Removal of Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer removal has changed over its version history, but the nature of many of its upgrades and installation methods has been source of public interest. The first version to be included was version 2 with Windows 95 in late 1996. Later, users who upgraded to IE3 (which came out in 1996), could still use the last IE, because the installation converted the previous version to separate directory. [ "By having IE3 rename your previous version, Microsoft gives you a fallback in case IE3 crashes. IE3 also scans for Netscape bookmarks and converts them to IE3 favorites." http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/2801/internet-explorer-30.html ] However, Internet Explorer 4 created a controversy with its shell integration with Windows Explorer, and with later versions removal (or inability to do so) became more complicated. The idea of removing Internet Explorer from a Microsoft Windows operating system was proposed during the United States v. Microsoft case. Later, some security advocates took up the idea as a way to protect Windows systems from attack via IE vulnerabilities. By the release of Internet Explorer 7, some of the shell integration began being reduced, such as changing ActiveX hosting and a different look than Windows Explorer.

Vulnerabilities

Simply installing and using another browser does not prevent third party programs and core operating system components from using IE libraries. Thus, a user who does not use IE to browse the Web can still be targeted by attacks against vulnerabilities in these libraries—for instance, via Outlook Express or the Windows Help subsystem. However, removing the IE libraries will cause these programs, and other software which depends upon them, to cease functioning or even to crash the system.

Removing

It is unclear what it means to "remove IE" because such a removal depends on being able to determine which files or functions on an installed Windows system are part of IE — that is, to draw a line between IE and the rest of Windows. Microsoft has held that this is not meaningful; that in Windows 98 and newer versions, "Internet Explorer" is not a separate piece of software but simply a brand name for the Web-browsing and HTML-displaying capacities of the Windows operating system. In this view, the result of removing IE is simply a damaged Windows system; to have a working system without IE one must replace Windows entirely.

It is possible to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 95 after installing, [cite web|url=http://wp.netscape.com/browsers/using/ieusers/start/removing.html |title=AOL.com - Netscape |publisher=Wp.netscape.com |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16] [cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q192852 |title=How to Remove Internet Explorer and Outlook Express from your Computer |publisher=Support.microsoft.com |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16] as well as before install time. [cite web|url=http://toastytech.com/evil/lab.html |title=Nathan's MAD IE De-integration Lab |publisher=Toastytech.com |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16] Removing Internet Explorer from Windows 2000,http://www.vorck.com/remove-ie.html] Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 [cite web|url=http://www.nliteos.com |title=nLite - Deployment Tool for the bootable Unattended Windows installation |publisher=Nliteos.com |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16] [cite web|url=http://hfslip.org |title=TommyP's HFSLIP |publisher=Hfslip.org |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16] is also possible at installation time.

In contrast, some programmers and security writers have held that it is possible to have a useful and working Windows system with IE excised, that is, without Microsoft's implementation of web browsing and HTML viewing. These people include consultant Fred Vorck, who advocates that consumers should have the choice to remove "integrated" features of Microsoft Windows and participates in the HFSLIP project; Dino Nuhagic, who is the creator of nLite — a product that allows users to remove Windows components like Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, amongst others; [cite web|url=http://www.msfn.org |title=MSFN - Where People Go To Know |publisher=Msfn.org |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16] and Shane Brooks, who created 98lite and XPLite to remove and manage Windows components [cite web|url=http://www.litepc.com |title=LitePC Technologies |publisher=Litepc.com |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16] after the installation of the operating system. These experts have all suggested removing Internet Explorer from computers in order to decrease exposure to security risks on the Internet. [cite web|url=http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?editorialsID=439 |title=Redmond Feature Article: Time to Dump IE? |publisher=Redmondmag.com |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16]

Conflicts

One of Microsoft's arguments during the United States v. Microsoft trial was that removing Internet Explorer from Windows may result in system instability. At least one commentator supports this argument, and notes that removing Internet Explorer will also disable Windows Update, leaving the user without vital security updates to the operating system. [ [http://www.stopie.com/stopie/removingie/] dead link|date=September 2008] This overlooks the use of a 3rd party security update solution like the browser plugin WindizUpdate [http://www.windizupdate.com] that can check for and perform updates without using Windows Update. As well, almost all Windows Updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft homepage directly.

When removing Internet Explorer prior to Windows installation using nLite, there is a distinction between removing Internet Explorer and "Internet Explorer Core". If the latter is not removed, core components needed for displaying HTML help files and other operating system tasks are not removed, but the web browser is removed from the system.

While the dominant market position of Windows and Internet Explorer may cause these arguments to appear insubstantial, this arrangement is not unique to Windows. Safari, the default browser on Mac OS X, is similarly integrated into the operating system. While it is possible to delete the application itself without problem, Safari is in fact merely a front-end for Apple's open source WebKit framework, which is heavily integrated into the operating system and cannot be removed. [cite web|url=http://webkit.org/ |title=The WebKit Open Source Project |publisher=Webkit.org |date= |accessdate=2008-09-16] However, certain other browsers available for use on the operating system are also built on WebKit. By contrast, the closed source "Internet Explorer core" can only be utilized by Internet Explorer, as well as Internet Explorer shells.

References