The End of the Road for Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer has been around longer than we have. IE was introduced in 1995. When we first started Cloudeight back in 1997, I was using Netscape Navigator and Darcy was using Internet Explorer — I believe it was Internet Explorer 2 or Internet Explorer 3 at the time.
At that time, I really hated Internet Explorer and disliked it until 2002 when Microsoft introduced Internet Explorer 6. IE 6 was a vast improvement over previous versions of IE. And it wasn’t long after the release of IE 6, Netscape Navigator faded into the sunset.
After IE 6 was released, I became a big IE fan – as were many others. At its 2002 peak, Internet Explorer (IE 6) commanded 95% of the browser market. Today’s most dominant browser, Google Chrome, has a 69% market share- not even close to IE’s dominance nearly two decades ago.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Netscape Navigator through various incarnations ended up being Mozilla Firefox — although it is not a direct descendant it does have familial ties. And now Internet Explorer has only a 5% of the browser market even though it’s still installed on every Windows 10 computer.
Microsoft does try hard to hide Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 10. IE is now buried in the Windows Accessories menu. But if you look, it’s still there and you can open and use IE although we don’t recommend it.
And here’s some trivia for you. Did you know if you open Internet Explorer on Windows 10 and click “Help” > “About Internet Explorer” it will open the Windows 10 version dialog that contains nothing bout Internet Explorer?
Last week, Microsoft announced the official demise of Internet Explorer. Support for Internet Explorer will end on June 15, 2022. It will not only be the end of support for Internet Explorer, but it will also be the end of an era. Amazingly, Internet Explorer has been around for 26 years, but it won’t make it past its 27th birthday.
Here’s part of the Microsoft Blog post announcing the end of support for Internet Explorer.
The future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge
Over the last year, you may have noticed our movement away from Internet Explorer (“IE”) support, such as an announcement of the end of IE support by Microsoft 365 online services.
Today, we are at the next stage of that journey: we are announcing that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft Edge. 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… Read more here.