Getting Started with IEAK 10

  • Overview

  • Components

  • Changes in IEAK 10

  • Requirements

Overview

Internet Explorer Administration Kit 10 (IEAK 10) contains programs and tools to help you customize, deploy, and administer Internet Explorer 10 within an organization. IEAK 10 also helps Internet service providers and Internet content providers do this for their customers. IEAK can be used in network environments, with or without the Active Directory service.

Internet Explorer 10 Naming

Internet Explorer 10 offers two browsing experiences in Windows 8. The following table outlines how we are referring to these experiences in Windows 8.

Name

Description

Internet Explorer 10

The whole browser, which provides two browsing experiences: Internet Explorer, and Internet Explorer for the desktop.

Internet Explorer

The touch-centric, immersive browsing experience for the new Windows user interface.

Internet Explorer for the desktop

Similar to Internet Explorer 9, this browsing experience is available on the desktop, and uses a traditional tab layout.

Key features

The following are some of the key capabilities and features in this version of IEAK:

  • Custom package types. You can specify whether you are building a full installation package, or a configuration-only package. The full installation package includes Internet Explorer 10 program. You can install this customized version of Internet Explorer from another program, or install over a network. You can also create a configuration-only package to customize Internet Explorer settings without installing code on your customers' or users' computers.

  • Custom components. You can include in-house applications and other programs in the custom package to distribute to your users and computers.

  • Setup experience. Depending on your license type, you can set the level of user interaction during the installation, and specify settings for the Microsoft® Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, the default browser, and Internet Explorer updates.

  • Search experience. You can customize the list of search providers for your users.

  • Browser experience. You can customize where your users are directed for support; the display of home pages and a welcome page; the list populating Favorites, Links, and Web Feeds; and toolbar buttons.

  • Automatic configuration. You can automatically refresh your users' Internet Explorer settings at regular intervals, or every time the browser is started.

User roles

During installation of IEAK 10, you are asked to pick a version, based on your license agreement. This version determines what options are available for you to customize for your Internet Explorer, the steps you need to take to deploy that package fully, and how you can manage the browser after deployment. The following versions are available:

  • External. This is a combination of the Internet service provider (ISP) and Internet content provider (ICP) versions in earlier versions of IEAK 10.

  • Internal. This is what had been called the Corporate version in earlier versions of Internet Explorer Administration Kit.

Important

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that install Internet Explorer 10 as part of a Windows product, under an OEM license agreement with Microsoft, should use the Windows 8 OEM Preinstallation Document (OPD) as their guide for customizations that are allowed.

The Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 10 displays the version that you installed in the title area.

Components

Before using IEAK 10, you should familiarize yourself with the programs and tools included in this product to help you customize and administer Internet Explorer 10. IEAK 10 contains the following:

Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 10

The Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 10 provides step-by-step screens that you can use to create custom packages to deploy and configure Internet Explorer for the users and computers in your organization. If Internet Explorer is already installed, you can also use this wizard to create a package that contains configuration information only.

For more information and instructions, see Run the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 10.

Changes in IEAK 10

The following items have changed since IEAK 9:

  • Licensing types. In IEAK 10, IEAK license types and versions changed. Previous versions of IEAK were available in Corporate, Internet Service Provider (ISP), and Internet Content Provider (ICP). These three versions have been replaced with Internal (previously, the Corporate version) and External (combining the previous ISP and ICP versions). For more information, see IEAK 10 Licensing Guidelines.

  • Profile Manager. Profile Manager has been removed from IEAK 10. For more information, see Tools in Internet Explorer 10.

  • IExpress wizard. While IExpress is available in Windows 8, Microsoft is not encouraging developers or IT administrators to use it.

  • IEAK Toolkit. This toolkit is no longer available.

  • Internet Explorer Maintenance (IEM). IEM has been removed from Windows 8. Content in IEAK Help that addressed how to use IEM extension has been removed. For alternatives, see Appendix B: Replacements for Internet Explorer Maintenance.

For a list of known issues in IEAK 10, see the IEAK 10 Release Documentation.

Requirements

You must have Internet Explorer 10 installed to run IEAK 10. To learn more about the requirements for this version of Internet Explorer, see the Windows 8 Home page.

Hardware requirements for creating custom packages

Before you start the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 10, check the amount of disk space available on the destination drive where you will build the custom package. The destination drive can be on the same computer from which you are running the customization wizard, but this is not a requirement. However, it is important that the destination folder is secure.

Before you build IEAK 10 packages, you must meet the following requirements, in addition to the system requirements for Internet Explorer:

  • Depending on the number of components you download to include in an installation package, you will need up to 100 megabytes (MB) of disk space.

  • For every custom package you build, you might need up to an additional 100 MB of disk space. When you build a package for a different media type, it is considered to be a separate package.

Operating system requirements

IEAK 10 has the following operating system requirements:

  • You must build the IEAK packages from a computer with Internet Explorer 10 installed. You must also be using one of the following: Windows 8, Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1). If possible, you should install IEAK on the same version of operating system as the destination computer or computers for which you are creating a package.

This version of Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) has been updated to help you customize, deploy, and maintain Internet Explorer 10 in your organization. This includes the addition of some features to support new features in Internet Explorer, as well as the removal of some features due to changed functionality in Internet Explorer. For more information about new features, see Windows 8 Home page.

Additional references