Internet Explorer 4

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 (IE4) is a graphical web browser that Microsoft released in October 1997, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but also with versions available for the classic Mac OS, Solaris, and HP-UX[1][2][3] and marketed as "The Web the Way You Want It".[4]

Internet Explorer 4
Internet Explorer 4 on Windows 98
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial release
  • Windows: October 1997 (1997-10)
  • Mac OS: January 6, 1998 (1998-01-06)
  • Unix: March 4, 1998 (1998-03-04)
Stable release
  • Windows: 4.01 Service Pack 2 / January 9, 1999 (1999-01-09)
  • Mac OS: 4.5
Operating system
Platformx86, 68k (Up to 4.5), PPC, Alpha AXP, PA-RISC, and SPARC
Included withWindows 95 OSR 2.5 and Windows 98
TypeWeb Browser
LicenseProprietary
Websitereplay.waybackmachine.org/19980120111844/http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ 

It was one of the main participants of the first browser war. Its distribution methods and Windows integration were involved in the United States v. Microsoft Corp. case. 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 First Edition (Windows 98 Second Edition would include IE 5.0); in addition the Internet Explorer layout engine Trident was introduced. It attained just over 60% market share by March 1999 when IE5 was released.[5] In August 2001 when Internet Explorer 6 was released, IE4.x had dropped to 7% market share and IE5 had increased to 80%.[6] IE4 market share dropped under 1% by 2004.[7]

Internet Explorer 4 is no longer available for download from Microsoft. However, archived versions of the software can be found on various websites.

Overview

The Internet Explorer 4.0 Platform Preview was released in April 1997, and Platform Preview 2.0 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 Update" 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.[8][9][10] 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.)

Internet Explorer version 4.0 for Macintosh

On January 6, 1998, at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, 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.

Internet Explorer 4 for Unix
Main article: Internet Explorer for UNIX
Internet Explorer 4 for Solaris

On November 5, 1997 a beta of IE for Unix 4.0 was released for testing on Solaris.[2] 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.[11] It was further reported that versions for "HP-UX, IBM AIX, and Irix" were planned.[11] The software used to enable this, MainWin XDE, was available for Solaris 2.5.1 on SPARC and Intel, SunOS 4.1.4, Irix 5.3, Irix 6.2, HP UX 10.2, and IBM AIX 4.1.5.[12] On March 4, 1998 IE 4.0 for Unix on Solaris was released. Later that year, a version for HP-UX was released.

Features, technology, and integrated software

IE4 came with Active Desktop, Windows Desktop Update, Channels, Frontpage Express, Netmeeting, NetShow, Web Publishing Wizard, Microsoft Chat 2.0 and Progressive Networks RealPlayer.[4][13] Outlook Express 4 replaced Internet Mail and News.[4]

Other new features including Dynamic HTML, inline PNG, Favicons, a parental rating system, and the ability to 'subscribe' to a website in favorites, where it would notify the user of an update.[14] Stephen Reid of PC Pro noted in his review:

But it was the Web-style view that surprised me so much on first using IE 4. This changes the way you look at Windows, with files and folders now acting like hyperlinks on a Web page; you move your cursor over them to select them, then single click to launch. Individual folders are viewed as Web pages, including My Computer and Control Panel, and any folder you wish can be customised with your choice of background.

— Stephen Reid, "Internet Explorer 4". PC Pro. October 1997. Archived from the original on March 21, 2005. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
Internet Explorer
Desktop Market Share
— January 2021[15] via Net Applications[note 1][note 2]
Internet Explorer 70.04%
Internet Explorer 80.06%
Internet Explorer 90.05%
Internet Explorer 100.03%
Internet Explorer 114.26%
All variants4.44%
  1. Includes Maxthon, Tencent Traveler, and other Internet Explorer shells
  2. This is the last update from NetMarketShare, as it will be retired in its current form.

Microsoft Edge excluded from the list.

Other sources show lower numbers.[16]

Bundled and/or integrated software
  • Microsoft Chat 2.0 is a simple text chatting program included in the Windows NT-line of operating system, including Windows NT 3.x, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It utilizes NetBIOS session service and NetDDE.
  • Outlook Express 4.0 is the successor of Microsoft Internet Mail and News, an early e-mail client add-on for Internet Explorer 3. Internet Mail and News handled only plain text and rich text (RTF) e-mail, it lacked HTML e-mail. Despite being versioned 4.0, Outlook Express was at its first iteration.
  • NetMeeting is a VoIP and multi-point videoconferencing client that uses the H.323 protocol for video and audio conferencing.
  • FrontPage Express 2.0 was a stripped-down version of Microsoft FrontPage. It was bundled with Internet Explorer 4, but was also available for free, and could be downloaded from online repositories.[17][18]
  • RealPlayer was a streaming media player made by Progressive Networks (later called RealNetworks). The first version of RealPlayer was introduced in April 1995 as RealAudio Player and was one of the first media players capable of streaming media over the Internet.[19]

Active Desktop
Main article: Active Desktop

Active Desktop is 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 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.

Channels
Main article: Active Channel

Active Channel is a website 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.

Windows Desktop Update
Main article: Windows Desktop Update

Windows Desktop Update was an optional feature included with Internet Explorer 4, which provided several updated shell 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.

Trident (MSHTML)
Main article: Trident (layout engine)

Trident (MSHTML) was a layout engine introduced with IE4. It was designed as a software component to allow software developers 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.

Browser Helper Object
Main article: Browser Helper Object

A Browser Helper Object (BHO) is a DLL 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.

System requirements

Adoption capability overview

Internet Explorer 4.0 had support for Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 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. HP-UX, Solaris, and Mac OS were also supported. IE4 supported 68k Macs, although this was dropped in Internet Explorer 4.5.

Windows

For Windows, Initially Windows 95 or above, 16MB of RAM, 11MB of disk space (minimum for install).[13]

Mac

System Requirements for initial release of 4.0 for Mac:[20]

IE 4.5 did not support 68k Macs.

Encryption

Internet Explorer 4 was the first version of the browser to support TLS 1.0.[21] Internet Explorer 4 supported 40-bit and later 128-bit encryption through an add-on,[22] using Server Gated Cryptography (SGC).[23] 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:[23]

  • 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.[23]

Versions

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
4.01 November 18, 1997 Bug fix release. Windows 98
Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition

Shdocvw.dll version numbers plus related notes.[24] 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
Table of features across platforms
Feature Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 Windows 3.x, NT 3.5 Mac OS Unix
Active DesktopYesNoNo
AutocompleteYesNoYes
Active ChannelYesYesYes
Microsoft Chat 2.xYesNoNo
Dynamic HTMLYesYesYes
DirectXYesNoNo
Explorer barsYesYesYes
FrontPage ExpressYesNoNo
Internet ConnectionYesYesYes
Internet Mail and NewsYesYesYes
JavascriptYesYesYes
NetMeetingYesNoNo
NetShowYesYesNo
Outlook ExpressYesNoYes
Personal Web ServerYesNoYes
RealAudioYesYesYes
Security ZonesYesYesYes
ShockwaveYesYesYes
TrueType FontsYesYesYes
WalletYesYesYes
Web Publishing WizardYesNoNo
Source:Sweet, Steven. "Internet Explorer for Any System". PC Novice. 6 (9): 23. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10.

See also

Further reading
  • "Microsoft Explorer". PC Novice. PC Novice Guide Series. 6 (9).

References
  1. John C Abell (August 6, 2009). "Aug. 6, 1997: Apple Rescued — by Microsoft". Wired. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  2. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0 for Solaris (Screenshot) - Robert McMillan writing for SunWorld (November 5, 1997)
  3. KB969393- Help and Support page on Microsoft's website (August 17, 2005) Archived January 30, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20051001113951/http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/historyofie.mspx MS History
  5. "TheCounter.com: The Full-Featured Web Counter with Graphic Reports and Detailed Information". 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20011208113836/http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2001/August/browser.php TheCounter August 2001
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20040804030834/http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2004/August/browser.php The Counter August 2004
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20040915004737/http://cws.internet.com/file/11708.htm WinPlanet IE4 Review
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20050321093900/http://www.pcpro.co.uk/broadband/reviews/671/internet-explorer-4.html PC Pro IE4 Review
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20050209093222/http://www.macuser.co.uk/macuser/reviews/16079/microsoft-internet-explorer-v40.html MacUser IE 4 Review
  11. Microsoft says Unix browser is on schedule - Bob Trott writing for InfoWorld Electric (January 27, 1998)
  12. Mainsoft (3 March 2008). "Mainsoft ships first MainWin 3.0 Application as Microsoft launches Internet Explorer on Unix". Archived from the original on 3 January 2013.
  13. "PC Pro: Focus: Broadband: Product Reviews: Internet Explorer 4". 21 March 2005. Archived from the original on 21 March 2005.
  14. "Internet Explorer 4 - WinPlanet Windows Software Reviews". 10 December 2004. Archived from the original on 10 December 2004.
  15. "Browser Version Market Share". Net Applications. January 2021. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  16. https://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-browser_version-ww-monthly-202101-202101-bar
  17. "You can find the latest version at the www.Microsoft.com Web site" in Ruth Maran et al.: Office 97 - Superbook, 1998, Marangraphics, ISBN 1-896283-42-X
  18. "Frontpage Express is included with Internet Explorer to make it easy for you to upload all of your HTML pages to a server" in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 - Step by Step, 1997, Catapult/Microsoft Press, ISBN 1-57231-514-8
  19. Release History Archived 2006-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20081224154626/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/180942 Article ID 180942
  21. "What browsers only support SSLv2?". Archived from the original on November 23, 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  22. "Microsoft Strong Encryption Downloads". technet.microsoft.com.
  23. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/195833 KB195833
  24. https://web.archive.org/web/20060105033439/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q164539/ MS Support doc
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