‘Internet’ – the word that has proved to be one of the pioneers to revolutionize the world, the proud shield to back globalization! And ‘Internet Explorer’, though we observe it as just an insignificant icon on the computer desktop, is actually the gateway to this extensive and voluminous domain of networks.
Popularity
Internet Explorer is customarily the most common and familiar, among the web browsers in the world. As a matter of fact, for several years till the recent past, Internet Explorer had proclaimed its sovereign autonomous rule in the world of web. Its popularity has not yet been crushed in the present competitive market.
Origin
Microsoft Internet Explorer is commonly abbreviated as IE. IE’s adoption rate seems to be closely related to that of Microsoft Windows, as it is the default web browser that comes with Windows. It started with the very basic features and gradually, to keep a pace with the needs and demands of the age came out with updated versions with all the latest features and functions. It’s browsing speed runs average compared to its competitors. It also uses less memory storage on your computer.
A few salient features
Internet Explorer showcases certain salient features. To cast an impression on IE, it is imperative for you to be aware of its features.
Favicon:
Internet Explorer introduced the ‘favicon’ [short for ‘favourite icon’], which is a 16×16 pixel square icon associated with a particular webpage or website. Browsers that provide favicon support typically display a page’s favicon in the browser’s address bar and next to the page’s name in a list of bookmarks.
Accessibility:
Internet Explorer takes you through the accessibility framework provided in Windows. Pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing were added respectively in IE 6 and IE 7. You can also add the feature of tabbed browsing to older versions by installing MSN Search Toolbar or Yahoo! Toolbar.
Cache:
Internet Explorer caches visited content in the Temporary Internet Files folder to allow at a time access to previously visited pages in just one click. In the early versions of IE, clearing the cache would mean clearing the entire index but the files were not reliably removed always, professing a major risk factor. Later with new implementations in the updated versions [from IE version 7], reliability has increased on this matter.
Security:
Internet Explorer uses a zone-based security framework. Security restrictions are applied on the basis of zones.
The market counts on Internet Explorer 8, the latest stable released version, as a tough competition to the other Internet browsers.
While competing with all the new browsers in the ever changing market scenario, Internet Explorer still rules the heart of many. Those who have been using IE since long and have updated themselves with its every new version, still tag IE as the most authentic Internet browser. If you wish to get yourself started to the Internet, you can blindly rely on Internet Explorer as an efficient gateway to the Internet domain.
Internet Explorer 10 is coming and I guess the tech world is really excited for it/