What are the requirements for HTA files?

Question

They seem to open in an internet explorer type window, does anyone know:

• How long have HTA files been around? Have they been around since Windows 98?
• Do they rely on Internet Explorer being installed, and/or a certain version of it?
• If you choose another browser on the browser selection screen update for Windows 7, will HTA files still work?
• Do HTA files open on other browsers?
• Are HTA files windows-only?

There is a huge lack of documentation on google about HTA files, so it's tricky to work out. I need to present the client with a list of minimum requirements to ensure our HTA content CD will work.

Answer 1

HTA Reference

• Yes
• IE5+
• Yes, .HTA is associated with IE
• No
• Yes

Answer 2

Wikipedia's HTML Application is another good reference. HTA files are hosted in MSHTA just like HTML files are hosted in web browsers. Both MSHTA and IE share the same web browser components.

• They've been around since 1999.
• If IE is not installed, then, the web browser components used in MSHTA are unavailable
• Even if you choose another browser, HTA files still require MSHTA to run.
• HTA files do not run in a browser, they run inside MSHTA.
• HTA files run inside MSHTA which only exists on Microsoft Windows.