A visual history of Internet Explorer from 1 to 9

Internet Explorer 1

In August 1995, Microsoft releases the Windows 95 Plus! Pack, which includes Internet Explorer 1.

It is interesting to note that Microsoft picked up the version numbering scheme where NCSA Mosaic left off rather than actually christening this version 1.

Desktop Icon

The original Internet Explorer desktop icon is titled "The Internet."

Main Window

The toolbar in Internet Explorer 1 was very sparse by today's standards. The animated Windows flag appeared to flutter in the wind while the page was loading.

Working with Favorites

The Favorites menu as well as the Add to Favorites dialog box are quite simple.

Options

The main features in the 4-tabbed Options dialog box are the History and Cache sections on the Advanced tab.

Internet Explorer 2

In November 1995, Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 2 for both Windows and Mac. This version supports JavaScript, frames, Secure Socket Layer (SSL), cookies and newsgroups (NNTP).

Note that this is actually listed as version 2, but the NCSA Mosaic numbering scheme is now in parentesis.

Main Window

Microsoft added a few of more buttons to the toolbar in version 2.

Options

The Options dialog box gains a couple more tabs.

Internet Explorer 3

In August 1996, Microsoft releases Windows 95 OSR2, which includes Internet Explorer 3. This version supports CSS, the ability to display gifs and jpg files, play MIDI sound files, and introduces the animated Blue e logo.

Main Window

The toolbar in Internet Explorer 3 is more refined and sports a customizable background. The animated Blue e logo adds a nice touch to the new toolbar.

Working with Favorites

While the Favorites menu remains the same, the Add to Favorites dialog box is redesigned in order to make organizing your links that much easier.

Working with Favorites

To further encourage orderliness, Internet Explorer 3 now features the Organize Favorites dialog box.

Options

The Options dialog box is reworked a bit as new features are incorporated into the browser.

Internet Explorer 4

While Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 4 in September of 1997, it doesn't really enter the mainstream until June of 1998 when Microsoft releases Windows 98, which includes Internet Explorer 4, Active Desktop and support for DHTML.

Desktop Icon

The blue e logo makes its way over to the desktop as the new Internet Explorer icon. The short-lived Channel Bar also makes it's home on the desktop.

Main Window

Dividers now appear on the toolbar to help separate the various buttons. The animated flag and globe combination replace the Blue e logo.

Working with Favorites

The Favoroties menu get a more prominent location while the Add Favorites dialog box gets some new options.

Internet Options

The dialog box is renamed Internet Options and more streamlined controls make it easier to clean up after yourself.

Internet Explorer 5

In May 1999, Microsoft releases Windows 98 Second Edition, which includes Internet Explorer 5. This version supports XML, XSL, and improved CSS functionality.

Main Window

The big change in Internet Explorer 5'smain window is the addtion of the Go button in the Address bar.

Working with Favorites

The Organize Favorites dialog box is redesigned to make it even easier or you to classify your favorites.

Internet Explorer 5.5

In September of 2000, Microsoft releases Windows Millennium Edition, which includes Internet Explorer 5.5. While most of the improvements in this version are behind the scenes, it is the first version to ship with 128 bit encryption.

Desktop Icon

The desktop icon gets a new shine.

Main Window

Messenger moves into the toolbar in Internet Explorer 5.5.

Internet Explorer 6

In October 2001, Microsoft releases Windows XP, which includes Internet Explorer 6. This version introduces auto image resizing and print preview. In Windows XP SP2, Internet Explorer 6 gets a pop-up blocker.

Desktop Icon

In order to match Windows XP's new Luna desktop scheme, the Internet Explorer desktop icon gets a new lighter blue coloring.

Main Window

The buttons on Internet Explorer 6's toolbar finally get some color. The new colorful animated flag looks much cleaner on a white background.

Working with Favorites

The Favorites menu still appears on the left side of the screen and the Add Favorites remains basically the same.

Working with Favorites

The Organize Favorites dialog box remains the same, but looks better in Luna.

Internet Options

The Internet Options dialog box receives a Privacy tab and the ability to remove Cookies is added to the General tab.

Windows Internet Explorer 7

In late 2006, Microsoft releases a rebranded Windows Internet Explorer 7, which is then included in Windows Vista in January 2007. In addition to the new name, this version supports tabbed browsing, RSS, Page Zoom, Quick Tabs, an Anti-Phishing filter as well as a number of other security protection features.

Desktop Icon

In order to match Windows Vista's new Aero desktop scheme, the Internet Explorer desktop icon gets a new glass look.

Main Window

A more refined arrangment of the toolbar and the tabbed interface makes using internet Explorer 7 a dream.

Working with Favorites

The Favorites menu behaves more like the drop down menu of old, yet adds new features like Feeds and incorporates old features like History. You can add individual favorites as well as tab goups.

Working with Favorites

A bigger Organize Favorites dialog box with a larger portion of the interface devoted to actual favorites just seems to make for better organization.

Internet Options

The Internet Options dialog box using sub-dialog boxes to hold more controls and to better organize its features.

Tabbed browsing

Internet Explorer 8, released on March 19, 2009, brought improvements with tabbed browsing, visual search, accelerators, a smarter address bar, and use of developer tools. See Ed Bott's initial review.

Site suggestions

One new feature touted in Internet Explorer 8 is the capability to enable site suggestions.

Web slice

Web Slice is another new feature that's related to your Favorites. Web Slice serves as a sort of visual RSS for your favorite sites. When a page can be turned into a Web Slice, you'll see an icon you can click to add it to your gallery. When your favored page updates, the Web Slice will become highlighted.

Accelerator

IE8 introduced the Accelerator feature which is a separate context menu that appears when you highlight a word or phrase. Internet Explorer's "accelerators" speed up your follow-through by offering shortcuts to blog, e-mail, map, search, define the word, and so on--without starting a new action in another screen.

Credit: Jessica Dolcourt CNET

Visual search

Internet Explorer's visual search field previews information without opening a new Web page. After entering a search term, you can click a partnered search-engine icon below the text field to get a preview of the results. From here, you'll be able to quickly navigate to the Web site, or in this case, click elsewhere on the screen and continue what you're doing.

Credit: Jessica Dolcourt CNET

Tab color

If you begin from a search results page, you might open several new tabs from links on that page. When you do, the parent tab and each new tab pick up a distinctive color.

Search providers

Customizing the list of search providers adds some features you won’t find elsewhere, including visual results from sites like Ebay and Amazon.com, which appear in a drop-down list as you type.

Developer toolbar

With the developer toolbar, you can clear the browser cache, disable images for the current page, and delete cookies (including session cookies) from the current domain by hitting F12.

Internet Explorer 9

The IE9 platform preview.

A preview demo

A demo.

Border radius

Development

Games

Charts and diagrams

By Greg Shultz