Internet Explorer

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Overview

Internet Explorer was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 in 1995. Later versions were available as free downloads, or in service packs, and included in the OEM service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows.

Other versions available since the late 1990s include an embedded OEM version called Internet Explorer for Windows CE (IE CE) available for WinCE based platforms and currently based on IE6. Internet Explorer for Pocket PC, later rebranded Internet Explorer Mobile for Windows Mobile was also developed, and remain in development alongside the more advanced desktop versions. electric forklift

History electric pallet jack

Main article: History of Internet Explorer narrow aisle truck

See also: Internet Explorer versions

The Internet Explorer project was started in the summer of 1994[citation needed] by Thomas Reardon, and subsequently led by Benjamin Slivka,[dubious discuss] leveraging source code from Spyglass, Inc. Mosaic, an early commercial web browser with formal ties to the pioneering NCSA Mosaic browser. In late 1994, Microsoft licensed Spyglass Mosaic for a quarterly fee plus a percentage of Microsoft's non-Windows revenues for the software. Although bearing a name similar to NCSA Mosaic, Spyglass Mosaic had used the NCSA Mosaic source code sparingly.

Internet Explorer 1

Internet Explorer

Main article: Internet Explorer 1

Internet Explorer 1 debuted on August 16, 1995. It was a reworked version of Spyglass Mosaic which Microsoft had licensed, like many other companies initiating browser development, from Spyglass Inc. It came with Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 and OEM release of Windows 95. It was installed as part of the Internet Jumpstart Kit in Plus!. The Internet Explorer team began with about half a dozen people in early development. Internet Explorer 1.5 was released several months later for Windows NT and added support for basic table rendering. However, by including it for free on their OS they did not have to pay royalties to Spyglass Inc., which resulted in a lawsuit and multi-million USD settlement.

Internet Explorer 2

Main article: Internet Explorer 2

Internet Explorer 2 was released for Windows 95, Windows NT 3.5, and NT 4.0 on November 22, 1995 (following a 2.0 beta in October). It featured support for SSL, cookies, VRML, RSA, and Internet newsgroups. Version 2 was also the first release for Windows 3.1 and Macintosh System 7.0.1 (PPC or 68k), although the Mac version was not released until January 1996 for PPC, and April for 68k. Version 2.1 for the Mac came out in August 1996, although by this time Windows was getting 3.0. Version 2 was included in Windows 95 OSR 1 and Microsoft's Internet Starter Kit for Windows 95 in early 1996, It launched with twelve languages including English but this expanded to 24, 20, and 9 for Win 95, Win 3.1 and Mac respectively by April 1996. The 2.0i version supported double-byte character-set.

Usage share of Internet Explorer, 19942009

Internet Explorer 3

Main article: Internet Explorer 3

Internet Explorer 3, was released on August 13, 1996, and went on to be much more popular than its predecessors. It was developed without Spyglass source code, although still crediting Spyglass "technology" in the program's documentation. Internet Explorer 3 was the first major browser with CSS support, although this support was only partial. It also introduced support for ActiveX controls, Java applets, inline multimedia, and the PICS system for content metadata. 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 more 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 found by researchers and hackers. This version of Internet Explorer was the first to have the 'blue e' logo. The Internet Explorer team consisted of roughly 100 people during the development of three months. The first major IE security hole, the Princeton Word Macro Virus Loophole, was discovered on August 22, 1996 in IE3. Backwards compatibility was handled by allowing users who upgraded to IE3 to still use the last IE, because the installation converted the previous version to separate directory.

Internet Explorer 4

Main article: Internet Explorer 4

Internet Explorer 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 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 as well as support for offline browsing. 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. New features were added which allow you to save and retrieve posts in comment forms which are still not being used today. Internet Explorer 4.5 offered new features such as easier 128-bit encryption. It also offered a dramatic stability improvement over prior versions, particularly the 68k version which was especially prone to freezing.

Market Share History Snapshot

for February, 2005

IE4 - .07%

IE5 - 6.17%

IE6 - 82.79%

Internet Explorer 5

Main article: Internet Explorer 5

Internet Explorer 5, launched on March 18, 1999, and subsequently included with Windows 98 Second Edition and bundled with Office 2000, was another significant release that supported bi-directional text, ruby characters, XML, XSLT and the ability to save web pages in MHTML format. IE5 was bundled with Outlook Express 5. Also, with the release of Internet Explorer 5.0, Microsoft released the first version of XMLHttpRequest, giving birth to Ajax (even though the term "Ajax" wasn't coined until years later.) It was the last with a 16-bit version. Internet Explorer 5.01, a bug fix version, was released in December 1999. Windows 2000 includes this version. Internet Explorer 5.5 followed in July 2000, improving its print preview capabilities, CSS and HTML standards support, and developer APIs; this version was bundled with Windows Me. Version 5.5 also included support for 128-bit encryption. However, version 5 was the last version for Mac and UNIX. Version 5.5 was the last to have Compatibility Mode, which allowed Internet Explorer 4 to be run side by side with the 5.x. The IE team consisted of over 1,000 people by 1999, with funding on the order of 100 million USD per year.

Market Share History Snapshot

for October 2008

IE4 - 0.01%

IE5 - 0.20%

IE6 - 37.01%

Internet Explorer 6

Internet Explorer 6

Main article: Internet Explorer 6

Internet Explorer 6 was released on August 27, 2001, a few months before Windows XP. This version included DHTML enhancements, content restricted inline frames, and partial 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 Internet Explorer Administration Kit (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, when used in Windows XP. Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 offered several security enhancements and coincided with XP SP1 patch release. In 2002, the Gopher protocol was disabled and support for it was dropped in Internet Explorer 7. Internet Explorer 6.0 SV1 came out August 6, 2004 for Windows XP SP2 and offered various security enhancements and new color buttons on the user interface. IE6 updated the original 'blue e' logo to a lighter blue and more 3D look.

Internet Explorer 7

Main article: Internet Explorer 7

Internet Explorer 7 was released on October 18, 2006. It includes bug fixes, enhancements to its support for web standards, tabbed browsing with tab preview and management, a multiple-engine search box, a web feeds reader, Internationalized Domain Name support (IDN), Extended Validation Certificate support, and anti-phishing filter. With IE7, Internet Explorer has been decoupled from the Windows Shell - unlike previous versions, the Internet Explorer ActiveX control is not hosted in the Windows Explorer process, but rather runs in a separate Internet Explorer process. It is included with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, and is available for Windows XP Service Pack 2 and later, and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and later. The original release of Internet Explorer 7 required the computer to pass a Windows Genuine Advantage validation check prior to installing, but on October 5, 2007, Microsoft removed this requirement. As some statistics show, by mid-2008, Internet Explorer 7 market share exceeded that of Internet Explorer 6 in a number of regions.

Internet Explorer 8

Main article: Internet Explorer 8

IE 8 reaches 20/100 on the Acid3 test.

Internet Explorer 8 was released on March 19, 2009. It had been in development since August 2007 at the latest. On March 5, 2008, the first public beta (Beta 1) was released to the general public. On August 27, 2008, the second public beta (Beta 2) was released. It is supported in Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 on both 32-bit as well as 64-bit architectures. Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) RC1 was released on January 26, 2009. Internet Explorer 8 "Final" was released on March 19, 2009. Security, ease of use, and improvements in RSS, CSS, and Ajax support are Microsoft's priorities for IE8. It includes much stricter compliance with web standards, including a planned full Cascading Style Sheets 2.1 compliance for the release version. All these changes allow Internet Explorer 8 to pass the Acid2 test. However, to prevent compatibility issues, IE8 also includes the IE7 rendering behavior. Sites that expect IE7 quirks can disable IE8's breaking changes by including a meta element in the HEAD section of the HTML document. IE8 also includes numerous improvements to JavaScript support as well as performance improvements, although it still does not pass the Acid3 test, with version 8.0 scoring 20/100. It includes support for Accelerators - which allow supported web applications to be invoked without explicitly navigating to them - and WebSlices - which allows portions of page to be subscribed to and monitored from a redesigned Favorites Bar. Other features include InPrivate privacy features, and SmartScreen phishing filter.

Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer 9, currently in development, has complete or nearly complete support for all CSS 3 selectors, border-radius CSS 3 property, faster JavaScript, and hardware accelerated rendering using Direct2D and DirectWrite. During the October 2009 Typ09 conference, Microsoft was reported as saying that it was 'considering' supporting WOFF in Internet Explorer 9. WOFF is "a strong favourite" for standardization by the W3C Web Fonts Working Group. Microsoft has continued to downplay the importance of passing the Acid3 test, but speculation that IE 9 would support the SVG W3C recommendation were ignited when Microsoft announced they had joined the SVG Working Group. Current builds of IE 9 score 32/100, up from 20/100 for Internet Explorer 8.

Features

Internet Explorer has been designed to view a broad range of web pages and to provide certain features within the operating system, including Microsoft Update. During the heyday of the browser wars, Internet Explorer superseded Netscape only when it caught up technologically to support the progressive features of the time.

Standards support

Internet Explorer, using the Trident layout engine:

supports HTML 4.01, CSS Level 1, XML 1.0 and DOM Level 1, with minor implementation gaps.

fully supports XSLT 1.0 as well as an obsolete Microsoft dialect of XSLT often referred to as WD-xsl, which was loosely based on the December 1998 W3C Working Draft of XSL. Support for XSLT 2.0 lies in the future: semi-official Microsoft bloggers have indicated that development is underway, but no dates have been announced.

partially supports CSS Level 2 and DOM Level 2, with major implementation gaps and conformance issues. Almost full conformance to CSS 2.1 has been added in the Internet Explorer 8 release.

does not support XHTML, though it can render XHTML documents authored with HTML compatibility principles and served with a text/html MIME-type.

does not support SVG, in any version but will in Version 9.

Internet Explorer uses DOCTYPE sniffing to choose between standards mode and a "quirks mode" in which it deliberately mimicks nonstandard behaviors of old versions of MSIE for HTML and CSS rendering on screen (Internet Explorer always uses standards mode for printing). It also provides its own dialect of ECMAScript called JScript.

Internet Explorer has been subjected to criticism over its limited support for open web standards.

Non-standard 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 appear broken in standards-compliant web browsers and has introduced the need for a "quirks mode" to allow for rendering improper elements meant for Internet Explorer in these other browsers.

Internet Explorer has introduced a number of extensions to JScript which have been adopted by other browsers. These include the innerHTML property, which returns the HTML string within an element; the XMLHttpRequest object, which allows the sending of HTTP request and receiving of HTTP response; and the designMode attribute of the contentDocument object, which enables rich text editing of HTML documents. Some of these functionalities were not possible until the introduction of the W3C DOM methods. Its Ruby character extension to HTML is also accepted as a module in W3C XHTML 1.1, though it is not found in all versions of W3C HTML.

Microsoft submitted several other features of IE for consideration by the W3C for standardization. These include the 'behavior' CSS property, which connects the HTML elements with JScript behaviors (known as HTML Components, HTC); HTML+TIME profile, which adds timing and media synchronization support to HTML documents (similar to the W3C XHTML+SMIL); and the VML vector graphics file format. However, all were rejected, at least in their original forms. VML was, however, subsequently combined with PGML (proposed by Adobe and Sun), resulting in the W3C-approved SVG format, currently one of the few vector image formats being used on the web, and which IE is now virtually unique in not supporting.

Other non-standard behaviors include: support for vertical text, but in a syntax different from W3C CSS3 candidate recommendation; Support for a variety of image effects and page transitions, which are not found in W3C CSS; Support for obfuscated script code, in particular JScript.Encode(). Support for embedding EOT fonts in web pages.

Favicon

The favicon (short for "favorites icon") introduced by Internet Explorer is now also supported and extended in other browsers. It allows web pages to specify a 16-by-16 pixel image for use in bookmarks. In IE, support was, and still is, provided only for the native Windows ICO format; in other browsers it has now been extended to other types of images such as PNG and GIF.

Usability and accessibility

Organizing Favorites in Internet Explorer 6

The "quick tabs" feature available in Internet Explorer 8

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 (although this feature requires a shell window to be opened in recent versions of the browser, rather than natively within the browser). Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is not supported, but available via extension (iMacros). Recent versions feature pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing. Tabbed browsing can also be added to older versions by installing Microsoft's MSN Search Toolbar or Yahoo's Yahoo Toolbar.

Cache

Main articles: Temporary Internet Files and Index.dat

Internet Explorer caches visited content in the Temporary Internet Files folder to allow quicker access (or offline access) to previously visited pages. The content is indexed in a database file, known as Index.dat. Multiple Index.dat files exist which index different content - visited content, web feeds, visited URLs, cookies etc.

Prior to IE7, clearing the cache used to clear the index but the files themselves were not reliably removed, posing a potential security and privacy risk. In IE7 and later, when the cache is cleared, the cache files are more reliably removed, and the index.dat file is overwritten with null bytes.

Group Policy

Main article: 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 for each user and for each machine. Internet Explorer also supports Integrated Windows Authentication.

Architecture

The architecture of IE8. Previous versions had a similar architecture, except that both tabs and the UI were within the same process. Consequently, each browser window could have only one "tab process".

Internet Explorer uses a componentized architecture built around the Component Object Model (COM) technology. It is made up of five major components, each of which is contained in a separate .dll and exposes a set of COM interfaces that enables it to be hosted by the Internet Explorer main executable, iexplore.exe:

WinInet.dll

WinInet.dll is the protocol handler for HTTP, HTTPS and FTP. It handles all network communication over these protocols.

URLMon.dll

URLMon.dll is responsible for MIME-type handling and download of web content, and provides a thread-safe wrapper around WinInet.dll and other protocol implementations.

MSHTML.dll

MSHTML.dll houses the Trident rendering engine introduced in Internet Explorer 4, which is responsible for displaying the pages on-screen and handling the Document Object Model of the web pages. MSHTML.dll parses the HTML/CSS file and creates the internal DOM tree representation of it. It also exposes a set of APIs for runtime inspection and modification of the DOM tree. The DOM tree is further processed by a layout engine which then renders the internal representation on screen.

IEFrame.dll

IEFrame.dll contains the user interface and window of IE in Internet Explorer 7 and above.

ShDocVw.dll

ShDocVw.dll provides the navigation, local caching and history functionalities for the browser.

BrowseUI.dll

BrowseUI.dll is responsible for the browser user interface, including the browser chrome, which houses all the menus and toolbars.

Internet Explorer does not include any scripting functionality natively. Rather MSHTML.dll exposes another set of APIs that allow any scripting environment to be plugged-in and access the DOM tree. Internet Explorer 8 includes the bindings for the Active Scripting engine (which is a part of Microsoft Windows) is provided, which allows any language implemented as an Active Scripting module to be used for client-side scripting. By default, only the JScript and VBScript modules are provided; third party implementations like ScreamingMonkey (for ECMAScript 4 support) can also be used. Microsoft also makes available the Microsoft Silverlight runtime that allows CLI languages, including DLR-based dynamic languages like IronPython and IronRuby, to be used for client-side scripting.

Internet Explorer 8 introduces some major architectural changes, called Loosely Coupled IE (LCIE). LCIE separates the main window process (frame process) from the processes hosting the different web applications in different tabs (tab processes). A frame process can create multiple tab processes, each of which can be of a different integrity level; each tab process can host multiple web sites. The processes use asynchronous Inter-Process Communication to synchronize themselves. Generally, there will be a single frame process for all web sites. In Windows Vista with Protected Mode turned on, however, opening privileged content (such as local HTML pages) will create a new tab process as it will not be constrained by Protected Mode.

Extensibility

Internet Explorer exposes a set of Component Object Model (COM) interfaces that allow other components to extend the functionality of the browser. Extensibility is divided into two types: Browser extensibility and Content extensibility. The browser extensibility interfaces can be used to plug in components to add context menu entries, toolbars, menu items or Browser Helper Objects (BHO). BHOs are used to extend the feature set of the browser, whereas the other extensibility options are used to expose the feature in the UI. Content extensibility interfaces are used by different content-type handlers to add support for non-native content formats. BHOs not only have unrestricted access to the Internet Explorer DOM and event model, they also can access the filesystem, registry and other OS components. Content extensibility can be either in terms of Active Documents (Doc Objects) (e.g., SVG or MathML) or ActiveX controls. ActiveX controls are used for content handlers that render content embedded within an HTML page (e.g., Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight). Doc objects are used when the content type won't be embedded in HTML (e.g., Microsoft Word, PDF or XPS). In fact, the Trident rendering engine is itself exposed as a Doc object, so HTML in itself is treated as an Active Document.

Add-on Manager from Windows XP SP2 Internet Explorer 6 SV1

Internet Explorer add-on components run with the same privileges as the browser itself, unlike client-side scripts that have a very limited set of privileges. Add-ons can be installed either locally, or directly by a web site. Since the add-ons have a more privileged access to the system, malicious add-ons can and have been used to compromise the security of the system. Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 2 onwards provide various safeguards against this, including an Add-on Manager for controlling ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects and a "No Add-Ons" mode of operation as well as greater restrictions on sites installing add-ons.

Internet Explorer itself can be hosted by other applications via a set of COM interfaces. This can be used to embed the browser functionality inside the application. Also, the hosting application can choose to host only the MSHTML.dll rendering engine, rather than the entire browser.

See also: Component Object Model and Browser Helper Object

Security

Internet Explorer uses a zone-based security framework that groups sites based on certain conditions, including whether it is an Internet- or intranet-based site as well as a user-editable whitelist. Security restrictions are applied per zone; all the sites in a zone are subject to the restrictions.

Internet Explorer 6 SP2 onwards uses the Attachment Execution Service of Microsoft Windows to mark executable files downloaded from the Internet as being potentially unsafe. Accessing files marked as such will prompt the user to make an explicit trust decision to execute the file, as executables originating from the Internet can be potentially unsafe. This helps in preventing accidental installation of malware.

Internet Explorer 7 introduced the phishing filter, that restricts access to phishing sites unless the user overrides the decision. With version 8, it also blocks access to sites known to host malware. Downloads are also checked to see if they are known to be malware-infected.

In Windows Vista, Internet Explorer by default runs in what is called Protected Mode, where the privileges of the browser itself are severely restricted - it cannot make any system-wide changes. One can optionally turn this mode off but this is not recommended. This also effectively restricts the privileges of any add-ons. As a result, even if the browser or any add-on is compromised, the damage the security breach can cause is limited.

Patches and updates to the browser are released periodically and made available through the Windows Update service, as well as through Automatic Updates. Although security patches continue to be released for a range of platforms, most feature additions and security infrastructure improvements are only made available on operating systems which are in Microsoft's mainstream support phase.

On December 16, 2008, Trend Micro recommended users switch to rival browsers until an emergency IE patch was released to fix a potential security risk which "could allow outside users to take control of a person's computer and steal their passwords". Microsoft representatives countered this recommendation, claiming that "0.02% of internet sites" were affected by the flaw.

On December 17, 2008, a fix to the security problem above became available, with the release of the Security Update for Internet Explorer KB960714, which is available from Microsoft Windows Update's webpage. Microsoft has said that this update fixes the security risk found by Trend Micro the previous day.

Security vulnerabilities

See also: Comparison of web browsers#Vulnerabilities

Internet Explorer has been subjected to many security vulnerabilities and concerns: Much of the spyware, adware, and computer viruses across the Internet are made possible by exploitable bugs and flaws in the security architecture of Internet Explorer, sometimes requiring nothing more than viewing of a malicious web page in order to install themselves. This is known as a "drive-by install". There are also attempts to trick the user into installing malicious software by misrepresenting the software's true purpose in the description section of an ActiveX security alert.

A number of security flaws affecting IE originated not in the browser itself, but ActiveX-based add-ons used by it. Because the add-ons have the same privilege as IE, the flaws can be as critical as browser flaws. This has led to the ActiveX-based architecture being criticized for being fault-prone. By 2005, some experts maintained that the dangers of ActiveX have been overstated and there were safeguards in place. In 2006, new techniques using automated testing found more than a hundred vulnerabilities in standard Microsoft ActiveX components. Security features introduced in then recently released Internet Explorer 7 mitigated some of these vulnerabilities.

Internet Explorer in 2008 had a number of published security vulnerabilities. According to research done by security research firm Secunia, Microsoft did not respond as quickly as its competitors in fixing security holes and making patches available. The firm also reported 366 vulnerabilities in ActiveX controls, an increase from the prior year.

According to the latest information, Secunia reports that IE6 has 24 known unpatched vulnerabilities, IE7 has 11, and IE8 has 4. The most severe unpatched Secunia advisories affecting Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x, 7.x, and 8.x with all vendor patches applied, are all rated Extremely critical. The oldest known unpatched vulnerabilities for IE6, IE7, and IE8 date from November 7, 2003, June 6, 2006, and February 26, 2007 respectively.

According to the latest information, security research firm SecurityFocus reports that IE6 has 396 known unpatched vulnerabilities, IE7 has 22, and IE8 has 25. The oldest known unpatched vulnerabilities for IE6, IE7, and IE8 date from November 20, 2000, May 17, 2007, and April 11, 2009 respectively.

New Internet Explorer hole exploited in attacks on U.S. firms

Main article: Operation Aurora

In an advisory on January 14, 2010 Microsoft said that attackers targeting Google and other U.S. companies used software that exploits a hole in Internet Explorer. The vulnerability affects Internet Explorer 6, IE 7, and IE 8 on Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP, Server 2003, Server 2008 R2, as well as IE 6 Service Pack 1 on Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.

The German government warned users against using Internet Explorer and recommended switching to an alternative web browser, due to the major security hole described above that was exploited in Internet Explorer. The Australian and French Government issued a similar warning a few days later, The first browser they recommended was Mozilla Firefox, followed by Google Chrome. The German, Australian and French governments consider all versions of Internet Explorer vulnerable or potentially vulnerable. The British Government has declined to echo these calls.

Market adoption and usage share

The usage share of web browsers.

Source: Median values from summary table.      Internet Explorer (58.69%; Usage by version number)      Mozilla Firefox (28.04%; Usage by version number)      Google Chrome (5.63%)      Safari (4.97%)      Opera (2.05%)      Other (1.32%)

See also: Usage share of web browsers

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.

A CNN article noted at the release of Internet Explorer 4: "Microsoft's Internet Explorer has made inroads and various estimates put its share of the browser market 30 to 35 percent from about 10 percent a year ago." By 2002, Internet Explorer had almost completely superseded its main rival Netscape and dominated the market with up to 95 percent market share.

After having fought and won the browser wars of the late 1990s, Internet Explorer gained almost total dominance of the browser market. Having attained a peak of about 95% during 2002 and 2003, its market share has since declined at a slow but steady pace. This is mainly due to the adoption of Mozilla Firefox, which statistics indicate is currently the most significant competition. Nevertheless, Internet Explorer remains the dominant web browser, with a global usage share of around 60% (though measurements vary). Usage is higher in Asia and lower in Europe.

Firefox 1.0 had surpassed Internet Explorer 5 in early 2005 with Firefox 1.0 at roughly 8 percent market share. An article notes at the release of Internet Explorer 7 in October 2006 that "IE6 had the lion's share of the browser market with 77.22%. Internet Explorer 7 had climbed to 3.18%, while Firefox 2.0 was at 0.69%."

IE market share overview

According to Net Applications data

February 2010

Browser

As % of IE

As % of All Browsers

Internet Explorer 8-

Compatibility Mode

5.89%

3.63%

Internet Explorer 6

34.39%

21.18%

Internet Explorer 7

22.91%

14.11%

Internet Explorer 8

36.70%

22.60%

Other

0.10%

0.06%

All variants

100%

61.58%

^ Other mostly consists of an unnumbered IE version

and IE versions 5.0 and 5.5.

^ Includes Maxthon, Tencent Traveler, and TheWorld

Editions.

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Internet Explorer 7 was released at the same time as Firefox 2.0, and overtook Firefox 1.x by November 2006, at roughly 9% market share. Firefox 2.0 had overtaken 1.x by January 2007,, but IE7 did not surpass IE6 until December 2007. By January 2008, their respective version market share stood at 43% IE7, 32% IE6, 16% FF2, 4% Safari 3 and both FF1.x and IE5 versions at less than half a percent.

Approximate usage over time based on various usage share counters averaged for the year overall, or for the fourth quarter, or for the last month in the year depending on availability of reference.

Market share history overview by year and version

Approximate usage over time based on various usage share counters averaged for the year overall, or for the fourth quarter, or for the last month in the year depending on availability of reference.

Total

IE8

IE7

IE6

IE5

IE4

IE3

IE2

IE1

2009

sm=n 66.92%

sm=n 10.4%

sm=n 26.1%

sm=n 27.4%

sm=n 0.08%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2008

sm=n 72.65%

sm=n 0.34%

sm=n 46.06%

sm=n 26.2%

sm=n 0.15%

sm=n 0.01%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2007

sm=n 78.6%

sm=n -

sm=n 45.5%

sm=n 32.64%

sm=n 0.45%

sm=n 0.01%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2006

sm=n 83.3%

sm=n -

sm=n 3.49%

sm=n 78.08%

sm=n 1.42%

sm=n 0.02%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2005

sm=n 87.12%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n 82.71%

sm=n 4.35%

sm=n 0.06%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2004

sm=n 91.27%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n 83.39%

sm=n 7.77%

sm=n 0.1%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2003

sm=n 94.43%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n 59%

sm=n 34%

sm=n 1%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2002

sm=n 93.94%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n 50%

sm=n 41%

sm=n 1%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2001

sm=n 90.83%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n 19%

sm=n 68%

sm=n 5%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

2000

sm=n 83.95%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n 71%

sm=n 13%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

1999

sm=n 75.31%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n 41%

sm=n 36%

sm=n 1%

sm=n 0%

sm=n 0%

1998

sm=n 45%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

1997

sm=n 39.4%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

1996

sm=n 20%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

1995

sm=n 2.9%

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n -

sm=n  ?

sm=n  ?

Industry adoption

The ActiveX extension mechanism 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, such as search engine toolbars. Because of the use of COM, it is possible to embed 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.

OS compatibility

IE versions, over time, have had widely varying OS compatibility, ranging from being available for many platforms and several versions of Windows to only a few versions of Windows. Many versions of IE had some support for an older OS but stopped getting updates. The increased growth of the Internet in the 1990s and 2000s means that current browsers with small market shares have more total users than the entire market early on. For example, 90% market share in 1997 would be roughly 60 million users, but by the start of 2007 90% market share would equate to over 900 million users. The result is that later versions of IE6 had many more users in total than all the early versions put together.

The release of IE7 at the end of 2006 resulted in a collapse of IE6 market share; by February 2007 market version share statistics showed IE6 at about 50% and IE7 at 29%. Regardless of the actual market share, the most compatible version (across operating systems) of IE was 5.x, which had Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, Unix, and most Windows versions available and supported for a short period in the late 1990s (although 4.x had a more unified codebase across versions) By 2007, IE had much narrower OS support, with the latest versions supporting only Windows XP Service Pack 2 and above. Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, and 7.0 (Experimental) have also been unofficially ported to the Linux operating system from the project IEs4Linux.

Years

Layout engine

Microsoft Windows

IBM OS/2

Apple Mac OS

Unix (HP-UX, Solaris)

7, WS 08 R2

Vista, WS 08

WS 03

XP

Me

2000

98

NT 4.0

95

3.1/NT 3.x

X

PPC

9

PPC

8

PPC/68k

7

PPC/68k

Years

-

-

2009

2006

2003

2001

2000

2000

1998

1996

1995

1992

1988

2001

1999

1997

1991

(1990s)

IE 8

2008-

Trident 4.0

Included

Yes

Yes with SP2

Yes with SP2/3

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

IE 7

2006-

Trident

No

Included

Yes with SP1/2

Yes with SP2/3&

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

IE 6

2001

Trident

No

No $

Included

Included

Yes

6.0 SP1

Yes

6.0 SP1

Yes

6.0 SP1

Yes

6.0 SP1

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

IE 5.5

2000

Trident

No

No

No

No***

Included

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

IE 5.0

1999

Trident (Win)

Tasman (Mac)

No

No

No

No***

No

Included

5.01

Included

with 98 SE

Yes

Yes

Yes

?

Yes

5.2.3 Included

Yes

5.1.7 Included

Yes

5.1.7

No

Dropped

5.01 SP1

IE 4.0

1997

Trident

No

No

No

No***

No

No

Included

Included**

Yes

No

Included

Included

Yes

Yes

IE 3.0

1996

-

No

No ***

No

No***

No

No ***

No

Yes

Included**

Yes

Win 3.1 version

No

No

Included

Yes

Beta

IE 2.0

1995

-

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Included

Included**

Yes

No

No

No

Yes

No

IE 1.5

1996

Spyglass

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

IE 1.0

1995

Spyglass

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Non-free

Plus!

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

* Internet Explorer 6 SP2 is only available as part of Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 SP1 or SP2.

** The version of Internet Explorer included with Windows 95 varied by OSR release; 2.0 was included with OSR1, 3.0 was included with OSR2, and 4.0 was included with OSR2.5.

*** No native support, but possible with third-party "Standalone" installer.

& Final version of Windows XP Service Pack 3 does not include IE7.

$ No native support, but possible with third party Standalone installer of IE6 Alpha. See also Internet Explorer Mobile. Non-desktop versions of IE have supported Windows CE also.

"Standalone" Internet Explorer

Early versions of Internet Explorer such as 5 had a compatibility mode to run Internet Explorer 4, though this feature was dropped (also, Internet Explorer for Mac users could still use 4.5 after installing IE 5). While Microsoft claims it is impossible to keep multiple versions of Internet Explorer on the same machine, some hackers have successfully separated several versions of Internet Explorer, making them standalone applications. These are referred to as "standalone" IEs and have included versions 3 through 7.

Multiple IEs in Windows Web Design The web developer Joe Maddalone who found the solution.

Xenocode Browser Sandbox Xenocode application virtualization.

Microsoft has discontinued standalone installers for Internet Explorer to the general public. However, there are unofficial procedures for downloading the complete install package. Internet Explorer standalone uses a feature introduced in Windows 2000 called DLL redirection to force it to load older DLLs than the ones installed on the system.

IE Collection. An installer for the standalone versions of IE8.0, IE7.0, IE6.0, IE5.51, IE5.01, IE4.01, IE3.0, IE2.01, IE1.5, and IE1.0.

Microsoft Support document, with instructions for downloading the entire set of installation files.

Internet Explorer 6 running on Linux in Wine.

It is also possible to install Internet Explorer via Wine.

IEs4Linux automatically sets up Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 in Wine. Supporting Internet Explorer 7 is currently in development; as of August 2007, the IE7 rendering engine can be used with the IE6 user interface.

After Internet Explorer 7 is installed, an Internet Explorer 6 executable is still available in C:WINDOWSie7, hidden by default. Launching this executable provides the user with the older IE6 interface, however web pages are rendered using the IE7 engine. The IE6 engine can be re-enabled by placing a file named "iexplore.exe.local" into the IE7 folder.

As an alternative to using IE standalone, Microsoft now makes available Microsoft Virtual PC images containing pre-activated copies of Windows XP with either IE 6 or IE 7 installed. Microsoft recommends this approach for web developers seeking to test their pages in the different versions of IE as the standalone versions are unsupported and may not work the same way as a properly installed copy of IE.

Removal

Main article: Removal of Internet Explorer

While a major upgrade of Internet Explorer can be uninstalled in a traditional way if the user has saved the original application files for installation, the matter of uninstalling the version of the browser that has shipped with an operating system remains a controversial one.

The idea of removing a stock install of Internet Explorer from a Windows system was proposed during the United States v. Microsoft case. One of Microsoft's arguments during the trial was that removing Internet Explorer from Windows may result in system instability.

Removing Internet Explorer does have a number of consequences. Applications that depend on libraries installed by IE will fail to function, or have unexpected behaviors. The Windows help and support system will also not function due to the heavy reliance on HTML help files and components of IE. In versions of Windows before Vista, it is also not possible to run Microsoft's Windows Update or Microsoft Update with any other browser due to the service's implementation of an ActiveX control, which no other browser supports. In Windows Vista, Windows Update is implemented as a Control Panel applet.

With Windows 7, Microsoft added the ability to safely remove Internet Explorer 8 from Windows. Microsoft does not allow the dependencies to be removed through this process, but the Internet Explorer executable (iexplore.exe) is removed without harming any other Windows components.

See also

Microsoft portal

Mozilla Firefox

Google Chrome

Safari

Opera

List of feed aggregators

Comparison of feed aggregators

Comparison of web browsers

References

^ a b c "Victor: Software empire pays high price | CNET News.com". News.com. http://www.news.com/2009-1032-995681.html?tag=toc. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ a b "Memoirs From the Browser Wars". Ericsink.com. http://www.ericsink.com/Browser_Wars.html. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/1217/1224260837999.html

^ Business & Technology | After years of fighting, Microsoft and EU settle antitrust case without rancor | Seattle Times Newspaper

^ FT.com / UK - Brussels accepts Microsoft's browser offer

^ In E.U. Deal, Microsoft Allows Rival Browsers - TIME

^ "2003 Young Innovator - Thomas Reardon, 34 - Openwave - Tailors Internet application to cell phones". Technology Review. http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35/Profile.aspx?TRID=301. Retrieved 2009-06-01. 

^ www.zoominfo.com/people/Slivka_Benjamin_3581789.aspx

^ Eric Sink (2005-05-12). "Memoirs From the Browser Wars". http://biztech.ericsink.com/Browser_Wars.html. Retrieved 2006-03-24. 

^ Sandi Hardmeier (Published: August 25, 2005). "The History of Internet Explorer". Microsoft.com. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/historyofie.mspx. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ "Victor: Software empire pays high price | CNET News.com". News.com. http://www.news.com/2009-1032-995681.html?tag=toc. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ a b "Memoirs From the Browser Wars". Ericsink.com. http://www.ericsink.com/Browser_Wars.html. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/comphist/comp1996.htm Computer History

^ "Microsoft Internet Explorer Web Browser Available on All Major Platforms, Offers Broadest International Support". Microsoft.com. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1996/apr96/iemompr.mspx. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ a b http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1996/apr96/iemompr.mspx Microsoft Internet Explorer Web Browser Available on All Major Platforms, Offers Broadest International Support

^ Usage share of web browsers

^ a b c http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/historyofie.mspx MS History

^ "By having IE3 rename your previous version, Microsoft gives you a fallback in case IE3 crashes. IE3 also scans for Netscape bookmarks and converts them to IE3 favorites." http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/2801/internet-explorer-30.html

^ Supporting Offline Browsing in Applications and Components.

^ http://cws.internet.com/file/11708.htm WinPlanet IE4 Review.

^ http://www.pcpro.co.uk/broadband/reviews/671/internet-explorer-4.html PC Pro IE4 Review.

^ http://www.macuser.co.uk/macuser/reviews/16079/microsoft-internet-explorer-v40.html MacUser IE 4 Review.

^ http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=6&qpmr=55&qpdt=1&qpct=3&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=73

^ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/197311/EN-US/ KB197311

^ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/237787 MS Article ID 237787

^ Browser market share

^ "SMIL Standards and Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8". http://www.axistive.com/smil-standards-and-microsoft-internet-explorer-6-7-and-8.html. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 

^ "Using a web browser to access gopher space". http://gopher.floodgap.com/gopher/gw?gopher.floodgap.com/0/gopher/wbgopher. Retrieved 2007-05-11. 

^ SV1 stands for "Security Version 1", referring to the set of security enhancements made for that release . 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.

^ "Browser statistics". W3Schools. http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp. Retrieved 2008-08-04. 

^ "IE 8: On the Path to Web Standards Compliance - ACID 2 Test Pass Complete". Microsoft. 2007-12-19. http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=367207. Retrieved 2007-12-20. 

^ Internet Explorer 8 Readiness Toolkit

^ Internet Explorer 8

^ "Internet Explorer Readiness Toolkit". http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/readiness/Install.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-08. 

^ LaMonica, Martin (2007-05-03). "Microsoft hints at general plan for IE 8". CNET News.com. http://www.news.com/2100-1012_3-6181334.html. Retrieved 2008-03-11. 

^ Reimer, Jeremy (2007-05-02). "Microsoft drops hints about Internet Explorer 8". ars technica. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070502-microsoft-drops-hints-about-internet-explorer-8.html. Retrieved 2007-05-02. 

^ a b c "How do I make my site light up in Internet Explorer 8?". http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/readiness/DevelopersNew.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-07. 

^ "Internet Explorer 8 and Acid2: A Milestone". http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2007/12/19/internet-explorer-8-and-acid2-a-milestone.aspx. Retrieved 2008-03-07. 

^ Chris Wilson (March 20, 2008). "Windows Internet Explorer 8 Expert Zone Chat (20 March 2008)". Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/chats/transcripts/08_0320_ez_ie8.mspx. Retrieved 2008-04-15. "The ACID3 test is a collection of interesting tests, spread across a large set of standards. Some of those standards will see improvements in IE8 - in fact, IE8 already improves on IE7's score - but we are focused on the most important features and standards to make web developers' lives easier. The Acid3 test does not map directly to that goal." 

^ "PC World - Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2: Can It Outfox Firefox?". Pcworld.com. http://www.pcworld.com/article/150385/ie8b2.html?tk=rss_news. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ Si Daniels from Microsoft just announced that they're "considering" WOFF and raw font support in IE9, TypeKit on Twitter, published 2009-10-29

^ Web Fonts Working Group Charter, updated 2009-11-10, retrieved 2009-11-24

^ Hachamovitch, Dean (2009-11-18). "An Early Look At IE9 for Developers". IEBlog. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/11/18/an-early-look-at-ie9-for-developers.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-18. 

^ Dengler, Patrick (2010-01-05). "Microsoft Joins W3C SVG Working Group". IEBlog. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2010/01/05/microsoft-joins-w3c-svg-working-group.aspx. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 

^ Hachamovitch, Dean (2009-11-18). "An Early Look At IE9 for Developers". IEBlog. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/11/18/an-early-look-at-ie9-for-developers.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-18. 

^ Browser History: Netscape explains that "By the fourth generations of both browsers, Internet Explorer had caught up technologically with Netscape's browser.... Netscape 6.0 was considered slow and buggy, and adoption was slow to occur", Access Date: 2008-03-25

^ "Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 Whitepapers". MSDN. http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/ie8whitepapers/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=568. Retrieved 2008-03-11. 

^ James Hopkins IE8 Bugs

^ a b Svensson, Peter (2008-09-10). "Creator of Web spots a flaw in Internet Explorer". msnbc.msn.com. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26646919/. Retrieved 2008-11-16. 

^ SVG Support Tables

^ Filter Tool (WebFX). Published on May 12, 2005

^ Using Script Encoder; Published on May 12, 2005

^ Font Embedding for the Web

^ Windows Core Networking Team. "A bit about WinInet's Index.dat". MSDN blogs. http://blogs.msdn.com/wndp/archive/2006/08/04/WinInet_Index_dat.aspx. Retrieved 2008-03-07. 

^ a b c d e f "Internet Explorer Architecture". MSDN. http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa741312.aspx. Retrieved 2007-01-10. 

^ Chris Wilson. "Inside IE8 Beta 1 for Developers". MSDN Channel9. http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=388331. Retrieved 2008-03-07. 

^ "IE8 and Loosely Coupled IE". http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/11/ie8-and-loosely-coupled-ie-lcie.aspx. Retrieved 2008-03-18. 

^ Security risk detected in Internet Explorer software - North America, World - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

^ BBC NEWS | Technology | Serious security flaw found in IE

^ Seltzer, Larry (April 14, 2005). "The Lame Blame of ActiveX". Security Opinions. eWeek. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1785769,00.asp. Retrieved 2006-04-07. 

^ Lemos, Robert (2006-07-31). "ActiveX security faces storm before calm". Security Focus. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11403. Retrieved 2009-07-11. 

^ "Secunia 2008 Report". Secunia. http://secunia.com/gfx/Secunia2008Report.pdf. 

^ http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10435232-245.html

^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8463516.stm

^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8465038.stm

^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/19/2795684.htm

^ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10620973

^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?&entry_id=55509

^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/7011626/Germany-warns-against-using-Microsoft-Internet-Explorer.html

^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/18/uk-internet-explorer-china-google

^ A CNN article noted at the release of Internet Explorer 4, "Microsoft's Internet Explorer has made inroads and various estimates put its share of the browser market 30 to 35 percent from about 10 percent a year ago." - CNN - It's out: Microsoft unveils Internet Explorer 4.0 - Sept. 30, 1997

^ Market share for browsers, operating systems and search engines

^ http://news.softpedia.com/news/IE7-and-Firefox-2-0-Are-Slaughtering-Internet-Explorer-6-77994.shtml IE7 and Firefox 2.0 Are Slaughtering Internet Explorer 6 - Out with the old, in with the new By: Marius Nestor, Linux Editor

^ "Browser Version Market Share". Net Applications. 2010-03-01. http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=2&qpfilter=ColumnName+LIKE+%27*Explorer*%27&qpfiltertitle=Browser+Version+%3d+%22*Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer*%22. Retrieved 2010-03-01. 

^ Market share for browsers, operating systems and search engines

^ Market share for browsers, operating systems and search engines

^ Market share for browsers, operating systems and search engines

^ Market share for browsers, operating systems and search engines

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Market share for browsers, operating systems and search engines

^ a b c d e "Browser wars: High price, huge rewards | Tech News on ZDNet". News.zdnet.com. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-996866.html. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "TheCounter.com: The Full-Featured Web Counter with Graphic Reports and Detailed Information". Thecounter.com. http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2002/December/browser.php. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ "TheCounter.com: The Full-Featured Web Counter with Graphic Reports and Detailed Information". Thecounter.com. http://www.thecounter.com/stats/1999/December/browser.php. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ a b c "CNN - Behind the numbers: Browser market share - October 8, 1998". Cnn.com. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9810/08/browser.idg/. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ a b c "Web Analytics | Online Business Optimization by Omniture". Omniture.com. http://www.omniture.com/home?cms_site_lang=1&s_cid=1493&s_cid=1493. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ "TheCounter.com: The Full-Featured Web Counter with Graphic Reports and Detailed Information". Thecounter.com. http://www.thecounter.com/stats/1999/December/browser.php. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ a b c d e f http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=2&qpmr=40&qpdt=1&qpct=3&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=120&qpnp=12

^ a b "History and Growth of the Internet". http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-03. 

^ "Market share for browsers, operating systems and search engines". http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=6&qpmr=55&qpdt=1&qpct=3&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=97. Retrieved 2007-03-03. 

^ "The Internet Explorer 8 User-Agent String". MSDN. 2009-01-09. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/01/09/the-internet-explorer-8-user-agent-string-updated-edition.aspx. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 

^ "Internet Explorer for Macintosh or Windows 3.1". http://support.microsoft.com/kb/164539. Retrieved 2007-03-01. 

^ "Download Netscape 4.7x & 4.8". http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/download/archive47x.jsp. Retrieved 2007-03-01. 

^ "Beta - IEs4Linux". Tatanka.com.br. http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Beta. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

^ "Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image". http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=21EABB90-958F-4B64-B5F1-73D0A413C8EF&displaylang=en. 

^ "IE6 and IE7 Running on a Single Machine". http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/11/30/ie6-and-ie7-running-on-a-single-machine.aspx. 

^ "Multiple IEs on one machine". http://blogs.msdn.com/cwilso/archive/2006/02/01/522281.aspx. 

^ Zadegan, Bryant (2009-03-03). "Internet Explorer 8 can be removed from Windows 7". AeroXperience. http://www.aeroxp.org/2009/03/ie8-functionally-removable/. Retrieved 2009-03-03. 

"Microsoft Windows Family Home Page". Windows History: Internet Explorer History. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/WinHistoryIE.mspx. Retrieved May 12, 2005. 

"Index DOT Html and Index DOT Css". Browser History: Windows Internet Explorer. http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/history/ie.htm. Retrieved May 12, 2005. 

"Microsoft Windows Family Home Page". Windows History: Internet Explorer History. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/WinHistoryIE.mspx. Retrieved May 12, 2005. 

"Microsoft Knowledge Base". How to determine which version of Internet Explorer is installed. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=164539. Retrieved November 6, 2005. 

"Index DOT Html and Index DOT Css". Browser History: Windows Internet Explorer. http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/history/ie.htm. Retrieved May 12, 2005. 

"IEBlog". Windows Vista & IE7 Beta 1 Available. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/07/27/444004.aspx. Retrieved July 27, 2005. 

"IEBlog". Standards and CSS in IE. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/07/29/445242.aspx. Retrieved July 29, 2005. 

"IEBlog". IE7 Is Coming This Month. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/10/06/IE7-Is-Coming-This-Month_2E002E002E00_Are-you-Ready_3F00_.aspx. Retrieved October 9, 2006. 

"IEBlog". IE7 Platforms And Outlook Express. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/02/28/382054.aspx. Retrieved May 12, 2005. 

"Microsoft Press Pass". RSA Conference 2005 - Gates Highlights Progress on Security, Outlines Next Steps for Continued Innovation. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/feb05/02-15RSA05KeynotePR.asp. Retrieved May 12, 2005. 

External links

Wikinews has related news: France, Germany officials warn against using Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer: Home Page

IEBlog - MSDN Blogs The weblog of the Internet Explorer team

Internet Explorer Architecture

Internet Explorer Community The official Microsoft Internet Explorer Community

Internet Explorer History

IE Leak Patterns Microsoft's analysis of IE's memory leak problem.

How the web was almost won Just how close did we come to a Net ruled by Microsoft? The "server wars" show a grim counterpart to the browser wars.

v  d  e

Windows Internet Explorer

Versions

Released

Version 1  Version 2  Version 3  Version 4  Version 5  Version 6  Version 7  Version 8

Pocket  Mobile  for Mac  for UNIX  IEs4Linux  Version Overview

Upcoming

Version 9

Overview

History  Removal  Easter eggs  Box model  Add-ins  Browser Helper Object (BHO)  Extensions  Shells

Technologies

Tasman  Trident  MSXML  RSS Platform  Smart tags  JScript  DHTML (HTA  HTML Components)  Vector Markup Language  MHTML  HTML+TIME  XMLHttpRequest/XDomainRequest  ActiveX  Web Proxy Autodiscovery Protocol  Temporary Internet Files  Index.dat   favicon.ico  Web Slice

Software

Administration Kit  Developer Toolbar  Integrated Windows Authentication

Implementations

Outlook Express  Internet Mail and News  Comic Chat/Chat 2.0  NetMeeting  NetShow  ActiveMovie  DirectX Media  Windows Address Book  Windows Desktop Update  Active Desktop  Active Channel  Channel Definition Format (.cdf)  Microsoft Java Virtual Machine (MSJVM)  Server Gated Cryptography (SGC)  MSN Explorer  MSN for Mac OS X  Spyglass

Events

First browser war  United States v. Microsoft  Sun v. Microsoft  Download.ject  Eolas v. Microsoft  Second browser war

People

Scott Isaacs  Tantek elik

Web browsers (Timeline  comparison  usage  list)

v  d  e

Microsoft Windows components

Core

Aero  AutoPlay  AutoRun  ClearType  Desktop Window Manager  DirectX  Explorer  Taskbar  Start menu  Shell (Shell extensions  namespace  Special Folders  File associations)  Search (Saved search  IFilter)  Graphics Device Interface  Imaging Format  .NET Framework  Server Message Block   XML Paper Specification  Active Scripting (WSH  VBScript  JScript)  COM (OLE  OLE Automation  DCOM  ActiveX  ActiveX Document  COM Structured storage  Transaction Server)  Previous Versions  Win32 console

Management

tools

Backup and Restore Center   cmd.exe  Control Panel (Applets)  Device Manager  Disk Cleanup  Disk Defragmenter  Driver Verifier  Event Viewer  Management Console  Netsh  Problem Reports and Solutions  Sysprep  System Policy Editor  System Configuration  Task Manager  System File Checker  System Restore  WMI  Windows Installer  PowerShell  Windows Update  WAIK  WinSAT  Windows Easy Transfer

Applications

Calculator  Calendar  Character Map  Contacts  DVD Maker  Fax and Scan  Internet Explorer  Journal  Mail  Magnifier  Media Center  Media Player  Meeting Space  Mobile Device Center  Mobility Center  Movie Maker  Narrator  Notepad  Paint  Photo Gallery  Private Character Editor  Remote Assistance  Windows Desktop Gadgets  Snipping Tool  Sound Recorder  Speech Recognition  WordPad

Games

Chess Titans  FreeCell  Hearts  Hold 'Em  InkBall  Mahjong Titans  Minesweeper  Pinball  Purble Place  Solitaire  Spider Solitaire  Tinker

Kernel

Ntoskrnl.exe  hal.dll  System Idle Process  Svchost.exe  Registry  Windows service  Service Control Manager  DLL  EXE  NTLDR / Boot Manager  Winlogon  Recovery Console  I/O  WinRE  WinPE  Kernel Patch Protection

Services

BITS  Task Scheduler  Wireless Zero Configuration  Shadow Copy  Error Reporting  Multimedia Class Scheduler  CLFS

File systems

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