Internet Explorer 3

Internet Explorer 3.0
	Version of Internet Explorer
Version	3.0
Compatible with	Windows 3.1x; Windows NT 3.5x; Windows 95; Windows NT 4.0; Mac OS 7; Mac OS 8; Mac OS 9
Release date	1996-08-24
Support end
About
Replaces
	Internet Explorer 2.0 (Windows 95/NT 4.0/Mac OS); Internet Explorer 2.1 (Windows 3.1/NT 3.5x)
Replaced by
	Internet Explorer 4

Internet Explorer 3 is the third version of Internet Explorer that was released on 24 August 1996. It was shipped with Windows 95 OSR2 and bundled with Office 97 but is also available for Windows 3.1x, Windows NT 3.5x, versions of Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 with older versions of Internet Explorer, as well as Mac OS. It also comes as part of the Internet Explorer Startup Kit from 1996, which replaced the Internet Jumpstart Kit from Microsoft Plus! 95. This is the first version of Internet Explorer to include Microsoft Internet Mail and News, later known as Outlook Express. The versions included with IE 3 (1.0 and 2.0) are the only ones with the "MORTIMER" Easter egg. See here for more details.

Internet Explorer 3 is the last version to support Windows NT 3.5 and Windows NT 4.0 up until SP2; the succeeding versions required Windows NT 3.51 and Windows NT 4.0 with SP3 or newer.

From version 3.0 onwards all versions for NT 3.5x were 16-bit only, as Microsoft initially planned to fully drop IE support for NT prior to 4.0 to push its sales. However, due to a huge number of customer complaints, they stepped back from this plan. At this point was seemingly cheaper to make the existing 16-bit variant compatible with NT 3.5x rather than backport the 32-bit version for NT 4.0 to NT 3.5x.^[1]

After the 16-bit-exclusive Version 2.1, it was the first one to widely use the iconic blue "e" logo.

Installation[edit | edit source]

The 32-bit setup will refuse to load on Windows with Internet Explorer 4 or newer installed. However, the 16-bit setup lets the user install it, even with a newer version installed, but it will display a message that a 32-bit version is available for Windows 95 (Windows NT 4.0 has been just released at the time IE 3 was released, but only with IE 2 installed). Opening the link, which leads to a long-gone Microsoft website will redirect to the Microsoft home page instead.

There are various installers for the 32-bit IE 3:

The one included with the Windows 95 discs only installs the web browser, as Internet Mail and News were packed in a separate installer.
The other widespread one includes all the web browser, Internet Mail and News, as well as NetMeeting and ActiveMovie. The user can also select which components should be installed.
The one included in the Startup Kit additionally includes Shockwave Flash.

Availability[edit | edit source]

Internet Explorer 3 is included in the installation discs of Windows NT 4.0 SP2 and SP3, Office 97, as well as Windows 95 OSR2 and OSR2.1 (3.02). On both latter systems, it is also pre-installed.