Internet Explorer Add-ons: Toys and Tools
Published: November 18, 2004
By Sandi Hardmeier
My task today is to chat about third-party add-ons for Microsoft Internet Explorer. This is going to be fun. There are so many marvelous products out there; I hardly know where to start.1
The new version of Internet Explorer that is part of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) has some big improvements, including a pop-up blocker, an add-on manager, and better protection against some phishing techniques. The user experience is greatly enhanced. So, when I sat down to decide what I am going to write about, and why, a few things came to mind. First, the add-ons for this article will be free for personal use, or free to all users.2 Second, I'd like to help Windows 98 and Windows 95, Windows ME and Windows NT users experience some benefits similar to those experienced by people using Windows XP SP2. And, I'll throw in some other stuff just because I think it's cool.
'All I Want for Christmas is a New Toolbar'
There are many, many toolbars available for Internet Explorer that do lots of different things, some are more high profile than others. The toolbars that are my personal favorites are:
| • | Vivisimo MiniBar (search, pop-up blocking) |
| • | Altavista's toolbar (search, pop-up blocking, Web page translation) |
| • | SpoofStick (protection against fake Web sites) |
| • | Earthlink's toolbar (search, pop-up blocking, protection against fake Web sites) |
The Cool Stuff - Vivisimo MiniBar
The Vivisimo MiniBar has been designed specifically to take up as little space as possible, so if you have Windows XP SP2 and don't need, for example, the pop-up blocker, you can turn it off and hide the feature completely. If, on the other hand, you want to get all the bells and whistles, there is a full-width toolbar available.
The Vivisimo MiniBar is compact be design
I use the MiniBar primarily for searching, and don't need the pop-up blocker because I run Windows XP SP2, but it also has several other features including 'Search other Sources', 'Keyword Highlighting', 'Word Finder', and 'Query Catcher'. These features are described on Vivisimo's 'How it Works' page.
Vivisimo's search engine automatically queries many different services when completing a search and can be set to search specific news sites and even eBay. The results are displayed in a tree format, allowing you to choose which particular clustered result you would like to examine in more detail.
Vivisimo's search results are displayed in a tree format
Vivisimo’s advanced search settings are controlled with a simple ‘tick the box’ interface.
Vivisimo’s search settings are easy to customize
The MiniBar is also customized using the same type of interface, but this time the page is stored on your local hard drive. There is no need to be on the Internet to make changes.
You can access the MiniBar's settings on or offline
More Cool Stuff – Altavista
Altavista's toolbar has the usual goodies such as Web and site search and pop-up blocker. Unwanted buttons can be hidden, and the appearance of the bar can be changed in several ways.
The Altavista toolbar is customizable
The thing that makes the Altavista toolbar stand out from the crowd for me is the Translate button which allows you to translate an entire site, or just selected text. Here is a screen shot of a page on Microsoft's German Web site. Note that the Altavista translator ignores text in pictures. Apart from that, it does a pretty good job.
You can translate a Web site with the Altavista toolbar
Simple Protection – SpoofStick
SpoofStick is a simple toolbar that doesn't do very much: it doesn't have a pop-up blocker and it doesn't include search ability but what it does do is important.
SpoofStick has been designed to help users detect spoofed (fake) Web sites such as those used by phishers. Firstly, it pops up a warning window if you try to go to a Web site that is attempting to hide itself behind a known security exploit involving the use of an @ character in a URL.
SpoofStick can give you a warning if you try to go to a fake Web site
Tip: Install all Internet Explorer critical updates to help protect against dangerous URLs.
SpoofStick also displays, very prominently, the domain of the site you are visiting.
SpoofStick displays the correct URL
This information can be very useful if we go to a site that tries to disguise its real identity. To illustrate how SpoofStick works I created a temporary demonstration page and took a screenshot. The page looks real, but SpoofStick shows that you are not where you think you are.
SpoofStick detects an incorrect URL
There is a security vulnerability, fixed in Windows XP SP2 that uses a pop-up window to hide a victim's address bar, making them think they are at a legitimate Web site. This pop-up window looks exactly like the address portion of an address bar, and is placed right on top of IE's real address bar, thereby hiding the phishing URL. SpoofStick defeats this trick in a couple of ways. Have a look at the two screen shots below to see what I mean.
This is what an address bar exploit looks like
SpoofStick foils the address bar exploit
It seems that the JavaScript used for the fake address bar exploit can not detect the SpoofStick toolbar. The end result looks a lot like the protection available to Windows XP SP2 users (below):
Windows XP SP2 foils the address bar exploit
An Even Better Protection - Earthlink's Toolbar
Unfortunately, SpoofStick can only be installed on Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines. So, I went looking further afield for something that anybody can use and found Earthlink's toolbar. Like the other toolbars featured, Earthlink's toolbar can block pop-up windows, and includes a search pane, but its outstanding feature is what Earthlink has named 'ScamBlocker.'
Earthlink's toolbar has Pop-up Blocker and ScamBlocker
Tip: Earthlink's ScamBlocker depends on a list of bad sites maintained by Earthlink. ZoneAlarm and other firewalls may warn you that the Earthlink toolbar is trying to connect to the internet. Don't block it. You can join in and help fight phishers. Use the toolbar's built in reporting tool to report phish sites that the Earthlink ScamBlocker doesn't detect.
If we try to access a known phish site, ScamBlocker will step in and redirect your browser away from the dangerous site.
ScamBlocker redirects you away from known phish sites
After the redirection, we end up at a marvelous Earthlink Web page that explains what has happened, and why. The site is not blocked completely, a user can still go to the site, but will have to make a conscious decision to turn off ScamBlocker and then click on the button to go to the 'potentially dangerous or fraudulent site.'
The Promised Cool Stuff
Kopassa Browser
Tabbed browsing has become very popular, and many browsers that use Internet Explorer technology (known as IE shells) have introduced the feature. Kopassa is seriously different. There are no tabbed windows and Ctrl+N (shortcut to open a new window) doesn't work. Instead you have to right click on a link and select 'open in new pane.' And check out the multipane with thumbnails that is used instead of tabs.
The Kopassa browser has thumbnail browsing
There's a stack of other interesting features, including a very cool 'scrapbook' for copying graphics. Each graphic is copied with a source link so that you can go straight back to where the graphic came from. Anyway, if you want to play with something really different, Kopassa is certainly that.
Deepnet Explorer
Deepnet Explorer is another browser that is breaking new ground. It is not a full Internet Explorer shell like Kopassa (it does not support Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) and browser plug-ins, for example) but it does use several of its files, and the standard Internet options can be accessed from within Deepnet.
Not only does Deepnet have the now common tabbed windows, a pop-up stopper, and search ability, Deepnet also advertises itself as the world's first browser with peer-to-peer (P2P) abilities and a built-in RSS/ATOM news reader.
There are two versions of Deepnet available, a personal edition that includes the P2P client, and a corporate edition that includes only the Web browser and RSS news reader. The RSS news reader is very cool. RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is the 'new information wave' on the internet. Basically, the RSS news reader looks like an e-mail message screen, except that instead having mail or newsgroup accounts, we subscribe to various RSS 'feeds' and download 'headlines' that link to a Web page.
The Deepnet news reader shows previews of headlines in e-mail format
After picking out an interesting article, we can navigate straight to that Web page article, using either the RSS preview pane, or opening the Web page in a new window.
Click on a news headline in the Deepnet news reader and read the whole article
RSS has completely changed the way I read the news. It is so much easier to download all my headlines, and then pick out what interests me. I get access to more information faster, and use less bandwidth. Deepnet checks all of my news feeds on a regular basis and pops up a little alert window, a lot like MSN Messenger's e-mail notification, when a new headline is downloaded.
Wasn't That Fun?
I hope you've enjoyed my short foray into the world of third-party add-ons for Internet Explorer. There is so much more I could show you, but alas, time gets away from us. Every product that I have featured is one that I use every day (except for SpywareBlaster – that is reserved for the hubby and kids).
