[4] Nashville was intended to be a minor release[5] focusing on a tighter integration between Windows and Internet Explorer, in order to better compete with Netscape Navigator.

[6] Microsoft claimed that Nashville would add Internet integration features to the Windows 95 and NT 4.0 desktop, building on the new features in the Internet Explorer 3.0 web browser (due for release a few months before Nashville).

[7] Touted features included a combined file manager and web browser, the ability to seamlessly open Microsoft Office documents from within Internet Explorer using ActiveX technology and a way to place dynamic web pages directly on the desktop in place of the regular static wallpaper.

The codename "Nashville" was then reused for the Windows Desktop Update that shipped with Internet Explorer 4.0[8] and delivered most of the features promised for Nashville.

The Athena PIM application would be released as Microsoft Internet Mail and News in 1996 along with IE3, which would later be renamed to Outlook Express in 1997 with IE4.