.svg){kind=logo} | |
 Screenshot of Internet Explorer 3 | |
| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Initial release |
|
| Stable release | 3.03 SP1 (3.03.3006) / August 1998; 26 years ago (1998-08) |
| Operating system | |
| Platform | x86,68k,PPC,MIPS,Alpha AXP |
| Included with | Windows 95 OSR2 |
| Predecessor | Internet Explorer 2 (1995) |
| Successor | Internet Explorer 4 (1997) |
| Type | Web browser |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www |
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 (IE3) is the third version of theInternet Explorer graphicalweb browser which was announced in March 1996, and was released on August 13, 1996 byMicrosoft forMicrosoft Windows and on January 8, 1997 forApple Mac OS (seeIE for Mac). It began serious competition againstNetscape Navigator in the firstBrowser war.[1] It was Microsoft's first browser release with a major internal development component.[2] It was the first more widely used version of Internet Explorer, although it did not surpass Netscape or become the browser with the most market share. During its tenure, IE market share went from roughly 3–9% in early 1996 to 20–30% by the end of 1997.[3][4][5] In September 1997 it was superseded by MicrosoftInternet Explorer 4.
IE3 was the first commercial browser withCascading Style Sheets support.[6] It introduced support forActiveX controls,Java applets, inline multimedia, and thePlatform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) system for contentmetadata. This version was the first version of Internet Explorer to use the blue 'e' logo, which later became a symbol of the browser. Version 3 came bundled withInternet Mail and News,NetMeeting, and an early version of theWindows Address Book. There were 16-bit and 32-bit versions depending on the OS.
This is the first version of Internet Explorer developed withoutSpyglasssource code, but still used Spyglass technology, so the Spyglass licensing information remained in the program's documentation. In 1996 Microsoft said of its new browser"Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 adds many new features which are great for HTML authors and demonstrates our accelerating commitment to W3C HTML standards."[7]
It is the last version of Internet Explorer to supportWindows NT 3.5 andWindows NT 4.0 RTM—SP2 and Windows NT 4 for RISC (the 16-bit version can still be run throughNTVDM.).
Internet Explorer 3 is no longer supported, and is not available for download from Microsoft.
Internet Explorer 3.0 was released free of charge on the August 13, 1996. Microsoft thus made no direct revenues on IE and was liable to pay Spyglass only the minimum quarterly fee. In 1997, Spyglass threatened Microsoft with a contractual audit, in response to which Microsoft settled for $8 million U.S.[8] Version 3 included Internet Mail and News 1.0 and the Windows Address Book. It brought the browser much closer to the bar that had been set byNetscape, including the support of Netscape'splugins technology (NPAPI),ActiveX,frames, and areverse-engineered version ofJavaScript namedJScript. Later,Microsoft NetMeeting andWindows Media Player were integrated into the product and thushelper applications became not as necessary as they once were. CSS were introduced with version 3 of Internet Explorer.[6] While IE1 and IE2 were said to have "paled" in comparison to Netscape, IE3 "delivers a crushing blow to Netscape".[1] The user interface notably changes, with much larger buttons, with more intricate icons, and with a light gray design behind it.[9] Unlike later IE versions, users who upgraded to IE3 could still use the last IE by converting the previous version to a separate directory.[1] It could import favorites into IE3 from IE1 or 2.[1] The competition between Netscape and Microsoft heated up, with some saying the Internet community "became polarized on the issue of which web browser had the most features."[10] Other new features includedActiveMovie multimedia API, HTML Layout Control,[11] Quick Links toolbar, VRML.[12]
Microsoft announced on July 29, 1996 that it would develop a native version of IE for "Solaris and other popular variants of UNIX" to be available "by the end of 1996" which would have "equivalent functionality as that provided in Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0", thus "delivering on its commitment to provide full-featured Web browser support on all major operating system platforms" as well as "supporting and promoting open standards, includingHTML,ActiveX andJava".[13] In March, 1997 following a dispute which "arose between Microsoft and Bristol concerning each other's performance of the 1996 IE Agreement"[14] and likely because of contract negotiations with Bristol to access Windows source code after September 1997 failing,[15] Microsoft reversed course and decided to directly port the Windows version in-house using theMainWin XDE (eXtended Development Environment) application fromMainsoft,[16] the main competitor to Bristol Technology.[14] (Microsoft would later use MainWin to portWindows Media Player andOutlook Express to Unix.[17]) Now well behind schedule, the 3.0 branch was apparently scrapped in favor of 4.0 (that was released for Windows half a year earlier), which used the newMSHTML (Trident) rendering engine. AnInternet Explorer 4 Beta forSolaris was released by the end of 1997,[18] leading toInternet Explorer for UNIX versions, which lasted untilInternet Explorer 5.
Backwards compatibility was handled by allowing Users who upgraded to IE3 to still use the last IE, because the installation converted the previous version to a separate directory.[1]
The Princeton Word Macro Virus Loophole was discovered on August 22, 1996, nine days after Internet Explorer 3's release, which could allowWebmasters to cause an end-user's computer to initiate downloads without their consent via a backdoor.[10] Microsoft patched the vulnerability the following day;[10] however, researchers went on to find more vulnerabilities and new types of problems, such as the ability to spoof a website (similar to the laterphishing problem), with these issues triggering public concern over browser security.[10] In early 1997, Microsoft released IE 3.02 as an update to fix most of the discovered security problems.
MicrosoftAuthenticode became inoperable on June 30, 1997, when itstrust anchor expired.[19] After this, IE users needed to upgrade toAuthenticode 2.0 which required at least IE 3.02.[20] Authenticode is acode signing technology.
Internet Explorer 3 for Macintosh was released on January 8, 1997 for PPC, and added support for theSSL andNTLM security protocols and the PICS andRSACi rating systems that can be used to control access to websites based on content ratings. On November 5, 1996 Microsoft announced the release of a beta version for Mac of Internet Explorer version 3.0. This release added support forHTML version 3.2, CSS,[21]Java applets and ActiveX controls. Keith Mitchell of Macworld noted in November 1996, when discussing the IE mac version,"With the near-simultaneous release of Netscape Navigator 3.0 (415/528-2555, http://www.netscape.com) and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 (206/882-8080, http://www.microsoft.com), both companies are tripping over each other to entice Web users to their products."[22]A problem with an operating system extension used in the Mac OS called CFM68K Runtime Enabler, led to a delay in the release of the version 3.0 for Macs based on the 68k line of processors. Four months later on May 14, Microsoft released version 3.01 which included a version for 68k-based machines. This version included features from the Windows version of Internet Explorer 4.0 such asAutoComplete and Monitoring Favorites that notified users when sites in their Favorites list have been updated. It included support for JavaScript and introduced a Download Manager and aCookie Manager. The download manager was introduced in version 3.01;[23] version 3.0 would open the download progress bar in the main browser window, forcing the user to either cancel the download and restart it in a new window, or wait for the transfer to complete.[24] MacUser's review noted"While Netscape Navigator 3.0 is more feature-laden and consequently bigger and slower than previous incarnations, Microsoft Internet Explorer has been refined and optimised into a Web browser that has almost as many features, but is both smaller and faster than its rival."[25]
IE3 launched with a variety of integrated apps.[26] The following is a list of those apps and a brief description for each.
Later versions of Internet Explorer 3 included the following:
IE3 also includedMicrosoft Java Virtual Machine, which continued to be included untilIE5.5. Because of a legal battle betweenSun Microsystems (the developer of Java), Microsoft stopped offering it in 2001, although it was supported for several years after this (until the end of 2007).
Major Microsoft OS releases, switched to supporting version 4 or higher.[29][30] Internet Explorer 3 had a Beta supporting Solaris (UNIX). IE4 integration with the OS meant systems that upgraded from Internet Explorer 3 to 4.0, or came with 4.0, could not easily revert to IE3 (seeRemoval of Internet Explorer). The Mac OS version supported PPC and68k Macs, superseding IE 2.1. Microsoft released various 16- and 32-bit versions for Windows.
Internet Explorer 3.03, and subsequently 3.03 Service Pack 1, were released after the launch of IE4.[31]
Internet Explorer 3 was the first version of the browser to support SSL 3.0.[32] The last patch versions of Internet Explorer 3 supported 40-bit and 128-bit encryption, usingServer Gated Cryptography (SGC).[33] 256-bit encryption would not become available in IE for nearly 10 years.
128-bit encryption was available or included for these versions:[33]
If it was not possible to upgrade to 128-bit, then 40-bit (SGC) was standard.[33]
32-bit Internet Explorer 3 version numbers are in the form of 4.70.####, where # represents a varying digit.[34]
| Version name | Version number | Release date | Shipped with | Significant changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 Alpha 1 | ? | March 1996[35] | Improved support of HTML tables, frames, and other elements. | |
| 3.0 Beta 1 | ? | May 29, 1996[36] | VBScript and JScript support | |
| 3.0 Beta 2 | ? | July 17, 1996[12] | CSS and Java support | |
| 3.0 | 4.70.1155[34] | August 13, 1996[37] | RTM release. | |
| 4.70.1158[34] | August 24, 1996 | Windows 95 OSR2 | ||
| 3.0.0.1152[citation needed] | November 1996 | |||
| 3.0a | ? | January 22, 1997[29] | ||
| 3.01 | 4.70.1215[34] | October 30, 1996 | Bug fix release | |
| 3.01.[citation needed] | February 1997 | |||
| 3.02 | 4.70.1300[34] | March 25, 1997[38] | Bug and security fix release. | |
| 3.02a | 3.02a.2916[citation needed] | May 1997 | ||
| 3.03 | 3.03.2925[citation needed] | August 1997 | Bug fix release | |
| 3.03 SP1 | 3.03.3006[citation needed] | August 1998 | Year 2000 compliance updates. Last version forWindows NT 3.5.[39] |
Another minor annoyance is Internet Explorer's use of a single window to download a file using HTTP. Netscape automatically spawns a sub-window, which allows you to continue browsing while the download commences. Explorer's default action is to perform the download using the current window, preventing further browsing during the download.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Preceded by | Internet Explorer 3 1996 | Succeeded by |
