IBM WebExplorer

2025-01-07T23:28:52Z

2001:56A:FE44:B800:4416:5649:C7AF:684B: /* Version history */ fix typo severals --> several

{{short description|Discontinued web browser for IBM OS/2}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox web browser
| name = IBM WebExplorer
| logo = webex.png
| screenshot = OS2 IBM WebExplorer.png
| caption = IBM WebExplorer displaying the [[White House]] website.
| developer = [[IBM]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1995|11|27}}
| latest release version = 1.2
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|1998|11|25}}
| operating system = [[OS/2]]
| platform =
| language = English
| programming language =
| genre = [[Web browser]]
| license =
| discontinued = yes
| website = {{URL|ibm.net/webexplore/}}
}}

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

==History==
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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}

In 1995, it was added to AIX, IBM's proprietary UNIX platform.<ref name="aix">{{Cite web |url=http://www.taborcommunications.com/archives/5598.html |title=IBM Cruises onto Internet with Security Products & WWW Software SUPERHIGHWAY REPORT HPCwire |access-date=July 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203124731/http://www.taborcommunications.com/archives/5598.html |archive-date=February 3, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</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 Inc.|Spyglass]] [[Mosaic (web browser)|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>{{cite news |first1=Rick |last1=Ayre |first2=Thomas |last2=Mace |title=Just Browsing |newspaper=PC Mag |date=12 March 1996 |publisher=Ziff Davis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rGvyMX6n8cC&pg=RA1-PA142}}</ref>

==Features==
*Support for [[HTML]] 3.0 (with tables)<ref name="readme1.1h">[[Read me]] file of the Web Explorer 1.1h.</ref>
*[[Newsreader (Usenet)|Usenet reader]]
*Some of its parts could be reused in other programs<ref name="EDM">[http://www.edm2.com/0405/scope.html 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">[http://www.bmtmicro.com/BMTCatalog/multipleos/webnav.html 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 <nowiki><frame></nowiki> [[HTML tag]]. OS/2 users created several animations.<ref>{{cite web|title=hobbes.nmsu.edu |url=http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/h-browse?sh=1&dir=//pub/multimedia/video/webexani |publisher=hobbes.nmsu.edu |access-date=April 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705094652/http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/h-browse?sh=1&dir=%2Fpub%2Fmultimedia%2Fvideo%2Fwebexani |archive-date=July 5, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The later introduction of [[Framing (World Wide Web)|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 applet]]s<ref>{{cite web|last=Amstadt |first=Steve |title=Browser Watch – IBM OS/2 Webexplorer News! |url=http://browserwatch.internet.com/news/story/ibm9.html |access-date=July 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990209192948/http://browserwatch.internet.com/news/story/ibm9.html |archive-date=February 9, 1999 |date=December 3, 1996 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Designing Web Animation|url=http://podgoretsky.com/ftp/Docs/Internet/pdf/Designing%20Web%20Animation.pdf|publisher=[[New Riders Publishing]]|access-date=July 8, 2010|author=Nicola Brown|author2=Peter Chen |author3=David Miller |author4=Paul Van Eyk |author5=William E. Weinman |year=1996}}</ref>
*[[Graphics Interchange Format|GIF]] support<ref name="readme1.1h"/>
*[[Proxy server|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>{{cite news|title=Internet Access Tools|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yurvRCerf_UC&pg=PA168|access-date=Mar 8, 2018|work=PC Mag|issue=v.14 n.7|publisher=Ziff Davis|date=Oct 10, 1995}}</ref>

==Version history==
{|class="wikitable"
!Version
!Date
!New features
!Systems
|-
|1.0
| {{Start date|1995|1|06}}
|Customized Animations
|OS/2 2.1, OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.01
| {{Start date|1995|4|05}}
|
|OS/2 2.1, OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.02
| {{Start date|1995|6|28}}
|Drag and Drop Support
Color Palette Management
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.03
| {{Start date|1995|9|28}}
|Newsgroup Manager
HTML Extensions
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.1a
| {{Start date|1996|3|22}}
|
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.1b
| {{Start date|1996}}
|
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.1c
| {{Start date|1996|6|06}}
|
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.1d
| {{Start date|1996|6|14}}
|
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.1e
| {{Start date|1996|7|11}}
|
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.1f
| {{Start date|1996|9|13}}
|Option "No Proxy For"
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.1g
| {{Start date|1996|11|07}}
|
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.1h
| {{Start date|1996|12|11}}
|
|OS/2 Warp
|-
|1.2
| {{Start date|1996}}
|
|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.

==Criticism==
The browser did not support [[Framing (World Wide Web)|Frames]] and the installation of [[Plug-in (computing)|plugins]] like Java was complicated.<ref>{{cite web|last=Watson|first=Dave|title=A Quick Look at Web Explorer|url=http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2001/webexplorer.html|publisher=The Southern California OS/2 User Group|access-date=August 16, 2010|date=July 21, 2001}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990116230210/http://www.networking.ibm.com/WebExplorer/webhome.htm |date=January 16, 1999 |title=The official page at IBM }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070222135131/http://www.seds.org/~spider/os2/webex.html The IBM OS/2 WebExplorer]
*[http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f2000/2054.htm IBM WebExplorer is mentioned] in [[United States v. Microsoft]].

===Downloads===
*[https://browsers.evolt.org/browsers/archive/webexplorer versions 1.01 and 1.1h] at browsers.evolt.org
*[http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/apps/internet/www/browser/webxv11h.zip version 1.1h] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724061132/http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/apps/internet/www/browser/webxv11h.zip |date=July 24, 2011 }}

{{Early web browsers}}
{{web browsers}}
{{IBM}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibm Webexplorer}}
[[Category:OS/2 web browsers]]
[[Category:1994 software]]
[[Category:Discontinued web browsers]]
[[Category:IBM software|Webexplorer]]
[[Category:Products and services discontinued in 1998]]

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IBM WebExplorer