Internet Explorer 4.0 Hits Japan

by Forest Linton

On April 15, the Japanese version of the preview release of Internet Explorer 4.0 hit the streets; this was just seven days after the US release of the English version. This preview release is mainly designed to get developer and user feedback, and another beta release is scheduled for around June.

I don't have enough space here to do a proper review of Internet Explorer 4.0, but I can offer a quick recap of its highlights. To begin with, a lot of attention has been spent on the details - the small-but-useful features that make the browsing experience easier and better. This includes things like drag-and-drop organizing of "favorites" (bookmarks) in the menu, access to a full navigation history by right clicking the forward or backward button, autocomplete or quickfill of commonly entered URLs, and a new search pane that puts all the major search engines in a convenient split-window view.

IE4 is now a comprehensive suite that contains five major components:

• Outlook Express - a mail and news client that supports HTML mail and has inbox-direct IMAP4 and LDAP directory services plus a multitude of feature enhancements.

• Net Meeting - a conferencing client that offers H323 video support as well as application sharing and whiteboard collaboration.

• NetShow - a media client for streaming video, audio, and multicasting.

• Frontpad - a powerful HTML authoring tool that is a close cousin to Front Page (it offers the same engine and source code).

• Personal Web Server - a utility that enables anyone to turn their computer into a mini web server for intranet or peer-to-peer use.

Another exciting part of IE4 is Webcasting (a set of personal information-delivery features). For example, you can subscribe to websites and, based on your settings, Internet Explorer will automatically go to those sites and download pages that you can later browse offline (from the cache). This feature will appeal to the typical dial-up user in Japan who must pay by-the-minute phone charges to connect to the Internet. IE4 can be set up, for example, to automatically dial your Internet service provider in the middle of the night (when the phone rates are cheapest), download designated pages, and then sign off. Then, the next morning, you can browse the pages offline.

IE4 makes extensive use of the user cache, which means that offline browsing becomes much more intuitive and functional. In addition, once a page is in the cache, it can be displayed in the new IE4 screensaver (which has the added option of rotating through pages at a specified time interval). Although the screensaver is showing pages from the cache, clicking on a link will connect you to that Internet site (or, for a dial-up user, pop up a dialog box asking if you wish to connect).

One of IE4's best features is its optional integration with the shell (or operating system). This basically enables the shell to host HTML - anywhere. For example, any window can become a browser, and by simply entering a URL in the address bar, you will be able to go to the Web. The Windows Explorer and IE have been merged, so that you can view webpages in the right pane of the Explorer while still navigating your hard disk drive in the left pane. The Start button will host your Favorites list; the Start bar can display HTML, and the desktop itself can host HTML.

And that leads me to the Active Desktop, which allows an HTML page to be anchored to the desktop. Anything that will run in HTML (Java, ActiveX, CGI scripting, etc.) will run on the Active Desktop. You can have several desktop HTML documents, called desktop components, on your desktop at once. There is also a subscribe feature through which IE will go out and update a component just like it will for a subscribed site.

There has been a lot of noise in the press lately about "push broadcasting." Personally, I don't much like this term, because there hasn't been a whole lot of pushing going on. What is actually happening is that the client is automatically going out and "pulling" information based on the user settings. It looks like "push" to users because they don't have to do anything.

Semantics aside, though, "push" or "pull" is the next big thing, and IE4 is right in the thick of it. Desktop channels, which will add some server-side functionality via something called a Channel Definition Format (CDF), should be ready in time for the beta 2 release. Microsoft introduced the CDF proposal at Internet World in Los Angeles, and over 30 third-party partners (including Pointcast) have announced support for the new format.

The IE4 desktop channel concept promises to be very cool. I'll provide a follow-up look at the next release of Internet Explorer in a future column.