Internet Explorer, the widely used and equally mocked online browser, is finally dead. Microsoft is officially telling users to move away from the 27-year-old app and switch to their latest Edge browser.
The software giant will cut support for the product starting Wednesday, June 15th. Internet Explorer (IE) has a clear but controversial part in the history of the Internet. It was once so dominant that it caught the attention of American regulators, but it was hated by many users and eventually replaced by Edge.
“Microsoft Edge is not only a faster, more secure, and modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but it’s also capable of addressing a key concern: compatibility with older websites and applications,” said Sean Lyndersay, CEO of Microsoft Edge. Enterprise. , wrote in a May 2021 blog post announcing the final closing date.
Users marked the death of Explorer on Twitter, and some referred to it as a “bug-free and insecure POS” or “main browser for installing other browsers.” For others, it was a time for nostalgic memes from the 1990s, while the Wall Street Journal quoted a 22-year-old who was sad to see IE leave.
Microsoft released the first version of IE in 1995, the era of web browsing dominated by the very popular first browser, Netscape Navigator. Its release marked the beginning of the end of Navigator: Microsoft merged IE and its ubiquitous Windows operating system so closely that PC users around the world used it by default.
The Justice Department sued Microsoft in 1997, saying it violated a previous consent decree by requiring computer manufacturers to use their browser as a condition of using Windows. Finally, it agreed to resolve the antitrust battle in 2002 by using its Windows monopoly to crush competitors. He also became entangled with European regulators who said that linking Internet Explorer to Windows gave it an unfair advantage over rivals such as Mozilla’s Firefox, Google’s Opera and Chrome.
Meanwhile, users complained that IE was slow, prone to crash, and vulnerable to hackers. IE’s market share, which in the early 2000s exceeded 90%, began to fade as users found more attractive alternatives.
Chrome’s browser now accounts for about 65 percent of the global browser market, followed by Apple’s Safari with 19 percent, according to Internet analytics firm Statcounter. IE’s heir, Edge, is 4% behind, just ahead of Firefox.