Internet Explorer Mobile

Last updated
Internet Explorer Mobile
Developer(s) Microsoft
Stable release 11.0 (February 10, 2014;10 years ago (2014-02-10)) [±]
Operating system Windows CE, Windows Phone
Type Mobile browser
License Proprietary
Website support.microsoft.com/en-sg/help/10671/windows-phone-tips-and-tricks

Internet Explorer Mobile (formerly named Pocket Internet Explorer; later called IE Mobile) [1] was a mobile version of Internet Explorer developed by Microsoft, based on versions of the MSHTML (Trident) layout engine. IE Mobile comes loaded by default with Windows Phone and Windows CE. Later versions of Internet Explorer Mobile (since Windows Phone 8) are based on the desktop version of Internet Explorer. Older versions however, called Pocket Internet Explorer (found on Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile), are not based on the same layout engine.

Contents

Internet Explorer Mobile 11, the last version that was supported, is based on the desktop version of Internet Explorer 11 and came with Windows Phone 8.1. A new browser, Microsoft Edge replaced Internet Explorer Mobile in Windows 10 Mobile. Support for IE Mobile has ended on all Microsoft operating systems on October 10, 2023 with the end of support for Windows Embedded Compact 2013.

Features

The latest version of Internet Explorer Mobile includes tabbed browsing. The browser supports multi-touch gestures, including pinch-to-zoom as well as tap-to-zoom, although not the Touch API at present. Bing Search is tightly integrated with Internet Explorer Mobile. It can display websites in both "mobile" and "desktop" versions.

Platforms

Internet Explorer Mobile 6 is included with Windows Mobile 6.5 and Zune HD. Internet Explorer Mobile 7 is included with Windows CE 7. Internet Explorer Mobile 9 is included with Windows Phone. Each version has the same MSHTML rendering engine as its desktop counterpart, but with additional improvements.

Version history

Pocket Internet Explorer

Version 1

Pocket Internet Explorer was first introduced in Windows CE 1.0, released in November 1996. [2] It does not derive from the Internet Explorer code and was written from scratch for being as lightweight as possible. PIE 1.1 was later released that supported cookies, HTTPS, and SSL.

Version 2 and 3

Pocket Internet Explorer 2.0, released in September 1997 with Windows CE 2.0, added many new features: offline browsing, resizing images to fit to screen, and richer HTML support, including framesets and tables. PIE 3.0, introduced in July 1998 with Windows CE 2.10, added support for JScript and various secure protocols.

Version 4

Pocket Internet Explorer 4 was the first to support ActiveX, CSS, VBScript as well as further extending support for HTTPS and advanced HTML features. Pocket PC 2002 version of PIE brought limited support for DHTML and XML, and also the ability to browse WAP sites – a feature not present in Internet Explorer for PC, Internet Explorer 6.0 added support for IFrames. The web browser supports FTP, XSLT, cookies and animated GIFs among other features.

Internet Explorer Mobile

Version 6

Microsoft announced an updated Internet Explorer Mobile browser on April 1, 2008, alongside Windows Mobile 5.0/6.0/6.1. It was described as "taking advantage of Internet Explorer 6 technologies," with promised support for H.265, Adobe Flash, and Microsoft Silverlight content. [3] It would also support panning and zooming on pages designed for desktop browsers, similar to Safari on iPhone. [4] The new update was shown running briefly during Microsoft's 2009 CES Keynote on a Palm Treo Pro, [5] and later in an official video for Toshiba's TG01 phone. [6] [7]

Internet Explorer Mobile 6 was released as part of Windows Mobile 6.1.4, and some OEMs also installed it on Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Standard devices. [8] New features include enhanced Javascript and AJAX support (Jscript v5.7 from Internet Explorer 8) and support for Adobe Flash Lite 3.1. [9] The browser also has a redesigned finger friendly Graphical user interface. [10] [11] [12] Overall rendering quality and speed are also improved with this version; [11] [12] however according to Gizmodo and Engadget it didn't render pages as well as Opera Mobile and browsers based on Webkit. [11] [12] [13]

Version 7

On February 15, 2010, Microsoft unveiled its next-generation mobile operating system, Windows Phone. [14] With it, came a new version of the Internet Explorer Mobile browser. New features for the browser included multi-touch gesture support, tabbed browsing, a new UI, smooth zoom in/out animations, and a hybrid rendering engine of the Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 desktop versions. [15] According to Engadget and Gizmodo, rendering speed and quality has significantly improved and was now on par with those of competing mobile browsers based on WebKit. [16] [17] [18] [19]

Version 9

At Mobile World Congress 2011 in February, 2011, Microsoft unveiled a major upgrade to Internet Explorer Mobile based on the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 9. [20] Like its desktop counterpart, the browser features full hardware acceleration. Changes in this version included moving the address bar to the bottom of the screen and having it present in landscape orientation. [21] Microsoft showed a number of HTML5 demonstrations for the browser. This is the last version supported on Windows Phone 7.

Version 10

In the Windows Phone Developer Summit in June 2012, Microsoft revealed that the next version of Windows Phone, Windows Phone 8, would come with the same web browsing engine to be used in Windows 8 PCs and tablets. [22] Internet Explorer Mobile 10 was intended to be faster and more secure, with anti-phishing features like SmartScreen Filter to block dangerous websites and malware. Sharing a core with Internet Explorer 10, Internet Explorer Mobile 10 supports a broader range of the HTML5 capabilities (including pointer events) [23] and boosts applications/websites' performance. When it released, Internet Explorer Mobile 10 out-performed the Galaxy S III, HTC One S, and iPhone 4S on iOS 6 Beta in the SunSpider benchmark. [24]

Version 11

On July 15, 2014, Microsoft released Windows Phone 8.1, which includes the new Internet Explorer Mobile 11 browser. This version gets even closer to the desktop counterpart, by carrying over many of its improvements.

New features include: [25]

  • support for WebGL;
  • normal mapping;[ clarification needed ]
  • InPrivate Browsing mode;
  • Reading mode;
  • the possibility to swipe left or right to navigate to the previous or next webpage;
  • file upload;
  • a new HTML5 video web player with support for inline playback and closed captions;
  • Windows 8-style website live tiles;
  • the ability to save passwords;
  • the ability to open an unlimited number of tabs (previously the user could open up to six tabs).

Furthermore, the button to refresh the page is now placed on the address bar, and the open tabs can be displayed on other Microsoft devices besides the smartphone in use: if a user is logged in with his Microsoft account on both his Windows 8.1 device and Windows Phone device, tabs on Internet Explorer 11 will synchronize automatically.

Version 11 Update

Microsoft made several changes to Internet Explorer Mobile to make the browser more compatible with sites designed for mobile Safari (iOS) and Chrome (Android). To accomplish this, Microsoft adopted features used in Safari and Chrome, emulates legacy WebKit features, and claims to web servers that it is iOS or Android compatible. The new version of Internet Explorer Mobile was released with Windows Phone 8.1 Update. [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer</span> Web browser series by Microsoft

Internet Explorer is a retired series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were used in the Windows line of operating systems. While IE has been discontinued on most Windows editions, it remains supported on certain editions of Windows, such as Windows 10 LTSB/LTSC. 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. Microsoft spent over US$100 million per year on Internet Explorer in the late 1990s, with over 1,000 people involved in the project by 1999. New feature development for the browser was discontinued in 2016 and ended support on June 15, 2022 for Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel (SAC), in favor of its successor, Microsoft Edge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pocket PC</span> Obsolete type of personal digital assistant comparable to smartphones

A Pocket PC is a class of personal digital assistant (PDA) that runs the Windows Mobile or Windows Embedded Compact operating system that has some of the abilities of modern desktop PCs. The name was introduced by Microsoft in 2000 as a rebranding of the Palm-size PC category. Some of these devices also had integrated phone and data capabilities, which were called Pocket PC Phone Edition. Windows "Smartphone" is another Windows CE based platform for non-touch flip phones or dumber phones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safari (web browser)</span> Web browser by Apple

Safari is a web browser developed by Apple. It is built into Apple's operating systems, including macOS, iOS, iPadOS and visionOS, and uses Apple's open-source browser engine WebKit, which was derived from KHTML.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Favicon</span> Icon associated with a particular web site

A favicon, also known as a shortcut icon, website icon, tab icon, URL icon, or bookmark icon, is a file containing one or more small icons associated with a particular website or web page. A web designer can create such an icon and upload it to a website by several means, and graphical web browsers will then make use of it. 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. Browsers that support a tabbed document interface typically show a page's favicon next to the page's title on the tab, and site-specific browsers use the favicon as a desktop icon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Browser wars</span> Competition between web browsing applications for share of worldwide usage

A browser war is a competition for dominance in the usage share of web browsers. The "first browser war" (1995–2001) consisted of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, and the "second browser war" (2004-2017) between Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome.

This is a comparison of both historical and current web browsers based on developer, engine, platform(s), releases, license, and cost.

Trident is a proprietary browser engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer, developed by Microsoft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Mobile</span> Family of mobile operating systems by Microsoft (2000-2013)

Windows Mobile was a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Internet Explorer</span>

Microsoft developed 11 versions of Internet Explorer for Windows from 1995 to 2013. Microsoft also developed Internet Explorer for Mac, Internet Explorer for UNIX, and Internet Explorer Mobile respectively for Apple Macintosh, Unix, and mobile devices; the first two are discontinued but the latter runs on Windows CE, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleipnir (web browser)</span> Web browser developed by Fenrir Inc

Sleipnir is a tabbed web browser developed by Fenrir Inc. The browser's main features are customization and tab functions. It supports HTML5 and multiple layout engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer 9</span> Web browser for Windows released in 2011

Internet Explorer 9 or IE9 is the ninth major version of the Internet Explorer web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on March 14, 2011, as the successor to Internet Explorer 8. Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 as a major out-of-band version that was not tied to the release schedule of any particular version of Windows, unlike previous versions. It is the first version of Internet Explorer not to be bundled with a Windows operating system, although some OEMs have installed it with Windows on their PCs. Internet Explorer 9 was the last version to be called Windows Internet Explorer. The software was rebranded simply as Internet Explorer starting with the release of Internet Explorer 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Mobile 6.1</span> Discontinued mobile operating system by Microsoft

Windows Mobile 6.1 is a version of the Windows Mobile operating system, released on April 1, 2008. It is a minor upgrade to the Windows Mobile 6 platform with various performance enhancements and a redesigned Home screen featuring horizontal tiles that expand on clicking to display more information, although this new home screen is featured only on Windows Mobile Standard edition. This was not supported in the Professional edition. Several other changes such as threaded SMS, full page zooming in Internet Explorer and 'Domain Enroll' were also added, along with a "mobile" version of the Microsoft OneNote program and an interactive "Getting Started" wizard. Domain Enroll is functionality to connect the device to System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, a product to manage mobile devices. The most apparent of the other differences is that the Standard version still creates automatic links for telephone numbers in Tasks and Appointments, which allows for the easier click and dial of stored telephone numbers within these Outlook items. This feature is not supported in the Professional version. Windows Mobile 6.1 also had improved bandwidth efficiency in its push-email protocol "Activesync" of "up to 40.02%"; this considerably improved battery life in many devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Chrome</span> Web browser developed by Google

Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS, iOS, and also for Android, where it is the default browser. The browser is also the main component of ChromeOS, where it serves as the platform for web applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Mobile 6.5</span> Mobile operating system by Microsoft

Windows Mobile 6.5 is a version of Windows Mobile. It was a stopgap update to Windows Mobile 6.1 intended to bridge the gap between version 6.1, that arrived in 2008, and Windows Phone 7 that was released in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WebGL</span> JavaScript bindings for OpenGL in web browsers

WebGL is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-ins. WebGL is fully integrated with other web standards, allowing GPU-accelerated usage of physics, image processing, and effects in the HTML canvas. WebGL elements can be mixed with other HTML elements and composited with other parts of the page or page background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer 10</span> Web browser by Microsoft for Windows released in 2012

Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) is the tenth, and by now, discontinued, version of the Internet Explorer web browser and the successor to Internet Explorer 9, released by Microsoft on September 4, 2012. It does not support earlier versions.

This page provides details for the version history of the Microsoft's Windows Phone branded mobile operating systems, from the release of Windows Phone 7 in October 2010, which was preceded by Windows Mobile version 6.x.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer 11</span> Web browser by Microsoft for Windows released in 2013

Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) is the eleventh and final version of the Internet Explorer web browser. It was initially released on October 17, 2013, and was later released for older Windows versions on November 7, 2013. It is the successor to Internet Explorer 10, released the previous year, and was the original, default browser before Microsoft Edge was introduced. On April 16, 2019, Internet Explorer 11 was made available to Windows Server 2012 and Windows Embedded 8 Standard as the final expansion of Internet Explorer 11 availability. Internet Explorer 11, like its predecessor, is not available for earlier versions of Windows and Windows Server.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Phone 7</span> First generation of Microsofts Windows Phone mobile operating system

Windows Phone 7 is the first release of the Windows Phone mobile client operating system, released worldwide on October 21, 2010, and in the United States on November 8, 2010. It runs on the Windows CE 6.0 kernel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Edge</span> Web browser developed by Microsoft

Microsoft Edge is a proprietary cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft. Released in 2015 as part of Windows 10 and Xbox One, it was initially built with Microsoft's own proprietary browser engine, EdgeHTML, and their Chakra JavaScript engine. Later on, it was ported to Android and iOS as a fork of Google's Chromium open-source project. In late 2018, Microsoft announced it would completely rebuild Edge as a Chromium-based browser with Blink and V8 engines, which allowed the browser to be ported to macOS. The new Edge was publicly released in January 2020, and on Xbox platforms in 2021. Microsoft has since terminated security support for the original browser. Edge is also available on older Windows versions until early 2023, as well as Linux.

References

  1. ↑ Ramig, Randy (October 4, 2005). "IE Mobile blog". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  2. ↑ Garaffa, Dave (19 November 1996). "Hey, Is That A Browser In Your Pocket Or..." Internet.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 1999.
  3. ↑ "Microsoft Unveils Smartphone Advancements to Improve Ability to Work and Play with One Phone". Microsoft News. 2008-04-01. Archived from the original on 2023-01-09. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  4. ↑ Cha, Bonnie. "Windows Mobile 6.1 unveiled". CNET. Archived from the original on 2022-06-28. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  5. ↑ Bohn, Dieter (Jan 8, 2009). "Microsoft Keynote Outs Sprint Treo Pro on the Sly". WPCentral. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  6. ↑ Miller, Ross (2009-02-04). "Toshiba's TG01 makes official video debut". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  7. ↑ Toshiba TG01 Product Demonstration Video , retrieved 2023-01-09
  8. ↑ for example, the HTC S710 shipped with a browser that identified itself as "IEMobile 6.12" in the User-Agent header
  9. ↑ "Internet Explorer Mobile 6". Microsoft Learn Archive. 2008-11-11. Archived from the original on 2023-01-09. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  10. ↑ "IE 6 for Windows phones: Interface improved". CNet. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  11. 1 2 3 "Windows Mobile 6.5 Review: There's No Excuse For This". Gizmodo. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  12. 1 2 3 "Windows Mobile 6.5 review". Engadget. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  13. ↑ "Windows Mobile 6.5 Review:It Still Sucks". MobileCrunch. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  14. ↑ "Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series" (Press release). Microsoft. Feb 15, 2010. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  15. ↑ Fried, Ina (2010-02-15). "Microsoft hits redial in phone effort (Q&A)". CNet . Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  16. ↑ Windows Phone 7 review – Engadget
  17. ↑ "Exclusive: Windows Phone 7 Web Browser Comparison (Video)". Archived from the original on 2011-11-26. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
  18. ↑ Windows Phone 7 In Depth: A Fresh Start
  19. ↑ Exclusive: Windows Phone 7 Browser Comparison | Pocketnow , retrieved 2023-03-05
  20. ↑ Microsoft shows off WP7's future with multitasking, Twitter integration, and IE9, all coming this year – Engadget
  21. ↑ IE9 For Windows Phone Is "Code Complete" – everythingWM Archived July 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ wfa31sk (20 June 2012). "Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8 at the Windows Phone Developer Summit in San Francisco". Akibatech31 (blog). WordPress.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ↑ Rossi, Jacob (21 September 2012). "Touch Input for IE10 and Metro style Apps". IEBlog (blog). MSDN.
  24. ↑ Vygantas (20 June 2012). "Windows Phone 8: Internet Explorer 10 Detailed". FavBrowser.com (blog).
  25. ↑ Sabri, Sam (April 14, 2014). "Check out these 8 new kickass features in IE11 on Windows Phone 8.1". Windows Phone Central. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  26. ↑ Microsoft (2014-08-01). "The Mobile Web should just work for everyone". msdn.com. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
  27. ↑ Mick, Jason (August 21, 2014). "Opera Becomes Official Browser of Microsoft-Nokia's Non-Windows Phones". DailyTech. Archived from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.