Internet Explorer Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Internet Explorer, abbreviated IE or MSIE, is a proprietary but free of charge web browser from Microsoft. There are versions for the Windows and Mac OS operating systems, however Microsoft has since discontinued releasing new versions for any platform aside from Windows XP. For a time, versions of it were also produced for use via the X Window System on Solaris and HP-UX, but these versions are no longer in production.
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 WebSideStory. It has been shipped as the default browser in all versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 OSR-2. Microsoft's Macintosh 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. Internet Explorer remains a part of the OS X package.
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 adds several important security features that combat this problem, including a firewall and popup-blocker. Microsoft encourages users to update Microsoft Windows (using Windows Update) regularly, and to adjust settings in order to increase security. Doing so may prevent the viewing of 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. [1]
Later, IE was modified to integrate more closely with Windows. Version 4.0 included an option to enable "Active Desktop" which displayed Web content directly on the desktop and was updated automatically as the content changed. This could include an investment channel, weather map channel from the Windows Media Showcase or any other page.
In a legal case brought by browser competitor Netscape, Internet Explorer was cited as an example of product bundling which would have been illegal as a result of Microsoft's anti-trust case. Netscape's case was finally overruled by the United States Department of Justice:
Microsoft asserted 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 in fact run with IE files removed. [1] Brooks went on to develop software designed to customize Windows by removing "undesired components". [1] Microsoft has claimed that the software did not remove all components of Internet Explorer.
The anti-trust case was taken to the courts after repeated appeals from rival Netscape. The court overruled the charge in favour of Microsoft but agreed that Microsoft should make a settlement to open some APIs to the public domain. As one commentator described:
Under heavy media scrutiny due in part its large user-base, exploitation of Internet Explorer's security "holes" earned IE the reputation as the least secure of the major browsers (which include Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla and Netscape, Opera, and Konqueror). Microsoft periodically issues security patches which can be automatically downloaded and installed to update the browser.
Critics have claimed that security fixes take too long to be released after discovery of the problems, and that the problems are not always completely fixed. After Microsoft released patches to close 20 holes in their general operating system in February 2003, Marc Maifrett of Electronic Eye stated that "If it really took them that long technically to make (and test) the fix, then they have other problems. That's not a way to run a software company." [1] Maifrett has previously released advisories on security flaws in various components of Internet Explorer such as its ActiveX component [1] and IE 5.01's PNG display component [1]. Microsoft attributes these delays to thorough testing to ensure that bug fixes do not lead to problems elsewhere.
Some security exploits associated with Internet Explorer are made possible through usage patterns of the Windows end user. For example, in Windows XP, it is the default system behavior to allow normal users to log into accounts with administrator privileges for everyday computer use. In this situation, an exploit which allows a cracker to run arbitrary code, effectively gives away control of the entire computer. This would be the case for any browser which ran with unrestricted privileges. Because the everyday use of root accounts for normal users is rare on other operating systems, attacks which rely upon 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, particularly 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. [1] [1] [1] [1]
On July 6, 2004, CERT released an exploit report in which the last of six temporary workarounds (until a fix was released) 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.
Many security analysts attribute IE's ease of exploitation to its popularity, since its market dominance makes it the most obvious target.
Simply installing and using another browser does not prevent third party programs and core operating system components from using IE, however removing Internet Explorer libraries that Microsoft has closely integrated into their operating system may result in unpredictable results.
It is possible to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 95, 98 and ME (see instructions on the Netscape website [1] and on Microsoft's website [1]), as well as from Windows 2000 and Windows XP at installation time. Attempting to remove Internet Explorer from Windows may result in system instability. Also, either Internet Explorer or Daisy (if not using IE) is required in order to receive updates from Windows Update, including critical security patches. Note that Daisy is incompatible with SP2, hence removing Internet Explorer will leave the system vulnerable to future exploitation.
As of 2004, the current version numbers of IE were as follows:
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.
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:
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 for Outlook Express, which require Windows XP and are distributed with Service Pack 2, are intended to improve this situation. Outlook 2003 already included many of the updates.
This is an Article on Internet Explorer. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Internet Explorer History
Origin
Anti-trust
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.
Before the rise in popularity of 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. Internet Explorer's dominance of the web browser market has led some web developers to only test their websites with IE, rather than testing them with multiple browsers or against the latest W3C standards.Security
Removing Internet Explorer
Some Internet users, amongst them Fred Vorck, who advocates that consumers should have the choice to remove "integrated" features of Microsoft Windows [1]; Dino Nuhagic, who is the creator of nLite — a product that allows users to remove Windows components like Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, among other components [1]; and Shane Brooks, who created LitePC to remove and manage Windows components [1], have suggested removing Internet Explorer from computers in order to decrease exposure to security risks on the Internet [1]. Version information
Current versions
Future versions
Release History (Windows)
Release History (Macintosh)
IE-based programs
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.IE for Windows
Positive
Negative
Note: While CSS and many other standards are handled differently than the W3 standard, because of its market share, IE creates de facto standards through its popularity and market dominance.IE for Macintosh
Positive
Negative
See also
External links