In the mid to late 1990s, few sites defined the burgeoning web better than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
Unfortunately, time continued its cold march throughout the intervening years. Now, the once-celebrated web browser is being put out to pasture, as announced in an official Windows press release.
Microsoft and Windows are ceasing all official support starting today, putting Explorer on the same footing as other failed browsers like Netscape, Prodigy, and that offputting butler Jeeves.
Why now? Explorer has been around for nearly 27 years and has seen its share shrink to less than one-half of one percent of the overall current market share, according to tracking service StatCounter. As a matter of fact, Microsoft has been trying to stop folks from using Explorer for years, instead shuttling them to the company’s favored browser, Microsoft Edge.
Though losing official support today, Explorer will still technically work for a few more months, though Microsoft will be instituting a redirect to steer users to Edge. Microsft Edge will also continue to include an IE-specific mode until 2029 to assist business users that rely on older hardware and software.
For instance, many government agencies around the world still rely on Internet Explorer, including Japan’s Pension Service.
This move has been a long time coming for Microsoft, as the company’s latest operating system, Windows 11, doesn’t even ship with IE as part of the bundled software. This is the first time Microsoft has not bundled Explorer with their latest OS in more than 20 years.
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