Microsoft Is Shutting Down Internet Explorer Browser After 27 Years: 'Sad to See It Go'

Alexandra Schonfeld
·2 min read
2
In this photo illustration an Internet Explorer (IE or MSIE) logo is seen on a smartphone with a Microsoft logo in the background.
In this photo illustration an Internet Explorer (IE or MSIE) logo is seen on a smartphone with a Microsoft logo in the background.

Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Internet Explorer

It's almost the end of an era.

After first announcing the decision last year, Microsoft will shut down Internet Explorer on Wednesday. The move comes about 27 years after the company first debuted the browser, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Starting Wednesday, most people who try to open the application will be directed to Microsoft Edge — the company's newer browser, The Telegraph reported.

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In a blog post from May 2021, the company explained that they had begun moving away from Internet Explorer the previous year, and were leaning more into Microsoft Edge. In that post, the company announced the June 15 retirement date, saying the platform would "go out of support" for certain versions of Windows 10.

After its launch in 1995, Internet Explorer became one of the most popular ways of accessing the internet, according to The Telegraph. By 2016, Edge replaced it as the company's preferred browser.

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The Telegraph reported that although the browser is nowhere near as popular as it once was, many businesses continue to use Internet Explorer to run internal applications. To counter that, Microsoft has added an Internet Explorer mode on Microsoft Edge that would allow such applications to continue running.

"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," the company wrote in their blog post in 2021. "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."

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The Wall Street Journal reported that as of this month, .28% of people surfing the web still use Internal Explorer, citing web traffic website StatCounter. By comparison, about two-thirds of people use Google Chrome, while 18% use Apple's Safari.

"It's sad to see it go," one Internet Explorer user told the newspaper.

Added another, "I'm still trying to process it."