Internet Explorer 4.0

Long promised, but not released - that applies to Microsoft's new Web browser Internet Explorer 4.0. It was a bit quiet around it recently, but now the roumors and announcements have shown up again. When we visited a presentation of Microsoft Internet products last summer, we were told, that a beta of IE4.0 will be made available during October or November 96. But nothing happened. The reason of the delay is, that Microft has built some features into IE 4.0, that were scheduled for IE 5.0, like dynamic HTML. Top What is IE 4.0 ? Internet Explorer 4.0 will be more than a normal web browser. It will be something like a complete shell update for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 based machines. The goal is to blur the difference between browsing files or information on your local machine or the Internet, which means, that you will use one programm for browsing files on your desktop or the Internet. Navigation for both methods will be nearly the same. Internet Explorer 4.0 will also be an integral part of the Windows 95 update, scheduled later this year. If you know HTML, you will be able to redisign your environemt using HTML and new extensions, also known as AcitveX controls and ActiveX scripting. Will VB Script become something like a macro language for the operating system ? IE4.0 shall also include a new version of Internet Mail and News. We were told that one new feature of both will be a kill file, which allows you to automatically delete or hide e-mails from people you do not want to receive such. Hard time for spammers ! Top Where can I get it ? At this moment, there is no public beta available for IE 4.0. However a private beta has been released to selected beta testers last week. Rumours talk about a 50 MB download, which uses a new setup programm, called active-setup to automatically download and install the beta. A public beta release should be available by the end of the month. Meanwhile we recommend to search for a download mirror in your vicinity, as we think that Microsoft's servers will be very busy when the beta version hits the road. Top What about Win97/98 As you might have heard, there is also an update planned for Windows 95, which will be out later this year or in early 98. It will include the new IE 4.0 shell and explorer as well as some feratures, which can currently only be found in the OSR2 release of Win95, which is only available with a new computer. Should I wait, you will ask ? Well, this question is not easy to answer. Depending on the real download size, you should consider waiting a while, because not every site on the Internet will turn IE 4.0 specific as soon as the browser is released. We also recommend waiting, if you are not very familiar with the Windows system itself, so that you can repair eventual damage that the beta version does. We also have heard a rumor, that the beta release will be feature incomplete, which means, that certain features have been disabled or are not yet finished. Top Additional Info The following links will take you to press releases, etc. about Internet Explorer 4.0. We especially recommend the IE4.0 Information Center, which gives you nearly up to the day information about IE 4.0. Internet Explorer 4.0 Information Center Microsoft Previews IE 4.0 (Infoworld) MS touts upcoming IE 4.0 (C-Net) Microsoft IE 4.0 Preview Web Site

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