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Internet Component Download started with Microsoft® Internet Explorer 3.0 and provided a way to download software from the Internet. ICD was based on an INF file, which specified the attributes of the software that needed to be known for downloading. This early version of ICD, as implemented by Internet Explorer 3.0, was limited for the following reasons:
Additions to the Internet Component Download mechanism have been made in later versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer. The following links go to sections that detail the changes made in other versions.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 solved the above problems by supporting the Open Software Description (OSD) vocabulary. OSD provides the Internet Component Download mechanism with the ability to download Java applications, Java packages, and ActiveX® Controls. OSD also provides the ability to handle complex file dependencies that might be spread out over multiple distribution units on the Internet, and it provides automatic installation of missing components. This article covers topics common to both the INF and OSD format of ICD. For information specific to OSD or INF format, see OSD File Architecture and Using INF Files.
The following table briefly summarizes the changes between Internet Explorer 4.0 and Internet Explorer 4.01.
| Feature | 4.0 | 4.01 |
|---|---|---|
| Advertise new application version | yes | yes |
| Precache new application version | yes | yes |
| OSD-aware shortcuts | no | yes |
| ActiveX control precache | yes | yes |
| ActiveX channel upgrade | no | yes |
| OSD-based Java install | yes | yes |
Note Internet Explorer 4.0 is able to precache an ActiveX control only if an OBJECT tag uses the same code base as the software update channel.
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