Active Channel was a technology introduced by
Internet Explorer 4.0
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 (IE4) is a graphical web browser that Microsoft unveiled in Spring of 1997, and released in September 1997, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but also with versions available for the classic Mac OS, Solaris (operating ...
in 1997. It allowed synchronizing
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...
content and viewing it offline. It made use of the
Channel Definition Format, which was designed to "offer frequently updated collections of information, or channels, from any web server for automatic delivery to compatible receiver programs."
History
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
unveiled the Active Channel component as part of an Internet Explorer 4.0 preview release in July 1997, and brought out the final version with the launch of the 4.0 browser in September that year.
Most Active Channels were provided by bigger entertainment companies like
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
,
WB or
AOL and also made heavy use of
DHTML (Dynamic HTML). Channel defaults varied by country, and were controlled by the choice of country during the installation of
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Windows line of operating systems ( ...
4 (and therefore
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. The second operating system in the 9x line, it is the successor to Windows 95, and was released to ...
). Channels could be displayed in a Channel Bar.
Active Channel support was removed from
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Windows line of operating systems ( ...
in
version 7,
as it had been superseded by the more popular and standards-based
RSS format.
See also
*
Active Desktop
Active Desktop was a feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0's optional Windows Desktop Update that allowed users to add HTML content to the desktop, along with some other features. This function was intended to be installed on the then-curre ...
*
Channel Definition Format
*
Web Slice
References
External links
MSDN Introduction to Active Channel Technology
{{Internet Explorer
Microsoft websites
Discontinued Microsoft software
Windows 98
Internet Explorer