Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft, included in the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. Starting in 1995, it was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year.
Later versions were available as free downloads, or in-service packs, and included in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows. Microsoft spent over US$100 million per year on Internet Explorer in the late 1990s, with over 1,000 people involved in the project by 1999. Later we saw the great downfall of this popular browser as Microsoft didn’t pay much attention it needed and the market was taken by Firefox and Google Chrome.
Internet Explorer retirement
Internet Explorer 11 has retired and is officially out of support. After 27 years of helping people use and experience the web, Internet Explorer (IE) is officially retired and out of support from June 15, 2022. Internet Explorer is finally, really, fully dead. Goodbye, Internet Explorer.
Microsoft announced the plan last year, making Internet Explorer 11 its final version. The company has completely phased out the 27-year-old browser from June 15. Microsoft says the decision to disable desktop app comes as web developers are less likely to make sites compatible with this browser. The shift away from the need to support this legacy browser will be a relief for web developers.
If you want to use IE now, you will get a redirect notice. It will redirect you to Microsoft Edge, the latest web browser developed by Microsoft.
Internet Explorer’s contributions to the evolution of the web have been remarkable, from helping to make the web truly interactive with DHTML and AJAX to hardware-accelerated graphics to innovations in touch/pen browsing. Many people have built their businesses on Internet Explorer.
But the web has evolved, and so have browsers. Incremental improvements to Internet Explorer couldn’t match the general improvements to the web at large, so Microsoft started fresh. They’ve developed Microsoft Edge, a faster, more secure and modern browser, the best browser for Windows, designed for today’s internet.
Despite the gradual demise of Internet Explorer, it still has strong brand recognition. A Roy Morgan survey commissioned by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in September 2021 found the browsers people were most aware of were Chrome (95%), followed by Internet Explorer (85%), Firefox (81%), Apple Safari (80%) and Edge (69%).
The same survey found just 28% of people used Internet Explorer on their computers, compared with 81% who used Chrome – including 73% of Apple users. The main reason people gave for using Internet Explorer was that it was pre-installed on their computer and there was no reason to use another browser.
Internet Explorer Tombstone: Rip Internet Explorer meme
Internet Explorer was discontinued by Microsoft on June 15, and users turned to social media to express their memories of the web browser. Some social media users even made jokes and memes about Internet Explorer.
One man in South Korea even created a tombstone in honor of the web browser when it was retired. The images of the Internet Explorer tombstone have surfaced on Twitter. The man has erected the gravestone on a roof in Gyueongju city of South Korea.
The text on the monument reads, “He was a good tool to download other browsers.”
Jung Ki-young is the man. He spent 430,000 won (about $330) to design and order a headstone for the web browser ahead of its official end-of-support date. The memorial, located on the roof of his brother’s cafe in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, features IE’s iconic logo followed by an English epitaph that reads, “He was a good tool to download other browsers.”
For Jung Ki-young, a South Korean software engineer, Microsoft Corp’s decision to retire its Internet Explorer web browser marked the end of a quarter-century love-hate relationship with the technology.
Jung told Reuters he commissioned the memorial to commemorate a program that had defined his career. Even as apps like Chrome and Firefox went on to replace Internet Explorer in both prominence and popularity, many of Jung’s customers kept asking him to ensure their websites looked good in Microsoft’s aging web browser. “It was a pain in the ass, but I would call it a love-hate relationship because Explorer itself once dominated an era,” he said.
The Internet Explorer fan reportedly shared pictures of the memorial in a post titled – “Remembering his unparalleled achievements”.
This gravestone photo has already gone viral on the internet.
