Microsoft Corp. this week announced it is giving developers an advance look at the updated feature set of the new Internet Explorer 5.0 browser.
New features of the Developer Preview include:
- DHTML Behaviors
- Ease of use/development enhancements
- Enhancements to tables
- Object model additions
- Accessibility enhancements
- HTML application support
Of greatest interest to Web developers is the new DHTML Behaviors that make Dynamic HTML functionality easier to access and employ within an HTML page.
The DHTML “behavior components” may be developed using any scripting language, including JScript, JavaScript or the Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition, and by using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). They enable the developer to utilize this additional dynamic functionality with any element that is contained in an HTML document. By using DHTML behaviors, developers are able to use CSS to keep the script separate from the content and style of a Web page.
Another new feature of MSIE5 is the ability to drag between frames and drop to and from applications. This is actually implemented by using the support of the Win32-based IDropTarget and IDragSource COM interfaces. You can drag text from a Web page to any application that accepts text, including Notepad, Microsoft Word, etc.
Additionally, the four new persistence behaviors (Save Snapshot, Save User Data, Save History, Save Favorites) enable developers to save the state and data of a Web page so that it may be presented at another time. This provides developers with an alternative to using cookies, and enables them to keep track of the history of links visited, favorites, and so on.
Other enhancements include the ability to detect client information such as the available screen width and height, connection type and platform, in addition to cookies and Java-enabled capabilities. Various table layout enhancements have also been added to the browser.
To download the Developer Release of MSIE5, you must be a Microsoft Site Builder member. If you are already a member, you may download the release from the Microsoft MSIE5 download area.
Non-members will need to register for free before they can download the product. For more information about MSIE5, visit the Developer Preview Web site.