Microsoft IE 4.0 Converts Desktop to "Webtop"

The word on the street about MSIE 4.0 is "believe the hype" and, despite being a long-time Microsoft critic, I have to agree that this time the company's really onto something. The new Internet Explorer, just released in its "Preview 2" version, is a significant leap forward in its interface and in the new format of content--the "channels"--that it makes available.

Microsoft has created a browser that devours the desktop, integrating access to all your files into a browser-like interface that always keeps the Web and the newly minted "channels" only a mouse click away.

This integration of the desktop into the browser, referred to as shell integration, creates a seamless workspace by bringing the conveniences of browsing, like the "back" and "history" buttons, to working with files of all types as well as the corporate intranet and extranet.

The Favorites Bar gives users a convenient way to visit all their favorite Web pages by displaying them in a directory-like list in a side frame. You can visit the sites without losing site of the list and reorganize the list just the way you would files in a folder. The Search Bar similarly allows simultaneous viewing of search results in a side frame and the Web sites found in the main window.

Alas, you can't view spreadsheets and Word documents in the browser, but I wouldn't be surprised if integration of the MS Office Suite into the browser/desktop will be Gate's next feat. MSIE 4.0 goes a long way toward achieving Microsoft's goal of making the Webtop/desktop a homogeneous workspace and playspace.

The Active Channel technology is already supported by more than 250 of the world's leading content providers ranging from Pointcast, Hot Wired and the Wall Street Journal to Disney.

I find this to be the most thrilling aspect of the new browser. It feels like a new medium is being created within the familiar confines of the browser. Other push clients like Pointcast, Backweb, and Marimba do many of the same things, but they're a bit more intrusive than the Active Channels, and I've tended to shut them off after trying them for a few days because they dominate the desktop.

Microsoft describes the Active Channel as a "managed push" solution that delivers timely, interactive managed content directly to the desktop. In addition, MSIE 4.0 allows any Web site to be "webcast" to users' desktops. Features such as offline caching, multiple push delivery options, and full support of the proposed channel definition format (CDF) standard take Microsoft's push solution to a new level.

Active Channel also keeps track of users' favorite sites, notifies them when channels or favorites have been updated, and can even deliver the content of those sites directly to their computer so they can be read offline.

Active Channel-based content can be delivered in four new ways: in full-screen mode as a screen saver (HotWired is a cool one), on the computer desktop (with desktop items such as tickers, or "mini-pages," available in various sizes and shapes, placed directly on the Active Desktop), and through e-mail via Channel Mail, which delivers full HTML pages directly to the user's mailbox.

MSIE 4.0 offers support for open-based standards including HTML 4.0, XML, the W3C Platform for Privacy Preferences, Dynamic HTML, the proposed channel definition format (CDF), and others. Unlike many of Microsoft's previous efforts, this standards support provides unprecedented interoperability.

The new browser suite also includes a client for Internet-standard mail and news called Outlook Express. The suite offers enhanced standards-based collaboration via Internet telephony, video conferencing, and multipoint application sharing with Microsoft NetMeeting conferencing software. The Web page authoring tool in the package is FrontPage Express (formerly FrontPad).

The power and versatility of Microsoft's streaming multimedia software, NetShow, has been enhanced by the recent acquisition of streaming media company Vxtreme and a 10% investment in Progressive Networks, the makers of RealVideo.

The upcoming MSIE Administration Kit 4.0 will offer support for managed webcasting technology by providing corporate IS managers with centralized control over the delivery of webcast content. The kit will allow corporate administrators to set up custom corporate channels and to restrict channels that employees subscribe to, thus limiting bandwidth usage on a corporate network.

When Microsoft made its recent investment in Apple, one of the conditions was that MSIE be preloaded on all new Apple computers as the default browser. Since they already offer MSIE with Windows 95, this means that it will be the default browser on virtually 100% of all personal computers sold.

MSIE is already free and ubiquitious, now, and being arguably better than Netscape Communicator, Netscape will certainly have a much harder time maintaining its 70% and dwindling market share.