Journey of Microsoft Internet Explorers

Internet Explorer is the world's most popular Web browser. Security, ease of use, and improvements in RSS, CSS, and Ajax support are Microsoft's priorities for Internet Explorer.

The latest version of the browser includes support for:

-Accelerators - which allow supported web applications to be invoked without explicitly navigating to them.

-Web Slices - which allows portions of page to be subscribed to and monitored from a redesigned Favorites Bar.

-InPrivate privacy features.

-Smart Screen phishing filter.

How the journey started: Internet Explorer through the years

Internet Explorer: powering the internet since 1995!

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has come a long way since its introduction in 1995, when it was released together with the Windows 95 Plus! Pack. Internet Explorer 1.0 transformed the world by making it easy to get online, accomplishing what no other browser had done before: making the Internet accessible for the masses.

You can trace Internet Explorer’s roots all the way back to a web browser developed in 1987 called Mosaic, which was the first web browser to use a graphical user interface. The technology and trademarks behind Mosaic were eventually licensed to a company founded in 1990 called Spyglass. And in 1995, Spyglass licensed the source code for Mosaic to Microsoft and Internet Explorer was born.

Since then, Internet Explorer has grown to become the most widely used web browser around the world.

Internet Explorer 1.0 (1995)

Used on Windows 95, IE 1.0 was only slightly more than 1 megabyte in size and sure you could surf the internet, but not much more. In fact, you could forget about accessing video or music files, reading newsgroups or even viewing graphics.

Internet Explorer 2.0 (1995)

Released within the same year, IE 2.0 was the very first cross-platform browser that supported both Windows and Mac. It brought with it support for JavaScript, frames, cookies, giving web developers and designers tools to design secure and media-rich websites with tracking abilities.

Internet Explorer 3.0 (1996)

IE 3.0 revolutionized the world by offering Internet Mail, News 1.0, displaying graphics and playing  audio files. In the six hours of its release, there were more than 32,000 downloads. By the end of the first week, more than 1 million copies of the browser were downloaded. 

Internet Explorer 4.0 (1997)

Released in 1997, the Internet came to life when menus expanded with a click and images could be dragged around. IE 4.0 also included an option to enable “Active Desktop”, which displayed Internet content on the desktop itself and was updated automatically as the content changed. 

Internet Explorer 5.0 (1999)

IE 5.0 helped ushered in a new era of e-commerce with its expanded programming capabilities. 

This was the first browser to support bi-directional text, an important feature for international users who’s languages are written from right to left!

Internet Explorer 6.0 (2001)

IE 6.0 had all the fun stuff, with the Images Toolbar, Auto Image Resize, Print Preview and Media Bar.  It was the most widely used web browser during its tenure, surpassing IE 5.0. At its peak in 2002 and 2003, IE6 attained a total market share of nearly 90%.

Internet Explorer 7.0 (2006)

IE 7.0 made Internet surfing safer with a phishing filter, stronger encryption, and a “delete browsing history” button to easily clear private data. It also introduced tabbed browsing, allowing users to do more things faster and easier with the browser. 

It was the browser that truly delivered the Web 2.0 experience.

Internet Explorer 8.0 (2009)

Released in 2009, IE 8.0 remains one of the most secure browsers on the market today, introducing revolutionary security and privacy features such as InPrivate Browsing and SmartScreen phishing protection.

IE 8.0 also introduced a bunch of new user features like web slices, accelerators, automatic Tab crash recovery and inline search within pages. Users rejoice!

so here is the browser of the future

I have just installed Internet Explorer 9, which is now available for download. First think that i noticed is that it’s a faster browser than Internet Explorer 8. Pages seem to load faster, and IE itself is lighter on its feet and more agile. The second thing is that Microsoft made major changes to the look of IE and moved major components around. The Favorites Center is now on the right side and pop-up blocker notifications display from the bottom of the application window. The IE icon on the taskbar has a large E symbol, and the letter is a lighter shade of blue.

Discover Internet Explorer 9: A more beautiful web 

All-around fast

-Faster and more responsive websites. 

-Hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics

-Installs faster, starts faster

Focused on your websites

The new browser frame makes any website shine. 

Simplified yet enhanced, the user interface brings sites forward. Characteristics of each website are reflected throughout the browser, allowing you to be more immersed in each site you visit.

SmartScreen Filter

SmartScreen Filter helps combat these threats with a set of sophisticated tools:

    -Anti-phishing protection—to screen threats from imposter websites seeking to acquire personal information such as user names, passwords, and billing data.

    

    -Application Reputation—to remove all unnecessary warnings for well-known files, and show severe warnings for high-risk downloads.

    

    - Anti-malware protection—to help prevent potentially harmful software from infiltrating your computer.

Pinned Sites

 With Pinned Sites, you can get to your favorite sites directly from the Windows taskbar—without having to open Internet Explorer first. 

Each site that's pinned to the taskbar has a Jump List. Pinning a site takes seconds: click the icon to the left of the web address in One Box, or the tab for the website, or the website's icon on the New Tab page, and then drag it to the taskbar.

One Box

Whether you want to navigate to a website or start a search, you have a single place to go in Internet Explorer 9—One Box.

Surfing and searching—all in one place

With One Box, surfing or searching the web is a snap. You can start typing a web address and AutoComplete anticipates what you’re looking for to help you get to your websites quickly.

Microsoft said that the Release Candidate version is going to automatically be updated to the final version, so a direct download should be available starting with March 14.