Once reigning web browser, Microsoft's Internet Explorer retires after 27 years

SAN FRANCISCO: 27 year old Internet Explorer is finally being laid to rest. The browser that once dominaned web surfing has retired after 27 years of a love-hate relationship with users. As of Wednesday, Microsoft will no longer be available online.

The browser has joined other giants of tech history like BlackBerry phones, dial-up modems and Palm Pilots.

Last year, Microsoft made it clear that the company is moving forward and announced that it was ending Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022, encouraging users to opt for the Edge browser, which it launched in 2015.

General manager of Microsoft Edge Enterprise, Sean Lyndersay in a May 2021 blogpost wrote,"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".

Twitter users marked this occasion by referring to IE as "bug-ridden, insecure POS" or the "top browser for installing other browsers."

Some other users put up nostalgic post of a bygoen 90s. A 22 year old was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saddened by the departure of IE. In 1995, the first version of Internet Explorer was released by Microsoft, the antediluvian era of web surfing dominated by the first widely popular browser, Netscape Navigator.

It was the beginning of the end for Navigator: Microsoft IE and its ubiquitous Windows operating system went hand in hand, with many using this as default instead of the Navigator.

In 1997, the company was sued by the Justice Department, saying that the computer manufacturers had violated the previous consent order by asking users to use its browser as a prerequisite for using Windows.

It eventually agreed to settle the antitrust battle in 2002 over its use of its Windows monopoly to squash competitors. It also tangled with European regulators who said that tying Internet Explorer to Windows gave it an unfair advantage over rivals such as Mozilla's Firefox, Opera and Google's Chrome.

At the same time, users complained that IE was slow, vulnerable, and prone to crashing, and the market share, which was over 90% in the early 2000s, began to reduce as users found more attractive alternatives.

Today, the Chrome browser dominates the global browser market with approximately 65% ​​market share, followed by Apple's Safari with 19% market share and Edge Firefox has 4% just ahead of Firefox , the owner of Internet analytics company Statcounter said.

Source - PTI