The pioneer internet browser Internet Explorer, which has been around for more than 25 years is being retired by Microsoft. In a blog post announcing this decision, Microsoft said Explorer will give way to Microsoft Edge as of June 15, 2022.
“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,” Part of the statement read.
The campaign to have users move away from Internet explorer started in 2015 and just like the slowness associated with the browser, the end has come more than 5 years later.
Microsoft’s 365 will not be able to support Internet Explorer and the firm notes that the Edge browser on the other hand has Internet Explorer mode built in, “so you can access those legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications straight from Microsoft Edge.”
A dominant passage to the glories of the internet, Explorer grew to become the butt of memes and regular jokes linked to its slow speed. Internet Explorer is still one of the most used browsers but it has fallen behind as the market is being dominated by Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari.
According to data from Net Market Share, Chrome dominates browsers with a more than 69% market share. Internet Explorer on the other hand scraps a bare 5%, and being at the tail end of all commonly used browsers, its death does not come as a surprise.
In 2020, Microsoft ended support for Internet Explorer 11 for the Microsoft Teams web app. On August 17, 2021, Explorer will no longer be supported on Microsoft’s services like OneDrive, Outlook, and more.
“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 has announced.
