Launch Internet Explorer programmatically

Here is the easiest way to launch IE:

#include <windows.h>
#include <shellapi.h>

int APIENTRY wWinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPWSTR, int)
{
    ShellExecuteW(NULL, L"open", L"http://gquangdung.blogspot.com", NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);
}

You can do the same but it will look like a very serious program :)

#include <windows.h>
#include <exdisp.h>

int APIENTRY wWinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPWSTR, int)
{
    CoInitialize(NULL);
    IWebBrowser2* pBrowser = NULL;
    HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_InternetExplorer, NULL, 
        CLSCTX_SERVER, IID_IWebBrowser2, (LPVOID*)&pBrowser);

    if (SUCCEEDED(hr) && (pBrowser != NULL))
    {
        VARIANT vEmpty;
        VariantInit(&vEmpty);

        VARIANT vFlags;
        V_VT(&vFlags) = VT_I4;
        V_I4(&vFlags) = navOpenInNewWindow;

        BSTR bstrURL = SysAllocString(L"http://gquangdung.blogspot.com");

        pBrowser->Navigate(bstrURL, &vFlags, &vEmpty, &vEmpty, &vEmpty);
        pBrowser->Quit();

        SysFreeString(bstrURL);
    }
    if (pBrowser)
        pBrowser->Release();
    CoUninitialize();
    return 0;
}

I've not tested but this way allows to launch IE in a host application:

#include <windows.h>
#include <exdisp.h>

int APIENTRY wWinMain(HINSTANCE, HINSTANCE, LPWSTR, int)
{
    CoInitialize(NULL);
    IWebBrowser2* pBrowser = NULL;
    HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_InternetExplorer, NULL, 
        CLSCTX_SERVER, IID_IWebBrowser2, (LPVOID*)&pBrowser);

    if (SUCCEEDED(hr) && (pBrowser != NULL))
    {
        VARIANT vEmpty;
        VariantInit(&vEmpty);

        BSTR bstrURL = SysAllocString(L"http://gquangdung.blogspot.com");

        hr = pBrowser->Navigate(bstrURL, &vEmpty, &vEmpty, &vEmpty, &vEmpty);
        if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
            pBrowser->put_Visible(VARIANT_TRUE);
        else
            pBrowser->Quit();

        SysFreeString(bstrURL);
    }
    if (pBrowser)
        pBrowser->Release();
    CoUninitialize();
    return 0;
}