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September 30, 1997
This page lists and describes
new technologies introduced in the final release of Internet Explorer 4.0.
We've provided only a brief overview; please see the Internet Client SDK documentation 
for additional information on each feature.
New technologies:
Active Desktop Interface
Hit Logging API
Information Delivery API
Offline Browsing
Scriptlets
Software Distribution Channels
New SDK tools:
Cache Container Tool
Profile Assistant
StyleT
The Active Desktop is a feature of Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 that allows you to include HTML documents and items (such as ActiveX® controls and Java applets) directly to your desktop. The IActiveDesktop interface, which is part of the Windows® Shell API, is used to programmatically add, remove, and modify the items on the desktop. Active Desktop items can also be added using a Channel Definition Format (CDF) file.
In the Internet Client SDK , see the Internet Tools and Technologies section, Active Desktop Interface documentation for more information.
The Channel Definition Format (CDF) files allow content providers to determine which hits get logged for the items included in the CDF file. These logs are posted to the server during a scheduled update and cleared. This API allows developers to verify if hit logging is enabled and write customized entries in the log.
In the Internet Client SDK , see the Internet Tools and Technologies section, Hit Logging API documentation for more information.
The Microsoft Information Delivery API allows you to create subscriptions and add channels that can be used to deliver content to a user's computer using the ISubscriptionMgr and IChannelMgr interfaces.
The Microsoft Information Delivery API no longer includes information on the notification manager and the interfaces and methods related to it. The implementation of the underlying architecture for the Information Delivery API will be changed after Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 is released, so the sections that will be affected (such as the notification manager) have been removed for this release.
In the Internet Client SDK , see the Internet Tools and Technologies section, Information Delivery API documentation for more information.
Offline browsing allows users to view Web pages stored locally in the Internet cache, without having to connect to the network.
In the Internet Client SDK , see the Internet Tools and Technologies section, Offline Browsing documentation.
Microsoft Scripting Components (scriptlets) provide you with an easy but powerful way to create controls from Web pages (.HTM files) that use Microsoft Dynamic HTML. You can use scriptlets as ordinary controls in applications such as Microsoft Visual Basic®, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, and Microsoft Visual InterDev™. In the Internet Client SDK , see the Component Development section, Microsoft Scriptlet Technology documentation for more information.
Software distribution channels are specialized channels that provide the ability to notify users of software updates and also to deliver and install program files onto users' computers.
Software developers can use software distribution channels as a method of delivering updated versions of their software to their users. All users who subscribe to the developer's software distribution channel will receive notification that a new version is available.
Corporations can use software distribution channels to distribute applications and software updates to all of the desktops connected to their corporate network instead of updating each system individually.
In the Internet Client SDK , see the Delivering Content to the Web section, Creating Software Distribution Channels overview for more information.
The Cache Container Tool (Cdcache.exe) is an AutoRun executable file that allows content outside of the cache to be associated with a specified URL, which can be referenced by Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. This tool allows you to assign a URL that will reference content from another directory or CD-ROM. In the Internet Client SDK , see the Internet Tools and Technologies section, Cache Container Tool documentation for more information.
Internet Explorer 4.0 delivers the first privacy-enabled Web browser with support for the new W3C privacy standards (P3). The Profile Assistant makes it easier for a user to safely and efficiently manage personal information, while taking greater advantage of the information and services available on the Web. In the Internet Client SDK , see the Delivering Content to the Web section, Profile Assistant documentation for more information.
StyleT is a Cascading Style Sheet Tester. It supports full CSS syntax validation by performing a series of tests to ensure that the syntax of the files matches the CSS specification. StyleT also identifies extensions to CSS that are supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0. In the Internet Client SDK , see the StyleT 2.0 Guide in the StyleT.htm page in the \bin directory for more information.
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