Is TWebBrowser dependant on IE version?

Question

I am thinking about using the TWebBrowser component that comes within Delphi's default pallet of components in a project, but I wonder if it uses the IE version installed on the client machine?

If yes:
then I guess it would share its history, cookies, workoffline and stuff like that?
Can I separate them somehow?
Is there any webbrowser component that is free and is not shared with Internet Explorer on the client?

Solution 1

The current answer is not quite correct. It appears for compatibility purposes, the WebBrowser control will run in IE7 Standards Mode by default unless you add some registry settings.

See http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2008/03/18/webbrowser-control-rendering-modes-in-ie8.aspx and http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2009/03/10/more-ie8-extensibility-improvements.aspx

So it's not quite the current IE version. You can also check this if you use fiddler or check the web server logs for the agent string - as it alters the agent string used too!

Solution 2

Yes, TWebBrowser uses whatever IE version is installed on the machine. Take a look at this similar thread for some possible alternatives..

How to embed a browser object, other than IE<n>, in a Delphi application

Solution 3

Yes, TWebBrowser is tied to Internet Explorer. If you want a standalone HTML viewer, then look at the PBear components.

Solution 4

TWebBrowser is a wrapper around IE ActiveX interface. So, in the end,

 TWebBrowser = Internet Explorer

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