Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is a free web browser from Microsoft, and it is one of the most popular internet browsers in the world. Download Internet Explorer

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Internet Explorer 8

Internet Explorer 8 was released on March 19th 2009.

Microsoft claims that their new browser is faster, safer, and has better support for W3C standards.

New features in Internet Explorer 8:

• Accelerators - quick access to web services. On a restaurant web site, for example, you can click within the page to get maps, news, information about the restaurant, blog about it, or share it on Facebook
• Web Slice - keep up with changes to the sites you care about most
• Compatibility View - for web pages designed for older browsers
• Search Suggestions - get suggested content as you type
• New Tab features - allow you to open accidentally closed tabs, and group related tabs together using color codes
• Tab isolation - prevents a faulty web site from crashing the whole browser. Only the tab with the faulty page will close
• InPrivate - browsing the web without saving any data (like passwords, cookies, browsing history, etc.)
• SmartScreen - protects you against installation of malware, or malicious software which can compromise your data, privacy, and identity, and also damaging your computer and valuable data

Microsoft has announced that Internet Explorer 8 will interpret web pages according to strict W3C standards by default.

Previously, Microsoft announced that IE 8 would use the "IE7 standard" as default, and that interpreting web pages according to strict W3C standards would be a secondary option. This created strong reactions in the web developer community, as the "IE 7 standard" does not completely conform to W3C standards. However, Microsoft have now reversed this decision, and it looks like Internet Explorer 8 will be truly standards-compliant.

IE 8 has full support for CSS 2.1. In addition, it has fixed many cross-browser inconsistencies such as get/set/removeAttribute, default attributes, Attribute object and the tag.

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Internet Explorer 7

Internet Explorer 7.0 was released in November 2006, and became the standard browser in Windows XP with Service Pack 2.

Internet Explorer 7 provides tabbed browsing, web search from the toolbar, advanced printing, easy discovery, reading and subscription to RSS feeds.

New features:

• Advanced printing (automatically scales a webpage for printing)
• Instant Search box
• Favorites Center
• RSS feeds (automatically detects RSS feeds)
• Tabbed browsing (view multiple sites in a single browser window)
• Quick Tabs
• Tab Groups
• Page zoom

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Internet Explorer 6

Internet Explorer 6.0 was the standard browser in Windows XP. It was released in August 2001.

Windows XP is built on Windows 2000 and is the successor to Windows 98, Millennium, and Windows 2000.

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Older Internet Explorer Versions

The older versions of Internet Explorer are no longer in use by any majority of users. Web developers will ignore them. Their functionality is outdated.

Version 5.5 (released in 2000) Support for XML/XSL, CSS, print preview and HTC behaviors.

Version 5.01 (released in 1999) Primarily a bug fix for 5.0.

Version 5.0 (released in 1999) The first major browser with XML support.

Version 4.0 (released in 1997). Support for CSS and DOM.

Version 3.0 (released in 1996) is now used by less than 0.1%.

Version 2.0 (released in 1995). It is too old. Nobody uses it.

Version 1.0 (released in 1995). Does anyone remember it?

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Internet Explorer for Macintosh

Version 5.1.7 is the latest version of Internet Explorer for Mac OS 8 and 9. It was released in July 2003.

Version 5.2.3 is the latest version of Internet Explorer for Mac OS X. It was released in June 2003.

Note: version 5.2.3 requires special features in Mac OS X. Mac OS 8 and 9 users must download and install version 5.1.7.

Internet Explorer for Mac is no longer available for download!

In June 2003, the Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit announced that Internet Explorer for Mac would undergo no further development, and support would cease in 2005. Microsoft ended support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31st, 2005. Accordingly, as of January 31st, 2006, Internet Explorer for the Mac is no longer available for download from Microsoft. It is recommended that Macintosh users migrate to more recent web browsing technologies such as Apple's Safari.

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Microsoft Internet Explorer Resources

Microsoft's Support Site
Microsoft's searchable knowledgebase. Download Center. FAQ by product. Assisted support directory.