The IE4
Browser As well as giving
Win 95 and Win 98 the look and
feel of a Web browser, IE 4 is
the successor to Internet
Explorer 3, acting as a Web
browser in its own right. This
section takes you through its new
and improved features.
To learn
more about IE 4, click the
hyperlinks in the features
highlights section, or choose
from the section-by-section list.
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The IE 4
Browser - feature highlights Like its earlier
versions, Internet Explorer 4.0
is, at heart, a graphical Web
browser whose main job is to
display documents written in the
HTML language (and, increasingly,
containing extra programming via
scripts, Java applets and ActiveX
controls). Most of the functions
you need for using IE are on the Toolbar, located above the
main browser area. This has
plenty of new features in IE 4,
such as Office-style AutoComplete
in the address bar (start typing
a Web page URL and IE4 attempts
to complete it for you),
and new drop-down menus on the
Back/Forward buttons which jump
straight to pages on your history
list. The toolbar controls plus
other, less frequently used
items, are all duplicated on IE
4's menu bar (for quick tour see the
Tour of the Menus).
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Perhaps the most
heavily-used new feature of IE 4
will be the Explorer Bar. Essentially a
built-in frame which opens on the
left-hand side of the main
browser display, the Explorer bar
has four different functions - Search, Favorites, History and Channels, selected from
buttons on the IE 4 toolbar. The Explorer Bar
opens and closes instantly, so
it's a very handy way to get at
information that used to be
tucked away on menus and browser
screens back down the history
list. It's one of those features
that soon has you wondering how
you ever managed without it. |
 (August 1998).iso/full/W98Comp/IFace/SB-1.gif) Site subscriptions are a major new
feature of IE 4. Aimed at both
dial-up Internet users and those
with permanent Net connections,
subscriptions enable IE 4 to
monitor chosen sites (or pages
within sites), notifying you when
their pages have been updated. IE
4 can also download pages from
subscribed sites, so you can
browse them when you're off-line
(not connected to the Internet).
Monitoring and downloading can be
scheduled to occur at specified
times and IE 4 will dial up for
you automatically, so you can
schedule connections at night,
when Net traffic is low and phone
rates are cheap.
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Channels are a special form
of site subscription. Channels
are essentially Web sites which
feed you information and services
customised to your requirements. IE
4 presents Channels in a special
way, with icons in the Explorer
Channel Bar which expand to show
links to individual content
sections, and a special 'Channel
Viewer' interface (actually IE 4
in full-screen mode) with the
Explorer Bar in slide-out format.
You can also have the Channel Bar
as part of your Win 95 Active
Desktop display, and embed
channel viewports in the Active
Desktop. |
Security is high on
the priority list in IE 4. A new
system of security zones enables you to
categorise Web sites according to
your confidence in their
contents. You can then prevent
actions such as downloading files
or ActiveX controls from sites in
the 'Restricted' zone, and allow
IE 4 to download and execute
software from your 'Trusted' zone
sites without further warnings. |
Dealing
with another kind of content -
this time the type of words and
images found on Web pages - is IE
4's Content Advisor. This uses the RSACi
system of site ratings, enabling
you to decide what level of
content in each category you will
allow on your browser screen.
Password-protected, the system
can be set to exclude any sites
which don't have an RSACi rating.
It's a good way to make your PC
'safe' for younger users. Other
ratings systems can be 'plugged
in' as they become available. |
Finally,
IE 4 is gearing up for Internet commerce, with support for
authentication certificates.
Issued and verified online by
third-party authentication
servers, these certificates
enable both parties to be sure
that the person or organisation
at the other end of the link
really is who they say they are. IE
4 can also store personal
information about you, including
encrypted credit card data, which
it can send in secure form to
trusted secure server sites. |
The
Internet Explorer 4 Browser
Section-by-Section
A Tour of IE 4's
menus
Using IE 4's Address and
Toolbars
Explorer
Bar
Site
Subscriptions
Channels
Security, Content Advisor
and more - using IE 4's Options Dialog
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