Internet Explorer Administration Kit 8: Custom Made

Running through the full Customisation Wizard can be a bit time-consuming, so I appreciated that one of the first screens let me choose which areas of the browser were to be customised. By deselecting browser features that would be untouched, I could greatly cut down on the number of steps in the wizard.

Another nice feature of IEAK 8 is Automatic Version Synchronisation. By using this feature, I could make sure that my networked installation of IE 8 would always stay up-to-date with the latest versions and patches.

End-user experience

IEAK gives businesses several options for how an employee will experience the IE 8 installation.

One option is for the installation to work as it normally does, with the standard options screens displayed. However, it is also possible to choose a hands-free install (where users don’t choose options) or a completely silent install.

Basic branding options are available, though there’s nothing that greatly changes the look and feel of the browser. I was able to change the top title bar of IE 8 to say “Windows Internet Explorer Provided by eWEEK Labs.”

IEAK 8 does a good job of leveraging IE 8’s ability to customise the integrated search capabilities within the browser. I could define which search providers would be available, and also add company Website or internal search servers to the browser.

All of the standard links and home pages used in the browser can be predefined with IEAK. For example, I could preset the home page, browser favourites and the links shown in the link bar in the browser. For the most part, these are pulled from the browser installed on the IEAK system (although they can be customised from within IEAK). It was also possible to configure the pages shown to users after they completed the installation.

New IE 8 features such as Accelerators (which provide additional in-line capabilities within the browser window) and Web Slices can be predefined with IEAK. I was able to import Accelerators into IEAK and add them so they would appear when employees installed the customised IE 8 package.

Also interesting was that it was possible to set up IE 8 so that it would run in IE 7 compatibility mode by default. I guess this would be attractive to businesses that rely on Web applications that require IE 7 compatibility.

Security settings

With IEAK 8 Corporate Version, it is possible to control and lock the security settings of IE 8, predefining security zones and content ratings. Legacy security settings, such as proxy servers, also can be controlled with IEAK.

The final screen of the wizard is the Additional Settings screen, which, despite its bland name, is probably the most powerful feature. From this screen, I could configure nearly any aspect of IE 8, from autocomplete to cache controls to language settings.

Once the wizard is finished, IEAK generates installation files for IE 8 as .exe and .msi files; for those choosing a CD installation, IEAK creates a CD image complete with autorun defined.

Also part of the IEAK 8 is the Profile Manager. This tool makes it possible to open already-completed configurations and make necessary changes to them after initial deployments (for example, if a company Web page changes or new company Web applications are deployed).

Click here for more information and to download IEAK 8.

Conclusion

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 may lag behind rival Web browsers such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Opera Software’s Opera when it comes to some features, but IE 8 can’t be beat when it comes to facilities for deploying customised versions across a company. eWEEK Labs’ tests show that the free Internet Explorer Administration Kit 8, or IEAK 8, makes it easy to build highly customised versions of the Windows browser for employees.