After 27 yrs, Microsoft retires Internet Explorer

San Francisco, June 15

Internet Explorer is finally headed out to pasture.

As of Wednesday, Microsoft will no longer support the once-dominant browser that legions of web surfers loved to hate — and a few still claim to adore. The 27-year-old application now joins BlackBerry phones, dial-up modems and Palm Pilots in the dustbin of tech history.

IE’s demise was not a surprise. A year ago, Microsoft said it was putting an end to Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022, pushing users to its Edge browser, which was launched in 2015. The company made clear then it was time to move on. “Not only is Microsoft Edge a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, it is also able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications,” Sean Lyndersay, general manager of Microsoft Edge Enterprise, wrote in a May 2021 blog post.

Users marked Explorer’s passing on Twitter, with some referring to it as a “bug-ridden, insecure POS” or the “top browser for installing other browsers”. — AP

Browser of the 90s

Microsoft released the first version of Internet Explorer (IE) in 1995, the antediluvian era of web surfing dominated by the first widely popular browser, Netscape Navigator