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I'm wondering if I can open a browser window in Internet Explorer for a specific website without having any tabs, toolbars, bookmarks, etc. Just the window border and the site, that's it. I want something like Chrome's "App Mode", but for Internet Explorer. Is there a command-line switch for internet explorer or something similar that will open a specific site without any browser stuff in the window?

Otherwise, is there any small program I can use that would accomplish the same thing? (Like a something that just does nothing but open a window with an IE renderer in it.)

Thanks. Info on any version of IE is useful.

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To be clear, I don't mean that this is something launched from a link on a web site. Picture a shortcut on the local desktop that launches Internet Explorer to a specific site. – Steve Aug 3 '10 at 3:14
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HTML applications are .hta files that contain normal HTML. When you open them, just a window frame is drawn around the page. But beware, HTA files run without the security settings that Internet Explorer normally uses.

(HTA is meant for programmers to create applications using HTML and scripting languages, so HTAs are able to access files and things that normal webpages can't. Chrome's application shortcuts are meant for users to make websites more like programs on the desktop. So they're not quite the same thing.)

For example, you can save the following text into a file called google.hta

<html>
<head>
<title>Google</title>
</head>
<frameset>
<frame src="http://www.google.com/" application="no">
</frameset>
</html>

According to the security section, the application="no" attribute turns on the Internet Explorer security settings.

I've only used hta for small HTML-only files I made myself, so I could be sure they contained no scripts. If you're making your own HTML files, you might also decide to use an HTA file as a shortcut to remove the clutter of the Internet Explorer window. If you want to open internet websites in an HTA file, you might need to be careful.

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If you change it to <frameset style="border-style: none;"> you can get rid of the double border. – adam0101 Apr 19 at 13:20
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Hey, I know you can full screen IE by pressing F11 but no borders are shown and also you can Right Click on the dashboard where the bookmarks tab is an de-select all the options shown but you'll still see the URL Bar and the Tab bar.

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Thanks, but I'm looking for a way to launch it with a specific web page loaded, not to interact with IE in such a way to achieve this state. IE should still be useable as before, without changing any options in other windows. – Steve Aug 3 '10 at 2:13
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Ok, you would need to have direct access to the file system to edit the settings in the browser which isn't permitted without the users consent. I don't think its possible to do all from the cloud. You'd have to write an app that would be downloaded and launched on the users computer. It's gonna take a lot of work :)

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Sorry I didn't mean to imply that I want to do this from a web page. I want to do this from something executed locally. – Steve Aug 3 '10 at 3:13
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