Active Channel is a website type which was introduced by Internet Explorer 4.0 in 1997. It allows synchronizing website content and viewing it offline. It makes use of the Channel Definition Format, which is a way of defining a website's content and structure. Most Active Channels were provided by bigger entertainment companies like Disney, WB or AOL and also made heavy use of DHTML (Dynamic HTML). Each country had different channels, so picking a country during the installation of IE 4 (and therefore Windows 98) was important. Channels could be displayed in a Channel Bar.
