Internet Explorer 4

With Internet Explorer 4, Microsoft has changed the interface and use of Windows so much that it's almost like having a new OS on your desktop. Like Netscape's Communicator, Internet Explorer is no longer just a solitary browser; instead, when it's fully installed, it's a suite of applications - some old, some new.

Top of the heap is the retooled Internet Explorer itself, complete with the latest Web technology to enhance your browsing experience. These days, there's precious little to differentiate Netscape Navigator (reviewed, p204) and IE when browsing; most sites work equally well on both browsers and the situation looks unlikely to change in the near future. IE 4 does have a slight advantage in its greater overall support for the Dynamic HTML standard, which allows Webmasters more control over document layout, contents and structure.

Netscape is lagging behind there, but both companies are moving towards one agreed standard. Quite simply, if browsing is all you do on the Internet, IE 4 won't change the experience too much, but that's not where it will impress the most.

Instead, it's the underlying technology, Windows integration and bundled apps that differentiate IE 4 from the competition. There are five applications alongside the browser. Outlook Express handles mail and newsgroups; FrontPage Express is for HTML authoring; Chat for IRC; NetMeeting for conferencing, video and audio communications; and NetShow gives you live audio and video streaming across the Web. On top of this there are many other components included to smooth the Web waves, among them multimedia controls, VRML 2 for virtual worlds, Web-specific fonts and the Microsoft Wallet, which is designed to help you perform secure Web transactions, in case you were wondering.

We're becoming used to getting extra frills with our applications, especially from Microsoft, but IE's real surprise isn't these apps or components; instead, it's the extent to which IE 4 entwines Windows with the Web. This fully-fledged integration could well be the deciding factor in the next battle of the browser wars.

The desktop gets Active

Just about everything in IE 4 is active, and setup is no exception. As you grit your teeth in preparation for the enormous download - 11Mb for the minimum installation, 20Mb for the full - you'll discover that Active Setup needs to keep you on-line during setup. Microsoft estimates that over a 28.8Kbits/sec connection, downloading from its own sites, you could be connected for up to a staggering four hours to install the full package. Compare this with Internet Explorer 3.02's svelte 35 minutes.

However, despite the inherent limitations of downloading and setting up such a large program while connected to the Web, Microsoft has tried to make the process easier, with on-line help and a Smart Recovery facility that will restart a disconnected download from the point you left it. The final alternative is to install IE 4 from CD; Microsoft will provide one for a minimal fee, or you can find it on our own cover disc.

Once the drawn-out setup process has completed, you might get a shock when you see your new Desktop. The new Web style view is a signal a new-style Windows, with hyperlinked, underlined shortcuts, a Channel Bar and a revamped Taskbar. Even if the Web-style view isn't enabled by default on the final code of IE 4, as you begin to explore Windows you'll realise just how many changes there have been.

The first and possibly most significant change is the Active Desktop. Simply, IE 4 splits the desktop into two layers: the icon layer which holds all the usual shortcuts and system folders you've no doubt accumulated, and the HTML layer which contains any Web-based items. The emphasis there is on 'any Web item' - from ActiveX controls to Java applets, anything that can be put on a Web page can now be put on your desktop and run in the background.