Win3x.Org

Tabs on Internet Explorer 5.x and 6.0.

Have you ever considered to improve the user experience on older browsers by adding tabs? Most users have waited the release of Internet Explorer 7.0 to enjoy that feature, although others browsers natively managed tabs few years earlier, such as Mozilla Firefox, NetScape, Opera or InternetWorks (the earliest one to handle them). However, it's actually possible to enable tabs on IE 5.x and 6.0!

Indeed, even previous versions of IE support extensions at some extent, and some developpers managed to add tabs on pre-IE7 browsers. There exist several toolbars to get the same thing, like MSN Toolbar or Live Toolbar, but I'm going to talk about an alternative, Yahoo! Toolbar.

Here is a screenshot to prove my achievement :
To use that extra feature, just click on "+ Add Tab", and click on the red cross (right) to remove some of them. The tabs can display the favicons and it's easy to swap them. Pretty much like on modern browsers.

Yahoo! Toolbar 6.3.1.1 (879 KB) Hits : 64 98+

Thank you for the attention

Your devoted servant Matthias.

That's a good add-on for the former Microsoft browser ^^

Although the Matthias's screenshot shows IE 6 on Windows XP, that toolbar also works with IE 5.01+ on Windows 98

It works on native IE 5.00.2614.3500 on 98SE
Don't know if it's IE5 or 5.01

My capture on it :

Your experience is interesting, Joet BERNARD.

According to Microsoft, the version included with Windows 98 Second Edition is still IE5.0 : see the archived page "How to determine which version of Internet Explorer is installed". IE5.01 Release Candidate 1 and newer, designed for Windows 95 and later, have a version number at least equals to 5.00.2919.xxxx. The version included with Win98SE is identified as 5.00.2614.3500. However, it's not that clear because its version number is apparently higher than the number for IE 5.01 beta 3 (5.00.2516.1900).

Code: Select all 5.00.2014.0216   Internet Explorer 5 5.00.2314.1003   Internet Explorer 5 (Office 2000) 5.00.2614.3500   Internet Explorer 5 (Windows 98 Second Edition) 5.00.2516.1900   Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000 Beta 3, build 5.00.2031) 5.00.2919.800    Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000 RC1, build 5.00.2072) 5.00.2919.3800   Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000 RC2, build 5.00.2128) 5.00.2919.6307   Internet Explorer 5.01 (Office 2000 SR-1) 5.00.2920.0000   Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000, build 5.00.2195)

On Windows 98 (the original release, not the second one), that Yahoo! Toolbar can be installed even if the system has IE4 or IE5.0 but that doesn't work with these browsers (I've tested the build 5.00.2314.1003). The toolbar appears with IE5.01 or higher. Sounds like the IE5.0 included with Win98SE has noticeably extended capabilities compared to slightly lower versions!

I've try IE 4.01 SP2 on 98FE (yes, it's possible to install it into the First Edition, so there's a mistake here -> viewtopic.php?t=109), and... it doesn't work...

But, it works with IE 5.00.2314.1003 in 98FE for me
Downloaded from here

Otherwise, i found a little shell for Trident engine, NetCaptor that support Tabs and Windows 95/NT 4
Note : It works also with RTM IE 4 on 95 Enjoy Tabbing in IE on 95/NT4

Joet BERNARD wrote: *

16 June, 23:15

I've try IE 4.01 SP2 on 98FE (yes, it's possible to install it into the First Edition

The original edition of Windows 98 includes IE 4.01 SP1. Therefore, IE 4.01 SP2 is an updated version compared to the native one.

Joet BERNARD wrote: *

16 June, 23:15

But, it works with IE 5.00.2314.1003 in 98FE for me

I figured out why it didn't work for me. The reason is I selected minimal installation at the setup. If I select the typical or full installation, or a custom one with the DHTML component, the Yahoo! toolbar eventually works (at least if it has been installed after IE5). I've also noticed the toolbar can work with a minimal installation if some system updates have (previously) been applied, such as the two updates for the 2K year.



I've edited the topic title to reflect that compatibility between Yahoo! toolbar and earlier versions of IE5.0.

Oddly, if I install IE 5.01 without DHML component on a Win98FE system with no extra update, its works, but the story is different for IE 5.0. That's why I believed the toolbar isn't compatible with IE5.0 and requires at least IE 5.01. That said, that add-on is totally incompatible with IE4 : even if I installed IE 4.01 SP2 and many system updates, that toolbar doesn't appear.

Joet BERNARD wrote: *

16 June, 23:15

Otherwise, i found a little shell for Trident engine, NetCaptor that support Tabs and Windows 95/NT 4
Note : It works also with RTM IE 4 on 95 Enjoy Tabbing in IE on 95/NT4

Where did you download NetCaptor? It's not available on Win3x.Org.

On the Wayback Machine. I can make a new topic for it in Contributions if desired