One of the many security features in the Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 4.0 lets you decide before any code is downloaded from the Internet onto your computer. The Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 4.0 also includes fixes to each of the security problems that were recently reported concerning Internet Explorer 3.0.

Internet Explorer 4.0 warns you before running programs you find on the Web, allowing you to choose whether to open the program, to download it to your hard disk, or to hit Cancel and not run the program at all. For example, if you click a link on a Web page that tries to open a program, you'll see a dialog box similar to the picture at right, which allows you to choose how to proceed.

This security mechanism works for any link that launches a program or file, including .LNK, .URL, and .ISP files. Internet Explorer 4.0 also warns you before running programs attached to e-mail messages in Outlook Express and programs launched from links in Office 97 documents.