14 DAY TRIAL // Internet Explorer has certainly come a long way, with the browser packing an awful lot of history which is stretching across 15 years.
A new Knowledge Base article from Microsoft (KB969393) does a very nice job of putting IE’s legacy into perspective, albeit only release version-wise.
New versions of IE accompany such Windows releases as Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista.
Windows 7 dis ship with Internet Explorer 8 by default, but the browser had already been available for download for quite some time ahead of the operating system.
Similarly, Internet Explorer 9 will precede Windows vNext illustrating the fact that the intimate connection between the two products has been broken.
Windows 7 is in fact the first copy of Windows that allows customers to almost uninstall IE, by turning it off.
Internet Explorer 1.0 was offered for Windows 95 users, with versions 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 following it. Customers running Windows 98 got to use Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1 with Internet Explorer 5 available for Windows 98 Second Edition.
Microsoft then released Internet Explorer 5.5 for Windows Me, with Internet Explorer 6 shipping with Windows XP, almost a decade ago. With the advent of Windows Vista, the software giant started focusing on Internet Explorer again and delivered IE7.
Now the company is putting the finishing touches on IE9, getting ready for the Release Candidate (RC) milestone.
At the bottom of this article is a list with what Microsoft calls possible IE version numbers per the following format major version.minor version.build number.subbuild number.
It will allow users to see just how far Internet Explorer has come on Windows.
At the same time, users need to keep in mind that Internet Explorer was also offered on non-Windows platforms.
Mac users had the option of running IE for a while, up until version 5, when the Redmond company decided it was time to discontinue development. And in addition to Mac OS X, IE tasted real UNIX, also up to version 5.
But don’t expect IE9 to become platform agnostic anytime soon. Due to the hardware acceleration feature, IE9 comes with support only for Windows 7 and Windows Vista SP2, having no love for users running older version of DirectX, such as those still on Windows XP.
Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Beta is available for download here.
Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Platform Preview 7 (PP7) is available for download here.
4.40.308 Internet Explorer 1.0 (Plus! for Windows 95) 4.40.520 Internet Explorer 2.0 4.70.1155 Internet Explorer 3.0 4.70.1158 Internet Explorer 3.0 (Windows 95 OSR2) 4.70.1215 Internet Explorer 3.01 4.70.1300 Internet Explorer 3.02 and 3.02a 4.71.544 Internet Explorer 4.0 Platform Preview 1.0 (PP1) 4.71.1008.3 Internet Explorer 4.0 Platform Preview 2.0 (PP2) 4.71.1712.6 Internet Explorer 4.0 4.72.2106.8 Internet Explorer 4.01 4.72.3110.8 Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1 (Windows 98) 4.72.3612.1713 Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2 5.00.0518.10 Internet Explorer 5 Developer Preview (Beta 1) 5.00.0910.1309 Internet Explorer 5 Beta (Beta 2) 5.00.2014.0216 Internet Explorer 5 5.00.2314.1003 Internet Explorer 5 (Office 2000) 5.00.2614.3500 Internet Explorer 5 (Windows 98 Second Edition) 5.00.2516.1900 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000 Beta 3, build 5.00.2031) 5.00.2919.800 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000 RC1, build 5.00.2072) 5.00.2919.3800 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000 RC2, build 5.00.2128) 5.00.2919.6307 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Office 2000 SR-1) 5.00.2920.0000 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000, build 5.00.2195) 5.00.3103.1000 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP1 (Windows 2000 SP1) 5.00.3105.0106 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP1 (Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0) 5.00.3314.2101 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 (Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0) 5.00.3315.1000 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 (Windows 2000 SP2) 5.00.3502.1000 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP3 (Windows 2000 SP3 only) 5.00.3700.1000 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP4 (Windows 2000 SP4 only) 5.50.3825.1300 Internet Explorer 5.5 Developer Preview (Beta) 5.50.4030.2400 Internet Explorer 5.5 & Internet Tools Beta 5.50.4134.0100 Internet Explorer 5.5 for Windows Me (4.90.3000) 5.50.4134.0600 Internet Explorer 5.5 5.50.4308.2900 Internet Explorer 5.5 Advanced Security Privacy Beta 5.50.4522.1800 Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 1 5.50.4807.2300 Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2 6.00.2462.0000 Internet Explorer 6 Public Preview (Beta) 6.00.2479.0006 Internet Explorer 6 Public Preview (Beta) Refresh 6.00.2600.0000 Internet Explorer 6 (Windows XP) 6.00.2800.1106 Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (Windows XP SP1) 6.00.2900.2180 Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP SP2 6.00.2900.5512 Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP SP3 6.00.3663.0000 Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Server 2003 RC1 6.00.3718.0000 Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Server 2003 RC2 6.00.3790.0000 Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Server 2003 (release) 6.00.3790.1830 Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows XP x64 6.00.3790.3959 Internet Explorer 6 SP2 for Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows XP x64 7.00.5730.1100 Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 7.00.5730.1300 Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 7.00.6000.16386 Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Vista 7.00.6000.16441 Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003 SP2 x64 7.00.6000.16441 Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP SP2 x64 7.00.6001.1800 Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2008 and for Windows Vista SP1 8.00.6001.17184 Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 8.00.6001.18241 Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 8.00.6001.18372 Internet Explorer 8 RC1 8.00.6001.18702 Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 8.00.7000.00000 Internet Explorer 8 for Windows 7 Beta 8.00.7600.16385 Internet Explorer 8 for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 (release)