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Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows 3.1: Mixed Bag

Microsoft%squots new 16-bit browser resembles its Windows 95 sibling, right down to its buggy beginnings.

By Paul Heltzel, PCWorld   

Do you still use a laptop running Windows 3.1? Or perhaps your cheapskate boss won%squott upgrade the office to Windows 95? Regardless of why you%squotre still in a 16-bit situation, Microsoft now has a browser for you. Microsoft%squots new IE4 for Windows 3.1 and NT 3.51 offers the look and feel of its Windows 95 counterpart, but the final version I looked at (which was released on Wednesday) suffers from numerous bugs.

Installation wasnt easy, and during setup my system crashed twice. The program includes a modem dialer, but an error message occurred while I was setting it up. Microsoft is aware of the problem, which does not prevent you from connecting, and plans to offer a patch.

IE4 for Windows 3.1 offers features that 32-bit IE4 users will recognize, such as the Search, History, and Favorites Explorer bars. Drop-down menus show the sites the Back and Forward buttons will take you to. Security zones allow you to automatically submit information such as user name and password to sites you trust. And IE%squots mail client, Outlook Express, is included, as is Webcasting support through Microsoft%squots Active Channels.

What%squots missing: True Web integration features, such as single-click launching of programs and integration with the desktop. For example, the program cannot browse files on your hard drive. There is no support for ActiveX, and the AutoComplete function is AWOL. In the Windows 95 version, this feature fills in the address for a site you%squotve previously visited after you type in the first few letters.

Java support, notoriously slow on Windows 3.1, performed acceptably in some cases. However, accessing some pages with Java applets crashed not only the browser but also my entire system.

Microsoft says the program is designed for a 486 with at least 12MB of RAM. Anyone familiar with IE4 on Windows 95 will easily make the transition. So if your machine is up to snuff and you want a common interface across operating system versions, IE4 will do the job--but Id wait for a cleaner version to be released.