Active Desktop is a feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0's optional Windows Desktop Update that allows the user to add HTML content to the desktop, along with some other features. This functionality was intended to be installed on the then-current Windows 95 operating system. It was also included in Windows 98 and higher Windows operating systems until Windows Vista, where the feature was discontinued. This corresponded to version Internet Explorer 4.0 to Internet Explorer 6.0, but not Internet Explorer 7.

Users can add HTML both in place of the regular wallpaper and as independent resizable desktop items. Items available on-line can be regularly updated and synchronized so users can stay updated without visiting the website in their browser.

Active Desktop works much like desktop widget technology in that it allows users to place customized information on their desktop.

Turning Active Desktop off saves a bit of memory and improves the performance of low-memory PCs. There is a checkbox in Window's Display Properties dialog box to do this. Two TweakUI settings can disable Active Desktop completely or disallow changes to it.

History

The Channel Bar, appearing in Windows 98, is an Active Desktop item

The introduction of the Active Desktop marked Microsoft's attempt to capitalize on the short-lived push technology trend led by PointCast. Active Desktop placed a number of "channels" on the user's computer desktop that provided continually-updated information, such as news headlines and stock quotes, without requiring the user to open a Web browser.

Active Desktop debuted during the 1997 release of Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, as a feature of the optional Windows Desktop Update offered to users during the upgrade install. While the Windows Desktop Update is frequently referred to (improperly) as Active Desktop itself, it is actually an entire Windows shell upgrade from v4.0 to v4.71, or v4.72, with numerous changes to the Windows interface, resulting in an appearance and functionality level nearly indistinguishable from the then yet-to-be-released Windows 98. Features include the option to allow uppercase filenames (the old v4.0 desktop would forcibly display uppercase filenames in title case), configurable one-click hot-tracking file selection, customizable per-folder HTML display settings, QuickLaunch mini-buttons on the Task Bar next to the Start button, upgraded Start Menu allowing drag and drop item reordering and allowing right-click context menus for item renaming, etc. With the update, Windows Explorer now features an Address bar in which Internet addresses can be entered and seamlessly browsed.

Current usage

Windows Vista has replaced the Active Desktop with Windows Sidebar, that also allows components to be added to the desktop. Windows XP is the most recent Microsoft operating system to support Active Desktop. It still provides the option to display Web pages and channels built with Microsoft's Channel Definition Format (CDF) on the desktop.

The HTML displaying capabilities are now mainly used for creating original wallpapers and adding search boxes to the desktop. For example, a user could copy the following code to display Wikipedia's search-box on the desktop: