IBM WebExplorer

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox web browser

IBM WebExplorer was an early web browser designed at IBM facilities in the Research Triangle Park for OS/2.

HistoryEdit

Presented in 1994 with OS/2 Warp (v3), it was hailed as the best browser by Internet Magazine in their November issue and leveraged its position as the only native browser in OS/2 at that time. It was a "coming attraction" in The HTML Sourcebook: The Complete Guide to HTML. Almost immediately after the introduction of OS/2 Warp version 3, IBM dismantled the development team and that relegated the WebExplorer to the annals of history.Template:Citation needed OS/2 Warp 4 (1996) included it, but also included a link to download an OS/2 version of Netscape Navigator 2.02, which was late for shipping on CD. IBM had already planned the substitution of WebExplorer.Template:Citation needed

In 1995, it was added to AIX, IBM's proprietary UNIX platform.<ref name="aix">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A 1996 review in PC Mag found that WebExplorer "lack[ed] several standard features" and wasn't very strong in terms of multimedia support. The IBM browser shipping with the IBM Internet Connection suite, WebExplorer Mosaic, was based on the Spyglass Mosaic code base and was found by the reviewer to be "far superior" to the OS/2 version, which was developed solely by IBM.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

FeaturesEdit

  • Support for HTML 3.0 (with tables)<ref name="readme1.1h">Read me file of the Web Explorer 1.1h.</ref>
  • Usenet reader
  • Some of its parts could be reused in other programs<ref name="EDM">Under the Scope section. EDM/2 June 1996,

Volume 4 Issue 5</ref> and scripted with Rexx. Some external companies used this capability to offer an enhanced browser with IBM's rendering engine<ref name="WebNav">WebNav 2.0 added user interface enhancements on WebExplorer rendering.</ref>

  • A page could define what the animated throbber should look like. It was implemented through a non-standard <frame> HTML tag. OS/2 users created several animations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The later introduction of web frames leads WebExplorer to confusion on modern pages

  • A presentation mode without visible menu bars
  • A menu option Links collecting all the links in the page. It was used by IBM VoiceType for voice navigation
  • Java applets<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • GIF support<ref name="readme1.1h"/>
  • Proxy authentication<ref name="readme1.1h"/>
  • Image map<ref name="readme1.1h"/>
  • Webmap "hierarchically displays your complete path through the web; a pointer denotes the current site, but any site can be revisited with only a mouse click."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Version historyEdit

Version Date New features Systems
1.0 Template:Start date Customized Animations OS/2 2.1, OS/2 Warp
1.01 Template:Start date OS/2 2.1, OS/2 Warp
1.02 Template:Start date Drag and Drop Support

Color Palette Management

OS/2 Warp
1.03 Template:Start date Newsgroup Manager

HTML Extensions

OS/2 Warp
1.1a Template:Start date OS/2 Warp
1.1b Template:Start date OS/2 Warp
1.1c Template:Start date OS/2 Warp
1.1d Template:Start date OS/2 Warp
1.1e Template:Start date OS/2 Warp
1.1f Template:Start date Option "No Proxy For" OS/2 Warp
1.1g Template:Start date OS/2 Warp
1.1h Template:Start date OS/2 Warp
1.2 Template:Start date OS/2 Warp Version 4

There were several builds released by IBM. IBM released some beta builds and also fixed many bugs in WebExplorer, one beta including support for Java.

CriticismEdit

The browser did not support Frames and the installation of plugins like Java was complicated.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

DownloadsEdit

Template:Early web browsers Template:Web browsers Template:IBM