Internet Explorer 2

Microsoft Internet Explorer 2 (IE2) was a graphical web browser released on November 22, 1995, by Microsoft for Windows 95 and Windows NT and in April 1996 for Apple Macintosh and Windows 3.1.

Version 2 launched with 12 languages, including English, but this expanded to 24 for Windows 95, 20 for Windows 3.1, and 9 for the Macintosh by April 1996. It lacked many features that became common in later IE versions, including the Blue 'e' logo, integration with Windows Explorer, and bundled programs. Its market share was also much lower than later versions. During its tenure, IE market share only went up to about roughly 3-9% by mid 1996, before Internet Explorer 3 was released.

Internet Explorer 2 is no longer supported, or available for download from Microsoft. However, archived versions of the software can be found on various websites.

History

IE replicated many of the quirks of Netscape Navigator, and allowed importing bookmarks from it. In May 1996 FTP Software announced it was providing Microsoft with various technology for Internet Explorer 2.0 for Windows 3.1, including a PPP network, 16-bit email client, and other technology.

Explorer 2

Explorer 2 was to be a repeat of the Explorer 1 mission. However, due to a failure in the rocket during launch, the spacecraft did not reach orbit.

Explorer 2 was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station LC-26A in Florida on March 5, 1958 at 18:28 UTC, by a Juno-I launch vehicle. The Juno-I had its origins in the United States Army's Project Orbiter in 1954. The project was canceled in 1955, when the decision was made to proceed with Project Vanguard.

Following the launch of the Soviet Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) was directed to proceed with the launching of a satellite using the Juno-I four-stage variant of the three-stage Jupiter-C, which had already been flight-tested in nose-cone re-entry tests for the Jupiter IRBM (intermediate-range ballistic missile). Working closely together, ABMA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) completed the job of modifying the Jupiter-C and building Explorer 1 in 84 days.

Spacecraft design

Explorer 2 was equipped with a Geiger counter for the purposes of detecting cosmic rays. After Explorer 3, it was decided that the original Geiger counter had been overwhelmed by strong radiation coming from a belt of charged particles trapped in space by the Earth's magnetic field (see: Van Allen radiation belt). Explorer 2 was also equipped with a wire grid array and an acoustic detector for the purpose of micrometeorite detection.

Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year. Later versions were available as free downloads, or in service packs, and included in the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows.

Internet Explorer was one of the most widely used web browsers, attaining a peak of about 95% usage share during 2002 and 2003. This came after it managed to win the first browser war against Netscape, which was the dominant browser in the 1990s. Its usage share has since declined with the launch of Firefox (2004) and Google Chrome (2008), and with the growing popularity of operating systems such as OS X, Linux, iOS and Android that do not run Internet Explorer. Estimates for Internet Explorer's overall market share range from 17.11% to 51.59% or by StatCounter's numbers ranked 3rd, just after Firefox (or even as low as 10.3% when counting all platforms, then after Safari), as of September 2015 (browser market share is notoriously difficult to calculate). Microsoft spent over US$100 million per year on Internet Explorer in the late 1990s, with over 1,000 people working on it by 1999.

Internet Explorer 6

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems. It was released on August 27, 2001, shortly after the completion of Windows XP.

It is the default browser shipped with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, and was also made available for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, and Windows Home Server (a derivative of Windows Server 2003). IE6 SP1 is the last version of Internet Explorer available for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows Me, and Windows 2000. IE6 SP2+ and IE7 only included (IE6 SP2+) or available (IE7) for Windows XP SP2+.

This version of Internet Explorer has been widely criticized for its security issues and lack of support for modern web standards, making frequent appearances in "worst tech products of all time" lists, with PC World labeling it "the least secure software on the planet."

Despite dominating market share (attaining a peak of 80% in mid-2004), it was infamous for its security holes and outdated features. In 2004, Mozilla finalised Firefox to rival IE6, and it became highly popular and acclaimed for its security, add-ons, speed and other modern features such as tabbed browsing. Microsoft was planning to fix these issues in Internet Explorer 7 by summer 2005, but it was delayed until an October 2006 release, over 5 years after IE6 debuted.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge (codename "Spartan") is a web browser developed by Microsoft and included in the company's Windows 10 operating systems, replacing Internet Explorer as the default web browser on all device classes. Microsoft claims it is designed to be a lightweight web browser with a layout engine built around web standards. It does not support ActiveX and Browser Helper Objects but adds new features such as integration with Cortana, annotation tools and a reading mode.

Features

Microsoft Edge is the default web browser on both the PC and Windows 10 Mobile, replacing Internet Explorer 11 and Internet Explorer Mobile. Microsoft initially announced that Edge would support the legacy MSHTML engine for backwards compatibility but later backtracked, saying that due to "strong feedback", Edge would use a new exclusive engine, while Internet Explorer will continue to provide the legacy engine.

The browser includes an integrated Adobe Flash Player, a PDF reader and supports asm.js.

Edge does not support legacy technologies such as ActiveX and Browser Helper Objects, and will instead use an extension system. Internet Explorer 11 will remain available alongside Edge on Windows 10 for compatibility purposes; it will remain nearly identical to the Windows 8.1 version and not use the Edge engine as was previously announced.