Internet Explorer is finally being retired by Microsoft this week, 27 years after the classic browser initially appeared as part of a package add-on for the company’s legendary Windows 95 operating system. The retirement date for IE was originally announced by Microsoft in an article published in May 2021 that discussed how the future of Internet Explorer on Windows is now Microsoft Edge, the company’s modern, Chromium-based successor. Support for Internet Explorer has already been winding down for many months now (e.g., Microsoft 365 an dother apps ended support for IE11 in August 2021), but the few days ahead will be the last in which fans of the iconic software can use it in any sort of official capacity. The first version of Internet Explorer was released on August 16, 1995. Google now dominates the browser world, with Chrome currently sitting at over 66% market share.
Not only is Microsoft Edge a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but it is also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications. Microsoft Edge has Internet Explorer mode (“IE mode”) built in, so you can access those legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications straight from Microsoft Edge. With Microsoft Edge capable of assuming this responsibility and more, the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10.
Source: Microsoft
Discussion (3 replies)
Join Discussion →Let's be honest. IE has been out of work outside of corporate networks for close to a decade. People use IE to download other browsers and that's the most action IE usually gets on a lot of computers.
I still have a crapton of older devices - things like IP cameras, DVRS, some routers, etc... that all have build-in web management tools that won't run on anything other than IE.
Yeah, most of it is decades old. And probably due for the crap heap. But I hate throwing out hardware that still would otherwise be perfectly servicable.
Not advocating for an extension in the life of IE - more for developers and manufacturers to use interoperable standards that depreciate gracefully. Same on me for not knowing better when I was younger and buying this junk.
Good riddance.
I've disliked it from the very start, hated it starting with IE6 and its many purpose written business apps that wouldn't function on any other browser, and in that entire time never really used it other than to download another browser on a new install.
I have tried Edge. While it is not my go-to browser, it is certainly a step up in many ways.
I still don't like how it tries to integrate itself and sync itself and insert itself everywhere though.
I still use Firefox (with heavily modified config files to make it more privacy conscious) but the truth is, Firefox is going in the wrong direction as well.
At this point there really aren't any good browsers left, and the way DRM is integrated into HTML5 pretty much ensures do one can release a new FOSS browser.
It's kind of sad, actually.