Internet Explorer 3 - Bundled And/or Integrated Software

Bundled And/or Integrated Software

IE3 launched with a variety of integrated apps, with some added later.

• Internet Mail and News an e-mail and news client included with IE3. It was replaced/renamed in IE4 as Outlook Express 4.0.
• Windows Address Book an application that has a local database and user interface that lets users keep a single list of contacts that can be shared by multiple programs. It can query LDAP servers or read/write data to a local .wab file. Later versions were no longer bundled with IE, instead with Windows until Vista.
• Microsoft Comic Chat is a text chatting program that used cartoon avatars to display text and emotion. It was updated and renamed Microsoft Chat 2.0 in IE4 (not to be confused with the later Microsoft Chat(WinChat program).
• RealPlayer was a streaming media player made by Progressive Networks (later called RealNetworks). The first version of RealPlayer was introduced in April 1995 as RealAudio Player and was one of the first media players capable of streaming media over the Internet. Versions 3.0.1 for Windows 3.11 - RealPlayer 2.1.1.10, 3.0.2 for Windows 95 - RealPlayer 2.1.1.9, and 3.0.2 for Windows NT - RealPlayer 2.1.1.9.

Later versions of Internet Explorer 3 also included:

• Microsoft NetMeeting is a VoIP and multi-point videoconferencing client that uses the H.323 protocol for video and audio conferencing.
• Windows Media Player an audio and visual media player playing several formats including .avi. The browser could play MIDI files on its own.

IE3 also included Microsoft Java Virtual Machine, which continued to be included until 5.5 when due to legal battle between Sun and Microsoft, it had to be removed from the product. Microsoft stopped offering it in 2001, although it was supported for several years after this (until the end of 2007).