC 2.51, Solaris Intel 5.5.1, SunOS
SunOS
SunOS is a version of the Unix operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The SunOS name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4 of SunOS...
4.1.4, Irix 5.3, Irix 6.2, HP UX 10.2 and IBM AIX 4.1.5.") On March 4, 1998 IE 4.0 for Unix on Solaris released. Later that year a version for HP-UX was released.
Features, technology, and integrated software
Internet Explorer 4 came with Active DesktopActive Desktop
Active Desktop was a feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0's optional Windows Desktop Update that allows the user to add HTML content to the desktop, along with some other features. This function was intended to be installed on the then-current Windows 95 operating system...
, Windows Desktop Update
Windows Desktop Update
Microsoft's Windows Desktop Update was an optional feature included with Internet Explorer 4 , which introduced several updated shell features to the Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 operating systems...
, Channels
Active Channel
Active Channel is a website type which was introduced by Internet Explorer 4.0 in 1997. It allows synchronizing website content and viewing it offline...
, Frontpage Express, Netmeeting, NetShow
Windows Media Station
Windows Media Station file is the session description file for Microsoft's Media Stream Broadcast protocol.Introduced with Microsoft NetShow 2.0, the file extension .NSC stands for NetShow Channel, the former name of the service...
, Web Publishing Wizard, Microsoft Chat
Microsoft Chat
Windows Chat is a simple LAN-based text chatting program included in the Windows NT-line of operating systems, including Windows NT 3.x, 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It utilizes the NetBIOS session service and NetDDE. Users can chat with each other over a LAN or the...
2.0 and Progressive Networks
RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The company is the creator of RealAudio, a compressed audio format; RealVideo, a compressed video format; RealPlayer, a media player; RealDownloader, a download...
Real Player. Outlook Express 4
Outlook Express
Outlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9...
replaced Internet Mail and News.
Other new features including Dynamic HTML
Dynamic HTML
Dynamic HTML, or DHTML, is an umbrella term for a collection of technologies used together to create interactive and animated web sites by using a combination of a static markup language , a client-side scripting language , a presentation definition language , and the Document Object Model.DHTML...
, inline PNG, Favicon
Favicon
A favicon , also known as a shortcut icon, Web site icon, URL icon, or bookmark icon, is a file containing one small icons, most commonly 16×16 pixels, associated with a particular Web site or Web page...
s, a parental rating system, and the ability to 'subscribe' to a website in favorites, where it would notify the user of an update. Stephen Reid of PC Pro
PC Pro
PC Pro is one of several computer magazines published monthly in the United Kingdom by Dennis Publishing. PC Pro also licenses individual articles for republication in various countries around the world - and some articles are translated into local languages...
noted in his review:
Bundled and/or integrated software
- Microsoft ChatMicrosoft ChatWindows Chat is a simple LAN-based text chatting program included in the Windows NT-line of operating systems, including Windows NT 3.x, 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It utilizes the NetBIOS session service and NetDDE. Users can chat with each other over a LAN or the...
2.0 is a simple text chattingOnline chatOnline chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, that offers an instantaneous transmission of text-based messages from sender to receiver, hence the delay for visual access to the sent message shall not hamper the flow of communications in any of the directions...
program included in the Windows NTWindows NTWindows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
-line of operating system, including Windows NT 3.x, Windows XPWindows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
and Windows Server 2003Windows Server 2003Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...
. It utilizes NetBIOS session service and NetDDE. - Outlook ExpressOutlook ExpressOutlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9...
4.0 is the successor of Microsoft Internet Mail and NewsMicrosoft Internet Mail and NewsMicrosoft Internet Mail and News is a freeware e-mail and news client and ancestor of Outlook Express. The version 1.0 was released in 1996 following the Internet Explorer 3.0 release....
, an early e-mail client add-on for Internet Explorer 3Internet Explorer 3Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 is a graphical web browser released on August 13, 1996 by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and on January 8, 1997 for Apple Mac OS . It began serious competition against Netscape Navigator in the first Browser war...
. Internet Mail and News handled only plain textPlain textIn computing, plain text is the contents of an ordinary sequential file readable as textual material without much processing, usually opposed to formatted text....
and rich text (RTFRich Text FormatThe Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
) e-mail, it lacked HTML e-mailHTML e-mailHTML email is the use of a subset of HTML to provide formatting and semantic markup capabilities in email that are not available with plain text.Most graphical email clients support HTML email, and many default to it...
. Despite the calling it 4.0, it was its debut. - NetMeeting is a VoIP and multi-point videoconferencingVideoconferencingVideoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
client that uses the H.323H.323H.323 is a recommendation from the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector that defines the protocols to provide audio-visual communication sessions on any packet network...
protocol for video and audio conferencing. - FrontPage Express 2.0 was a stripped-down version of Microsoft FrontpageMicrosoft FrontPageMicrosoft FrontPage was a WYSIWYG HTML editor and web site administration tool from Microsoft for the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. It was branded as part of the Microsoft Office suite from 1997 to 2003...
. It was bundled with IE4, but was also available for free, and could be downloaded from online repositories. - Real Player was a streaming media player made by Progressive Networks (later called RealNetworksRealNetworksRealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The company is the creator of RealAudio, a compressed audio format; RealVideo, a compressed video format; RealPlayer, a media player; RealDownloader, a download...
). The first version of RealPlayer was introduced in April 1995 as RealAudio Player and was one of the first media players capable of streaming mediaStreaming mediaStreaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
over the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Active Desktop
Active Desktop is a feature of MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
4.0's optional Windows Desktop Update
Windows Desktop Update
Microsoft's Windows Desktop Update was an optional feature included with Internet Explorer 4 , which introduced several updated shell features to the Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 operating systems...
that allows the user to add HTML content to the desktop
Desktop metaphor
The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
, along with some other features. This functionality was intended to be installed on the then-current Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
operating system, and later Windows 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
. Active Desktop placed a number of "channels" on the user's computer desktop
Desktop metaphor
The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
that provided continually-updated information, such as news headlines and stock quotes, without requiring the user to open a Web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
.
Channels
Active Channel is a websiteWebsite
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
type which allows synchronizing website content and viewing it offline. It makes use of the Channel Definition Format
Channel Definition Format
Channel Definition Format is an XML file format used in conjunction with Microsoft Active Channel and Smart Offline Favorites technologies...
, which is a way of defining a website's content and structure. Each country had different channels, so picking a country during the installation of IE 4 (and therefore Windows 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
) was important. Channels could be displayed in a Channel Bar and made heavy use of Dynamic HTML
Dynamic HTML
Dynamic HTML, or DHTML, is an umbrella term for a collection of technologies used together to create interactive and animated web sites by using a combination of a static markup language , a client-side scripting language , a presentation definition language , and the Document Object Model.DHTML...
.
Windows Desktop Update
Windows Desktop Update was an optional feature included with Internet Explorer 4, which provided several updated shellShell (computing)
A shell is a piece of software that provides an interface for users of an operating system which provides access to the services of a kernel. However, the term is also applied very loosely to applications and may include any software that is "built around" a particular component, such as web...
features later introduced with the Windows 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
for older versions of Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. The Windows Desktop Update also added the ability to create desk-bands like the quicklaunch bar. It also updated the Windows file manager, explorer.exe (also a shell), to be more modular and extensible.
Trident (MSHTML)
Trident (MSHTML) was a layout engine introduced with IE4. It was designed as a software componentComponent-based software engineering
Component-based software engineering is a branch of software engineering that emphasizes the separation of concerns in respect of the wide-ranging functionality available throughout a given software system...
to allow software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s to easily add web browsing functionality to their own applications. It presents a COM
Component Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
interface for accessing and editing web pages in any COM-supported environment, like C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
and .NET
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
. For instance, a web browser control can be added to a C++ program and Trident can then be used to access the page currently displayed in the web browser and retrieve element values. Events from the web browser control can also be captured. Trident functionality becomes available by connecting the file mshtml.dll to the software project.
Browser Helper Object
A Browser Helper Object (BHO) is a DLLLibrary (computer science)
In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....
module designed as a plugin for Internet Explorer 4.0, and provides added functionality. Most BHOs are loaded once by each new instance of Internet Explorer.
Adoption capability overview
Internet Explorer 4.0 had support for Windows 3.1, Windows 95Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
, Windows 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
, Windows NT 3.x
Windows NT 3.x
Windows NT 3.x can refer to either an individual or all of the following versions of Microsoft Windows:*Windows NT 3.1*Windows NT 3.5*Windows NT 3.51...
, and Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...
(Service Pack 3 or later). Version 4.0 was included in the first release of Windows 98, although the second edition included IE5. However, major OS releases after Win 98 SE, such as Windows 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
, supported Internet Explorer 5
Internet Explorer 5
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 was a graphical web browser released in March 1999 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but initially with versions available for Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. It was one of the main participants of the first browser war...
(or higher). Internet Explorer also supported HP-UX, Solaris, and Mac OS. IE4 supported 68k
68k
The Motorola 680x0/m68000/68000 is a family of 32-bit CISC microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and were the primary competitors of Intel's x86 microprocessors...
Macs, although this was dropped in Internet Explorer 4.5.
PC
For PC, Initially Windows 95Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
or above, 16Mb of RAM, 11Mb of disk space (minimum for install).
Mac
System Requirements for initial release of 4.0 for Mac:- Macintosh with 68030 or higher processor
- System 7.1 or higher
- 8 MB of RAM with virtual memoryVirtual memoryIn computing, virtual memory is a memory management technique developed for multitasking kernels. This technique virtualizes a computer architecture's various forms of computer data storage , allowing a program to be designed as though there is only one kind of memory, "virtual" memory, which...
on (12Mb recommended) - 12 MB of hard diskHard diskA hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
space for IE4 and 8.5 MB of hard disk space for Java VM. - Open TransportOpen TransportOpen Transport was the name given by Apple Inc. to their implementation of the Unix-originated System V STREAMS. Based on code licensed from Mentat's Portable Streams product, Open Transport was built to provide the Mac OS with a modern TCP/IP implementation, replacing MacTCP...
1.1.1 or higher or MacTCPMacTCPMacTCP was the standard TCP/IP implementation for the Macintosh operating system through version 7.5.1. It was the first application-independent implementation of a TCP stack for a non-Unix platform and predates Winsock by over 5 years...
2.0.6 or, Config PPP or similar PPP connection software (Control Panel) with PPP (Extension).
IE 4.5 did not support 68k Macs.
Encryption
Internet Explorer 4 supported 40-bit and later 128-bit encryption through an add-on, using Server Gated CryptographyServer gated cryptography
Server Gated Cryptography was created in response to United States federal legislation on the export of strong cryptography in the 1990s....
(SGC). 256-bit encryption would not become available in IE for nearly 10 years until the Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
version of Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 7
Windows Internet Explorer 7 is a web browser released by Microsoft in October 2006. Internet Explorer 7 is part of a long line of versions of Internet Explorer and was the first major update to the browser in more than 5 years...
.
128-bit encryption was available or included for these versions:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 for Macintosh
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 128-Bit Edition
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 for Unix
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 for Macintosh
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 128-Bit Edition
If it was not possible to upgrade to 128-bit, then 40-bit (SGC) was standard.
Overview
Mac OS:- Version 4.0 – January 6, 1998
- Version 4.5 – January 5, 1999
| Major version | Minor version | Release date | Significant changes | Shipped with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version 4 | 4.0 Beta 1 | April 1997 | Improved support of CSS and Microsoft DOM. | |
| 4.0 Beta 2 | July 1997 | Improved support of HTML and CSS. | ||
| 4.0 | September 1997 | Improved support of HTML and CSS. | Windows 95 OSR 2.5 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
|
| 4.01 | November 18, 1997 | Bug fix release. | Windows 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... |
|
Shdocvw.dll version numbers plus related notes. major version.minor version.build number.sub-build number
- 4.71.544 Internet Explorer 4.0 Platform Preview 1.0 (PP1)
- 4.71.1008.3 Internet Explorer 4.0 Platform Preview 2.0 (PP2)
- 4.71.1712.6 Internet Explorer 4.0
- 4.72.2106.8 Internet Explorer 4.01
- 4.72.3110.8 Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1 (Windows 98)
- 4.72.3612.1713 Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2
Comparison of Features across platforms
| Feature | Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 | Windows 3.x, NT 3.5 | Mac OS | Unix |
| Active Desktop | ||||
| Autocomplete | ||||
| Active Channel | ||||
| Microsoft Chat 2.x | ||||
| Dynamic HTML | ||||
| DirectX | ||||
| Explorer bars | ||||
| FrontPage Express | ||||
| Internet Connection | ||||
| Internet Mail and News | ||||
| Javascript | ||||
| NetMeeting | ||||
| NetShow | ||||
| Outlook Express | ||||
| Personal Web Server | ||||
| RealAudio | ||||
| Security Zones | ||||
| Shockwave | ||||
| TrueType Fonts | ||||
| Wallet | ||||
| Web Publishing Wizard | ||||
| Source: | ||||
See also
- History of the InternetHistory of the InternetThe history of the Internet starts in the 1950s and 1960s with the development of computers. This began with point-to-point communication between mainframe computers and terminals, expanded to point-to-point connections between computers and then early research into packet switching...
- Microsoft v. United States
- Comparison of web browsersComparison of web browsersThe following tables compare general and technical information for a number of web browsers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information.-Historical web browsers:...
- Browser timelineBrowser timelineA time line of web browsers from the early 1990s to the present. Prior to browsers, many technologies and systems existed for information viewing and transmission...
External links
- Internet Explorer Architecture
- Internet Explorer Community — The official Microsoft Internet Explorer Community
- Internet Explorer History