Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 (IE4) is a graphical web browser and the fourth version of Internet Explorer by Microsoft, unveiled in Spring 1997 and released on September 22, 1997, primarily for Windows, but also with versions for Classic Mac OS, Solaris, and HP-UX, and marketed as "The Web the Way You Want It". IE4 was available for Windows 3.1x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0.
It was one of the main participants of the first browser war. Its integration with Windows and distribution methods was involved in the federal antitrust case United States v. Microsoft. It was superseded by Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 in March 1999. In addition, the IE layout engine MSHTML (Trident) was introduced. It attained 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, archived versions of the software can be found on various websites.
Features
IE4 came with Active Desktop, Windows Desktop Update, Active Channel, FrontPage Express, NetMeeting, NetShow, Web Publishing Wizard, Microsoft Comic Chat 2.0, and Progressive Networks RealPlayer. Outlook Express 4 replaced Internet Mail and News.
Other new features include Dynamic HTML, inline PNG images, favicons, a parental rating system, and the ability to "subscribe" to a website in favorites, which would notify the user of updates.
MSHTML
- Main article: MSHTML
MSHTML (Trident) was a layout engine introduced with Internet Explorer 4. 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, the WebBrowser control can be added to a C++ program, and MSHTML can then be used to access the page currently displayed in the web browser and retrieve element values. Events from the WebBrowser control can also be captured. MSHTML 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.
Others
IE4 is one of the earliest browsers to support the UCS-2 and UTF-8 character sets.
Versions
| Version number | Release date | Significant changes | Shipped with |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 Beta 1 | April 1997 | Improved support for CSS and Microsoft DOM | |
| 4.0 Beta 2 | July 1997 | Improved support for HTML and CSS | |
| 4.0 | September 22, 1997 | Improved support for HTML and CSS | Windows 95 OSR 2.5 |
| 4.01 | November 18, 1997 | Bug fix | Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition |
| 4.01 SP1 | May 15, 1998 | Vulnerability patch | Windows 98 |
| 4.01 SP2 | March 16, 1999 | Updates, included in IE 4.01 SP2 |
See also
References
External links
- Internet Explorer website (archived 1998-01-20)
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