Internet Explorer
| Windows Internet Explorer logo | |
 Internet Explorer 6 under Windows XP | |
| Developer(s) | Microsoft, Spyglass |
|---|---|
| Stable release | |
| Preview release | |
| Operating system | Windows |
| Type | Web browser |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | Internet Explorer |
Internet Explorer, abbreviated IE or MSIE, is a proprietary graphical web browser made by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. It has been the most widely-used web browser since 1999.
Though released in 1995 as part of Microsoft Plus!, Internet Explorer did not become included as the default browser for Microsoft Windows until the release of Windows 95 OSR1 in 1996. The last major upgrade to Internet Explorer, 6.0 SV1[1], is included in Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 only. Version 7 of Internet Explorer is currently under development; Beta versions have been released on a regular basis, most recently build 5335.5 released March 20 2006. Also, Build 5342.2 of Internet Explorer 7 was released bundled with Build 5342 of Windows Vista on March 24, 2006. Versions of Internet Explorer prior to 6.0 SV1 are also available as a separate download for versions of Windows up to Windows XP.
Internet Explorer was also developed for several other operating systems: Internet Explorer for Mac and Internet Explorer for UNIX (the latter for use through the X Window System on Solaris and HP-UX). All of these versions have ceased active development.
Internet Explorer is currently known as Microsoft Internet Explorer, but the name will change to Windows Internet Explorer with the release of Internet Explorer 7.
History
Internet Explorer is derived from Spyglass Mosaic, an early commercial web browser. In 1995, Spyglass Mosaic was licensed by Microsoft in an arrangement under which Spyglass would receive a quarterly fee plus a percentage of Microsoft's revenues for the software. Although bearing a name similar to NCSA Mosaic, which was the first widely used browser, Spyglass Mosaic was relatively unknown in its day and did not use any of the NCSA Mosaic source code[2].
Internet Explorer was not widely used until the release of version 3, when Internet Explorer was integrated into Windows Explorer and other core parts of Windows. This integration, however, was subject to numerous criticisms (see United States v. Microsoft).
Internet Explorer 3 was the first major browser with CSS support. Released on August 13 1996, it introduced support for ActiveX controls, Java applets, inline multimedia, and the PICS system for content metadata. These improvements were significant, compared to its main competitor at the time, Netscape Navigator. Version 3 also came bundled with Internet Mail and News, NetMeeting, and an early version of the Windows Address Book, and was itself included with Windows 95 OSR 2. Version 3 proved to be the first popular version of Internet Explorer, which brought with it increased scrutiny. In the months following its release, a number of security and privacy vulnerabilities were being found by researchers and hackers.
Version 4, released in September 1997, deepened the level of integration between the web browser and the underlying operating system. Installing version 4 on a Windows 95 machine 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. 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 5, launched on March 18 1999, and subsequently included with Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows 2000, and bundled with Office 2000, was another significant release that supported bi-directional text, ruby characters, XML, XSL and the ability to save web pages in MHTML format. Version 5.5 followed in July 2000, improving its print preview capabilities, CSS and HTML standards support, and developer API's; this version was bundled with Windows Me.
Version 6 was released on August 27 2001, a few weeks before Windows XP. This version included DHTML enhancements, content restricted inline frames, and better support of CSS level 1, DOM level 1 and SMIL 2.0. The MSXML engine was also updated to version 3.0. Other new features included a new version of the IEAK, Media bar, Windows Messenger integration, fault collection, automatic image resizing, P3P, and a new look-and-feel that was in line with the "Luna" visual style of Windows XP.
On February 15 2005, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced that the new version of its browser will be released at the RSA Conference 2005 in San Francisco [2]. The decision to update the browser occurred in the wake of a decline in the use of Internet Explorer for the first time. Microsoft also stated that Internet Explorer 7 will only be available for Windows XP SP2 and later, including Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows Vista. The first beta version of the browser was released on July 27 2005 for technical testing, and a first public preview version of Internet Explorer 7 (Beta 2 preview: Pre-Beta 2 version) was released on January 31 2006. Version 7 is intended to defend users from phishing as well as deceptive or malicious software, and also features full user control of ActiveX, and better security framework. It includes important bug fixes, enhancements to support the web standards, improvements in HTML 4.01/CSS 2, Tabbed Browsing, Tab preview and management, and web feeds reader.
Features
Internet Explorer has been designed to view the broadest range of web pages and to provide certain features within the operating system, including Windows Update. During the heydays of the historic browser wars, Internet Explorer superseded Netscape by supporting many of the progressive features of the time.
Component architecture
The Component Object Model (COM) technology is used extensively in Internet Explorer. It allows third parties to add functionalities via Browser Helper Objects (BHO); and allows websites to offer rich content via ActiveX. As these objects have the same privileges as the browser itself (in certain situations), this raised concern over security. This issue was addressed in Internet Explorer 6.0 SV1, which provides an Add-on Manager for controlling ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects. Internet Explorer 7 provides a "No Add-Ons" version (Under Programs/Accessories/System Tools) to address this issue, as well.
Usability and accessibility
Since it is tightly integrated with the operating system, Internet Explorer makes use of the accessibility framework provided in Windows. Internet Explorer is also a user interface for FTP, with operations similar to that of Windows Explorer.
The ability to block popup windows was introduced with Internet Explorer 6.0, Service Pack 2.
Tabbed browsing can be added to Internet Explorer 6 by installing Microsoft's MSN Search Toolbar, and is natively supported as of Internet Explorer 7.
Security framework
Internet Explorer uses a zone-based security framework, which means that sites are grouped based upon certain conditions. It allows the restriction of broad areas of functionality, and also allows specific functions to be restricted.
Patches and updates to the browser are released periodically and made available through the Windows Update, as well as through Automatic Updates. Although security patches continue to be released for a range of platforms, most recent feature additions and security improvements are released for Windows XP only.
Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 2 provides Download Monitoring and Install Monitoring that user can choose to download, or not to download and, choose to install, or not to install Applications, Executables and Installations. This helps to prevent installation of malware. Executable files downloaded using Internet Explorer are marked by the operating system as being potentially unsafe, and will prompt the user to confirm they want to run the executable every time, until the user confirms the file is "safe".
Group Policy
Internet Explorer is fully configurable using Group Policy. Administrators of Windows Server domains can apply and enforce a variety of settings that affect the user interface (such as disabling menu items and individual configuration options), as well as underlying security features such as downloading of files, zone configuration, per-site settings, ActiveX control behavior, and others. Policy settings can be configured on a per-user and per-machine basis.
Standards support
Internet Explorer almost fully supports HTML 4.01, CSS Level 1, XML 1.0 and DOM Level 1, with minor implementation gaps. It partially supports CSS Level 2 and DOM Level 2, with some implementation gaps and conformance issues. It supports XHTML 1.0 to the extent that HTML 4.01 compatibility guidelines are followed. Internet Explorer uses DOCTYPE sniffing to choose between "quirks mode" (renders similarly to older versions of MSIE) and standards mode (renders closer to W3C's specifications) for HTML and CSS rendering. It fully supports XSLT 1.0 or the December 1998 Working Draft of XSL, depending on the version of MSXML (a dynamic link library) available. It also provides its own dialect of ECMAScript called JScript.
Proprietary extensions
Internet Explorer has introduced an array of proprietary extensions to many of the standards, including HTML, CSS and the DOM. This has resulted in a number of web pages that can only be viewed properly using Internet Explorer. Many view this as an example of what is called "embrace, extend and extinguish", a way to drive competitors out of business by forcing them to use proprietary technology that a company controls, resulting in vendor lock-in. Netscape Navigator up to version 4.7 was also responsible for massive proprietary extension of the core web standards, but was not criticized for it as much.
Version 7.0
Version 7.0 of Internet Explorer has been renamed to Windows Internet Explorer, as part of Microsoft's rebranding of component names that are included with Windows. Set to ship with Windows Vista, and as a separate download for Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, large amounts of the underlying architecture, including the rendering engine and security framework, have been completely overhauled. Partly as a result of these security enhancements, the browser will be a stand-alone application, rather than integrated with the Windows shell, and it will no longer be capable of acting as a file browser.
The Windows Vista version will incorporate additional security measures, most significantly "Protected Mode", whereby the browser runs in a sandbox with even lower rights than a limited user account software. As such, it can write to only the Temporary Internet Files folder and can not install start-up programs or change any configuration of the operating system. This is expected to increase the security of the system considerably.[3] However, the Windows XP version of Internet Explorer 7 will not feature "Protected Mode" operation. Security research agency Secunia reported an "Extremely critical" security vulnerability in the initial Beta 2 Preview of Internet Explorer 7, which was released in January 2006; however, the vulnerability does not affect the subsequent March release of the Beta 2 Preview. [4]
On January 31st 2006, Microsoft released a public preview build (Beta 2 preview: Pre-Beta 2 version) of Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (not for Windows Server 2003 SP 1) on their web site. It stated that more public preview builds (possibly Beta 2 in April) of Internet Explorer 7 will be released in first half of 2006, and final version will be released in second half of 2006.[5]. The pre beta build was refreshed on March 20 2006 to build 7.0.5335.5. In addition, at the MIX'06 conference, Bill Gates said that Microsoft is already working on the next two versions of IE after version 7.
New features and changes
- Internet Explorer is no longer integrated with the Windows Explorer shell for a better security. Local files typed in IE7 are opened using the Windows Explorer shell and Web sites typed in Windows Explorer shell are opened using IE7.
- Version 7 supports tabbed browsing, which has been a popular feature in competing web browsers for some time. In addition to this, there is a feature called "Quick Tabs", which displays a thumbnail preview of opened tabs, treating tabs like Exposé treats application windows. With this new feature, user can find, open, close, and refresh opened tabs easily.
- International Domain Names (IDN) support with anti-spoofing technology.
- A search box has been added to the top-right corner, to do fast searches using a search engine. MSN Search is the default[6], but additional providers may be added (Google, Altavista, Yahoo!, etc). Microsoft provides a list of common providers, but any web site can identify itself as having a search capability.[7]
- Long-awaited support for per-pixel alpha channel transparency in PNG images has been added.[8]
- Feed reader integration in Web feeds support is built in version 7.0. The feed reader is fully integrated with the browser, so that user can read web feeds (RSS or Atom) without an RSS reader. It also discovers web feeds automatically. Updates to web feeds can be retrieved when the web browser isn't running. The web feeds feature set is also available to third-party developers through API's, so that the list of subscribed feeds (as well as their current contents) can be used. [9]
- ActiveX Opt-In blocks ActiveX Control unless it allowed to be installed. This feature improves security from unverificable and vulnerable controls. ActiveX controls can be chosen to be installed on Information Bar. User can turn on and off ActiveX Contol by using Add-on Manager.
- A number of improvements to CSS, DOM and HTML support have been made. Microsoft's stated goal with version 7 was to fix the most significant "bugs" and areas which caused the most trouble for developers, and then improved coverage of the standards would come later.
- The well-known problem of having the right-hand portion of a web page cut off when the page is printed has been fixed. Page content can also be "shrunk" to fit more text on a single page. The revamped "Print Preview" interface will also let users drag the page margins around and see the results immediately.
- A "Zoom" selector has been added to the bottom-right corner of the user interface. Unlike the "Text size" feature, this will zoom the complete contents of the web page, allowing for easier reading on larger displays. Fonts are rendered at higher resolution.[10]
- ClearType can be enabled or disabled separately from the rest of the operating system.[11]
- The new "Phishing Filter" offers protection against phishing scams and other web sites that may be considered dangerous for a user to enter their personal information into. When enabled, every web site the user visits is checked against a master list of known phishing sites. If a site is listed, the user is informed. In light of the privacy implications of this feature, it is not enabled automatically; the user is asked when they start Internet Explorer 7 if they want it enabled.[12] Microsoft is working in conjunction with companies that specialize in identifying phishing schemes to ensure the list of known sites is accurate and quickly updated.[13]
- Address Bar and status bar appear in all windows including Pop-Up which helps to block malicious sites from disguising them as trusted sites. Also the address bar features a color code to visually indicate the trustworthiness of the page. The Address Bar turns red when a page, with invalid security certificate, is accessed. In case of sites not using any encryption, the address bar is white. And if the page uses high security certificate, the bar turns green. Modal windows such as dialog boxes are shown only when it's selected the tab that has generated it (the tab colour becomes orange).
- Unique dynamic Go/Refresh button. When you type an URL into the address bar the button changes from Refresh to Go and when you press Go (or keyboard Enter) the button changes from Go to Refresh. In this way the space taken by the toolbars is optimized and you have more space for the web pages.
- Fix My Settings checks at startup or when a setting is changed, if the current settings are unsafe and notify to the user. The user can also press a button in order to fix the settings to a safe state.
- Old protocols and technologies removed: Gopher, Telnet, the Channels (CDF), Scriptlets, DirectAnimation, XBM, etc.
Criticisms
Internet Explorer is subject to a relatively high volume of criticism. Much of this criticism is related to concerns about security: A notable portion of the widespread promulgation of spam, spyware, adware, and computer viruses across the Internet is known to be facilitated by exploitable bugs and flaws in the security architecture of Internet Explorer. Furthermore, a notable number of users and security experts have pointed out that Microsoft has not been sufficiently committed to fixing the browser's exploitable bugs in a timely manner, and has been ineffective in pushing those changes out to users. Several companies maintain databases of security vulnerabilities known to exist in Internet Explorer and for which no fixes have been published by Microsoft — as of June 2005, there were between 20 and 27 such vulnerabilities reported in Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP SP2, and 146 in Internet Explorer 6 for Windows 2000 SP4. As of 14 March 2006, Secunia reports 93 vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, 23 of which are unpatched [14]. In contrast, Mozilla Firefox, the main competitor to Internet Explorer, reports only 27 security patches, of which 2 remain unpatched [15]. Opera, another competitor to Internet Explorer, has 13 vulnerabilities and none of them remain unpatched. [16]
Other criticisms, mostly coming from technically proficient users and developers of websites and browser-based software applications, concern Internet Explorer's support of open standards, because the browser often uses proprietary extensions to achieve similar functionality. Internet Explorer supports, to some degree, a number of standardized technologies, but has implementation gaps and conformance failures — some minor, some not — that have led to criticism from an increasing number of developers. The increase is attributable, in large part, to the fact that competing browsers that offer relatively thorough, standards-compliant implementations are becoming more widely used. Internet Explorer's ubiquity, in spite of its perceived inferiority in this area, frustrates developers who want to write standards-compliant, cross-browser code. It can also prevent widespread adoption of new technologies. Web developers must work with the least advanced technology across all browsers they wish to support, and Internet Explorer is often criticized for often having the least advanced support. For a long-standing concrete example, see Internet Explorer's poor PNG transparency support.
Market adoption
Usage share
The adoption rate of Internet Explorer seems to be closely related to that of Microsoft Windows, as it is the default web browser that comes with Windows. Since the integration of Internet Explorer 2.0 with Windows 95 OSR 1 in 1996, and especially after version 4.0's release, the adoption was greatly accelerated: from below 20% in 1996 to about 40% in 1998 and over 80% in 2000. This effect, however, has recently been dubbed the "Microsoft monoculture", by analogy to the problems associated with lack of biodiversity in an ecosystem. By 2002, Internet Explorer had almost completely superseded its main rival Netscape and dominated the market.
After having fought and won the browser wars of the late 1990s, Internet Explorer began to see its usage share shrink. Having attained a peak of about 96% in 2002, it has since been in a steady decline. Statistics indicate the current most significant competition comes from Gecko-based browsers, in particular Mozilla Firefox.
Nevertheless, Internet Explorer remains the dominant web browser, with a global usage share of around 85% (based on statistics reference). Usage is higher in Asia and lower in Europe. For example, the share is around 94% in Japan, and around 70% in Germany.[17]
Industry adoption
ActiveX is used by many public websites and web applications, including eBay. Similarly, Browser Helper Objects are also used by many search engine companies and third parties for creating add-ons that access their services, for example, search engine toolbars. Because of the use of COM, it is possible to include web-browsing functionality in third-party applications. Hence, there are a number of Internet Explorer shells, and a number of content-centric applications like RealPlayer also use Internet Explorer's web browsing module for viewing web pages within the applications.
"Standalone" Internet Explorer
While it is not officially possible to keep multiple versions of Internet Explorer on the same machine, some hackers (Joe Maddalone, Ryan Parman, et al.) successfully separated several versions of Internet Explorer making them standalone applications. These were referred as "standalone" IEs and included versions 3.0 to 5.5 SP2.
- Multiple IEs In Windows Web Design — The web developer Joe Maddalone who found the solution.
- Skyzyx.com - Standalone Internet Explorer — The web developer Ryan Parman who made the customized browsers files available.
- Multiple Explorers — Downloads of all the versions
Microsoft has discontinued standalone installers for Internet Explorer to the general public. However, a blogger/web developer/programmer named Liew Cheon Fong has posted a procedure for downloading the complete install package.
Be aware that unlike previous standalone versions of IE, running IE7 in standalone alongside a normal installation of IE6 may cause severe problems when using IE6 thereafter, owing to the insertion of at least one registry key. Some users have been unable to fix the resulting problems once IE7 has been run. It may be unwise to attempt running IE7 in standalone mode if you are not prepared for the possible consequences. See Jon Galloway's script for running IE7 more safely:
Removal
The idea of removing Internet Explorer from a Windows system was first proposed during the United States v. Microsoft case. Critics felt that users should have the right to uninstall Internet Explorer freely just like any other application software. One of Microsoft's arguments during the trial was that removing Internet Explorer from Windows may result in system instability.
An Australian computer scientist Shane Brooks demonstrated that Windows 98 could in fact run with IE files removed[3]. Brooks went on to develop software designed to customize Windows versions by removing "undesired components", which is known as 98lite. He later created XPLite to support NT based operating systems. Both of these pieces of software can remove IE after the installation of the operating system.
There are a few popular methods for removing IE from a copy of the Windows install disc so it never touches the user's hard drive. A method developed by Fred Vorck involves the manual removal of IE from installation discs. nLite, on the other hand, is an automated program that allows users to exclude IE and many other Windows components from installation as desired.
It is also not possible to run Microsoft's Windows Update with any other browser because of its use of ActiveX, therefore removing Internet Explorer will cause this to stop working.
Footnotes
- ^ Microsoft to abandon standalone IE, May 12 2005.
- ^ Some users have noted that Internet Explorer 7's default search engine appears to be Google or Yahoo; this is because the default search provider setting is inherited from Internet Explorer 6's settings, which various search engine toolbars override to provide search capabilities on the address bar.
- ^ Gates Highlights Progress on Security, Outlines Next Steps for Continued Innovation, May 12 2005.
- ^ IE7 Platforms and Outlook Express, May 12 2005.
References
- ^ a b SV1 stands for "Security Version 1", referring to the set of security enhancements made for that release.[1] This version of Internet Explorer is more popularly known as IE6 SP2, given that it is included with Windows XP Service Pack 2, but this can lead to confusion when discussing Windows Server 2003, which includes the same functionality in the SP1 update to that operating system.
- ^
Eric Sink (2005-05-12). "Memoirs From the Browser Wars". Retrieved 2006-03-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^
"U.S. v. Microsoft: Court's Findings of Fact". United States Department of Justice. 2005-11-05. Retrieved 2005-05-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link).
- "Microsoft Windows Family Home Page". Windows History: Internet Explorer History. Retrieved May 12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Index DOT Html and Index DOT Css". Browser History: Windows Internet Explorer. Retrieved May 12.
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See also
External links
- Internet Explorer Home
- IEBlog — The weblog of the Internet Explorer team
- Channel9 Wiki: InternetExplorer — The wiki for Internet Explorer
- Internet Explorer Community — The official Microsoft Internet Explorer Community
- How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 6 — A Microsoft support article for pre-XP versions of Windows
- Secunia Vulnerability Report for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x
- Old Version of Internet Explorer
- Internet Explorer History
- Remove IE from Windows 2000 at install — A guide to burning IE-free Windows installer discs
- nLite — A program that disables installation of specified Windows components, including IE
- Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview release notes
