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Internet Explorer, abbreviated IE or MSIE, is a web browser from Microsoft, for the Windows and Mac OS operating systems. For a time, versions of it were also produced for use via the X Window System on Solaris and HP-UX.
Internet Explorer is by far the most widely-used web browser, making up approximately 93.7% of all browser usage according to the web analysis company . It has been shipped as the default browser in all versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 OSR-2. The Microsoft Mac Business Unit made an entirely different browser, also called Internet Explorer, that was the default browser on the Mac OS before it was replaced by Apple's own Safari Web Browser.
Some previous versions of Internet Explorer have attracted negative media coverage to the brand. Before Windows XP Service Pack 2, the lack of popup-blocker and execution of ActiveX / binary code allowed spyware and other harmful programs to target Windows users. Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 is advertised as fixing the design problems that lead to these vulnerabilities. Its level of effectiveness will become apparent as it is deployed to the user-base. Microsoft encourage users to update Microsoft Windows (using Windows Update) often, and to increase security. Doing so may disable viewing some web sites, a problem which is similar to recent lock-downs in the popup-blocker of the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Internet Explorer is derived from Spyglass, Inc.'s version of Mosaic. Microsoft licensed Spyglass's software in 1995, in an arrangement under which Spyglass would receive a quarterly fee plus a percentage of Microsoft's revenues for the software. Microsoft subsequently gave Internet Explorer away for free, and thus (making no direct revenues on IE) paid only the minimum quarterly fee. In 1997, Spyglass threatened Microsoft with a contractual audit, in response to which Microsoft settled for US $8 million.
Later, IE was modified to integrate more closely with Windows, with version 4.0 including an option to enable "Active Desktop", displaying Web content directly on the desktop, updated automatically. This could include an investment channel, weather map channel from the Windows Media Showcase or any other page.
In a case raised by competitor Netscape, Internet Explorer was cited as an example of illegal product bundling in Microsoft's anti-trust. The case was finally over-ruled by the United States Department of Justice:
"There is overwhelming economic evidence that Microsoft's actions have benefited and continue to benefit consumers. With no evidence of actual consumer harm, I do not believe that it is appropriate to second-guess, much less ascribe illicit motives to, business decisions that Microsoft and other companies made that have provided demonstrable consumer benefits.
Charging low prices, expanding the markets, spreading the use of new technology, bringing consumers into the computer age, is providing benefits to consumers"
Netscape took issue with Microsoft's contract with OEM computer manufacturers to include Internet Explorer in the copies of 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 claimed in court that IE was "integrated" with the Windows 98 operating system, and that Windows 98 could not be made to operate without it. Australian computer scientist Shane Brooks demonstrated that Windows 98 could run with IE files removed. Brooks went on to develop software designed to customize Windows by removing undesired components. Microsoft has claimed that the removed components were not all of Internet Explorer.
The anti-trust case was taken to the DOJ after repeated appeals from rival browser manufacturer Netscape. The court overruled the charge in favour of Microsoft and agreed that they should make a settlement to open some APIs to the public domain:
Previous to Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator was the most popular Web browser. In 1998 the Navigator source code was liberated and it became the base of the Mozilla project.
Under a large user-base and heavy media scrutiny, exploitation of Internet Explorer's security holes earned IE the reputation as the least secure of the major browsers (which include Safari, Mozilla and Netscape, Opera, and Konqueror). Microsoft issues security patches which can be automatically downloaded and installed to update the browser, although detractors claim the bugs take too long to fix and several known vulnerabilities remain. Microsoft attributes these delays to thorough testing to ensure that bug fixes do not lead to further bugs elsewhere. Internet Explorer's dominance of the web browser market has led to some web developers testing their websites with IE alone, rather than testing them in multiple browsers or against the latest W3C standards.
Some security exploits associated with Internet Explorer are made possible through usage patterns of the Windows end user. For example, it is common for Windows users to log into Administrator priviledged accounts for normal computer use. In this situation an exploit which allows a cracker to run arbitary code effectively gives up control of the computer. This would be the case for any browser ran with unrestricted priviledge. Because the everyday use of root accounts is rare on other operating systems, attacks which rely on an inappropriately restricted browser processes are most often targeted at Windows-based browsers.
Much of the web was designed before the latest W3C recommendations existed. In addition, some web developers do not produce W3C compliant code. Due to wide fault tolerance, Internet Explorer can render pages that were coded with or without W3C compliance in mind. Some rendering bugs exist that cause standard-compliant pages to be displayed incorrectly, particuarly if the site uses CSS version 2.
On June 24, 2004, an attacker using compromised Microsoft IIS Web servers on major corporate sites used two previously-undiscovered security holes in IE to insert spam-sending software on an unknown number of end-user computers.
On July 6, 2004, CERT released an exploit report in which the last of six workarounds until a fix was available was to use a different browser, especially when visiting untrusted sites. At least one news report erroneously described this as a recommendation not to use Internet Explorer at all.
Some people have attributed IE's security failings to its popularity, saying that its popularity makes it a bigger target. Others consider that argument spurious, citing inherent flaws in IE's design.
Some security analysts have suggested removing Internet Explorer from computers in order to decrease exposure to security risks on the internet. Simply installing and using another browser does not prevent third party programs and core operating system components from using IE. This may result in the operating system still being exposed to the same security risks. Some argue that this is an incentive to regularly update Internet Explorer through Windows Update, while others argue that the browser needs to be removed completely before the system is secure.
Whilst it is possible to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 95, 98 and ME (see instructions on the ), attempting to remove Internet Explorer from Windows XP is likely to result in system instability.
As of 2004, the current version numbers of IE were as follows:
An updated version of IE 6, mainly focusing on improving security, was included as part of Windows XP Service Pack 2 in August 2004.
In June 2003, Microsoft announced that it was ceasing further development of the Apple Macintosh version of MSIE (which uses a layout engine codenamed Tasman, as opposed to Windows MSIE which uses a different layout engine codenamed Trident), since Apple has developed its own browser, Safari.
In a May 7, 2003 Microsoft online chat, Brian Countryman, Internet Explorer Program Manager, declared that on Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer will cease to be distributed separately from the operating system (IE 6 being the last standalone version); it will, however, be continued as a part of the evolution of the operating system, with IE updates coming bundled in OS upgrades. Thus, IE and Windows will be kept more in sync: it will be less likely that people will use a relatively old version of IE on a newer version of Windows, and newer versions of IE will not be usable without an OS upgrade. Reactions to this tethering are mixed; some see requiring users to upgrade the OS and browser simultaneously as a benefit for application developers and for the Internet at large, as it will help cut down on the number of outdated, exploitable operating systems and browsers in widespread use, while others see it as unnecessary and as a reflection of what they consider to be Microsoft's questionable business practices.
Freely downloadable copies of all versions of Internet Explorer, including Spyglass' original Internet Explorer browser, can be downloaded from
The rendering engine and other common user interface components for the Windows version of MSIE are used in alternative interfaces, including the following Internet Explorer "shell" applications:
These applications supplement some of MSIE's usual user interface components for browsing, adding features such as popup blocking and tabbed browsing. Other applications, such as Winamp and RealPlayer, use the MSIE rendering engine to provide a limited-functionality "mini" browser within their own user interfaces.
On Windows, components of MSIE are also used in Explorer, the operating system component that provides the default filesystem browsing and desktop services.
IE components are also used to render HTML portions of email messages in Microsoft's popular Outlook and Outlook Express mail management software. This integration, while convenient, is one of the most often exploited "back doors", since the IE components make available more functionality to the HTML code than some feel should be permitted in the context of email messages, and Outlook and Outlook Express have, historically, not done enough to prevent malicious code from taking advantage of that functionality. The latest updates, which require Windows XP and are distributed with Service Pack 2, are intended to improve this situation
Note: While CSS and many other standards are handled differently than the standard, because of its market share, IE creates de facto standards through its popularity and market dominance.
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