History of Internet Explorer

The following is a history of the Internet Explorer graphical web browser from Microsoft developed over 8 major software versions including 1.0 (1995), 2.0 (1995), 3.0 (1996), 4.0 (1997), 5.0 (1999), 6.0 (2001), 7.0 (2006), and 8.0 (2008). Internet Explorer has supported Microsoft Windows, but some versions also had a Apple Macintosh version, see Internet Explorer for Mac. For the UNIX version, see Internet Explorer for UNIX

1994-1997: Beginnings & Spyglass

The first Internet Explorer was derived from Spyglass Mosaic. The original Mosaic came from NCSA, but since NCSA was a public entity it relied on Spyglass as its commercial licensing partner. Spyglass in turn delivered two versions of the Mosaic browser to Microsoft, one wholly based on the NCSA source code, and another engineered from scratch but conceptually modeled on the NCSA browser. Internet Explorer was initially built using the Spyglass, not the NCSA, source code [ [http://biztech.ericsink.com/Browser_Wars.html Memoirs From the Browser Wars] , May 12, 2005 In 1995] The license to Microsoft provided Spyglass (and thus NCSA) with a quarterly fee plus a percentage of Microsoft's revenues for the software.

The browser was then modified and released as Internet Explorer. Microsoft originally released Internet Explorer 1.0 in August 1995 in two packages: at retail in Microsoft Plus! add-on for Windows 95 and via the simultaneous OEM release of Windows 95. Version 1.5 was released several months later for Windows NT, with support for basic table rendering, an important early web standard. Version 2.0 was released for both Windows 95 and Windows NT in November 1995, featuring support for SSL, cookies, VRML, and Internet newsgroups. Version 2.0 was also released for the Macintosh and Windows 3.1 in April 1996. Version 2 was also included in Microsoft's "Internet Starter Kit for Windows 95" in early 1996, which retailed for 19.99 USD and included how-to book and 30 days of internet accesses on MSN among other features. [ [http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1996/apr96/iemompr.mspx Microsoft Internet Explorer Web Browser Available on All Major Platforms, Offers Broadest International Support ] ] pquote|Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 adds many new features which are great for HTML authors and demonstrates our accelerating commitment to W3C HTML standards.|Microsoft (1996)| [ http://www.citycat.ru/doc/HTML/IExplorer.30/html_toc.htm MS IE3 release document archive] Internet Explorer 3.0 was released free of charge in August 1996 by bundling it with Windows 95, another OEM release. Microsoft thus made no direct revenues on IE and was liable to pay Spyglass only the minimum quarterly fee. In 1997, Spyglass threatened Microsoft with a contractual audit, in response to which Microsoft settled for US $8 million. [cite web
url=http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=16683&DisplayTab=Article
title=Microsoft and Spyglass kiss and make up
date=January 22 1997
accessdate=2007-02-25
author=Paul Thurrott
work=Windows IT Pro
publisher=Penton Media Inc.] Version 3 included Internet Mail and News 1.0 and the Windows Address Book. It also brought the browser much closer to the bar that had been set by Netscape, including the support of Netscape's plugins technology (NPAPI), ActiveX, frames, and a reverse-engineered version of JavaScript named JScript. Later, Microsoft NetMeeting and Media Player were integrated into the product and thus helper applications became not as necessary as they once were. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) were also introduced with version 3 of Internet Explorer.

1997-2001:The browser wars

Version 4 released in September 1997, was shipped with the latest beta version of Windows 98 and was modified to integrate more closely with Microsoft Windows. It included an option to enable "Active Desktop" which displayed World Wide Web content on the desktop itself and was updated automatically as the content changed. The user could select other pages for use as Active Desktops as well. "Active Channel" technology was also introduced to automatically obtain information updates from websites. The technology was based on an XML standard known as Channel Definition Format (CDF), which predated the currently used web syndication formats like RSS. This version was designed to work on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT, and could be downloaded from the Internet, free of charge. It supported Dynamic HTML (DHTML). Outlook Express 4.0 also came integrated into the browser and replaced the aging Microsoft Internet Mail & News product that was released with previous versions. Version 5 came out in March 1999, following Microsoft's release of Internet Explorer 5.0 Beta versions in late 1998 . Bi-directional text, ruby text and direct XML/XSLT support were included in this release, along with enhanced support for CSS Level 1 and 2. The actual release of Internet Explorer 5 happened in three stages. Firstly, a Developer Preview was released in June 1998 (5.0B1), and then a Public Preview was released in November 1998 (5.0B2). Then in March 1999 the final release was released (5.0). In September it was released with Windows 98. Version 5.0 was the last one to be released for Windows 3.1x or Windows NT 3.x. Internet Explorer 5.5 was later released for Windows Me in July 2000, and included many bug fixes and security patches. Version 5.5 was the last to have "Compatibility Mode", which allowed Internet Explorer 4 [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/197311/EN-US/ KB197311 ] to be run side by side with the 5.x. [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/237787 MS Article ID 237787 ] http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/historyofie.mspx MS History ] With IE6, there was a quirks mode that could be triggered to make it behave like IE5.5 [ http://www.satzansatz.de/cssd/quirksmode.html ] Version 6 was released with Windows XP in August 27, 2001. It mainly focused on privacy and security features, as they had become customer priorities. Microsoft implemented tools that support P3P, a technology under development by the W3C.

United States v. Microsoft

In a legal case brought by the US Department of Justice and twenty U.S. states, Microsoft was accused of breaking an earlier consent decree, by bundling Internet Explorer with its operating system software. The department took issue with Microsoft's contract with OEM computer manufacturers that bound the manufacturers to include Internet Explorer with the copies of Microsoft Windows they installed on systems they shipped. Allegedly, it would not allow the manufacturer to put an icon for any other web browser on the default desktop in place of Internet Explorer. Microsoft maintained that integration of its web browser into its operating system was in the interests of consumers.

Microsoft asserted in court that IE was integrated with Windows 98, and that Windows 98 could not be made to operate without it. Australian computer scientist Shane Brooks later demonstrated that Windows 98 could in fact run with IE files removed. [ [http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9903/09/removeie.idg/ How to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 98] , May 12, 2005] Brooks went on to develop software designed to customize Windows by removing "undesired components", which is now known as [http://www.litepc.com LitePC] . Microsoft has claimed that the software did not remove "all" components of Internet Explorer, leaving many dynamic link library files behind.

On April 3, 2000, Judge Jackson issued his "findings of fact" that Microsoft had abused its monopoly position by attempting to "dissuade Netscape from developing Navigator as a platform", that it "withheld crucial technical information", and attempted to reduce Navigator's usage share by "giving Internet Explorer away and rewarding firms that helped build its usage share" and "excluding Navigator from important distribution channels". [ [http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm U.S. v. Microsoft: Court's Findings of Fact] , May 12, 2005]

Jackson also released a "remedy" that suggested Microsoft should be broken up into two companies. This remedy was overturned on appeal, amidst charges that Jackson had revealed a bias against Microsoft in communication with reporters. The findings of fact that Microsoft had broken the law, however, were upheld. Seven months later, the Department of Justice agreed on a settlement agreement with Microsoft. As of 2004, although nineteen states have agreed to the settlement, Massachusetts is still holding out.

2001-2006: Hiatus and security troubles

References

*cite web | title=Microsoft Windows Family Home Page | work=Windows History: Internet Explorer History | url=http://www.microsoft.com/windows/WinHistoryIE.mspx | accessdate=May 12 | accessyear=2005
*cite web | title=Microsoft Knowledge Base | work=How to determine which version of Internet Explorer is installed | url=http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=164539 | accessdate=November 6 | accessyear=2005
*cite web | title=Index DOT Html and Index DOT Css | work=Browser History: Windows Internet Explorer | url=http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/history/ie.htm | accessdate=May 12 | accessyear=2005
*cite web | title=IEBlog | work=Windows Vista & IE7 Beta 1 Available | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/07/27/444004.aspx | accessdate=July 27 | accessyear=2005
*cite web | title=IEBlog | work=Standards and CSS in IE | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/07/29/445242.aspx | accessdate=July 29 | accessyear=2005
*cite web | title=IEBlog | work=IE7 Is Coming This Month | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/10/06/IE7-Is-Coming-This-Month_2E002E002E00_Are-you-Ready_3F00_.aspx | accessdate=October 9 | accessyear=2006
*cite web | title=IEBlog | work=IE7 Platforms And Outlook Express | url=http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/02/28/382054.aspx | accessdate=May 12 | accessyear=2005
*cite web | title=Microsoft Press Pass | work=RSA Conference 2005 - Gates Highlights Progress on Security, Outlines Next Steps for Continued Innovation | url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/feb05/02-15RSA05KeynotePR.asp | accessdate=May 12 | accessyear=2005

Notes

ee also

*Internet Explorer
*Features of Internet Explorer