IE 4.0: Under the Hood nytimes.com
Dang, I messed up big time yesterday, missed this timely and informative article. A few months late, but it's the only attempt I've seen to actually delve into the mysterious IE4/Win95 "integration" / "dll hell" issue in detail. Names and sizes of files, even some annotation.
The Justice Department is seeking to prevent Microsoft from making computer manufacturers load Internet Explorer in new machines. Microsoft says, however, that without Explorer, its Windows 95 operating system and features of other software will not work.
The reason: When Microsoft upgraded Internet Explorer to version 3.0, it placed some of the program's improved code into files that also contained instructions for operating system functions like drawing windows on screen. The new hybrid files, some of which previously existed as part of Windows, became part of Internet Explorer.
Well, that makes total sense, technically. Not. On the business is war front, of course, it's all perfectly clear. As I've sarcastically noted more than once, everything done to Win95 since the retail launch is now officially "part of IE". The whole Windows development team moved over to IE, so it must be true. How will it play on the legal front? We'll see, sooner or later. If not from the Special Master, then in the next round.
Cheers, Dan. |
