You may love it. You may loathe it. But you probably grew up with it. Internet Explorer is no more. As reported on the MeloTel Facebook page yesterday, Microsoft has retired its Internet Explorer Web browser. It was originally launched nearly 27 years ago on August 24, 1995. The ubiquitous blue and white “e,” sometimes featuring a gold band, is disappearing from computers worldwide.
Going forward, if you try to open the familiar blue and white “e” application, you will be directed to the company’s more recent browser, Microsoft Edge. It is being reported that eventually, Internet Explorer will be permanently disabled. When that happens, as part of a future Windows Update, its icons will be removed from all PCs.
Microsoft reports that users will be able to have their current data imported from the old web browser to Microsoft Edge. It can always be managed and/or deleted from Microsoft Edge in the Settings menu.
Internet Explorer used to be the main source for online access.
Microsoft first announced its decision to retire their original web browser back in May. Edge was introduced back in 2015, but has finally gotten to the point where it has phased out its predecessor completely. For some time, Internet Explorer was the go-to browser on Windows PCs. Then, of course, rivals such as Mozilla’s Firefox and Google’s Chrome started attracting online users.
Jordan Novet of CNBC reports that Internet Explorer’s retirement likely came as a result of a number of user issues. An antitrust case, security flaws and lagging performance are listed among those issues.
“While Microsoft doesn’t derive revenue directly from browsers, Edge defaults to the company’s Bing search engine, through which the software and hardware maker generates advertising revenue,” informs Novet, “That category represents about 6% of Microsoft’s total revenue, at nearly $3 billion in the first quarter.”
Don’t expect technical support for Internet Explorer.
Novet also reveals that Microsoft won’t offer technical support or security updates to customers for IE. The company’s focus is now on its Edge platform, which is available on mobile devices, Mac and Linux. Unlike Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge is not confined to Windows. For die hard Internet Explorer fans, yesterday’s news may be hard to take.
“When was the first time you discovered Internet Explorer?” we asked on our Facebook page, “Do you remember what you used to use it for? All answers are acceptable, we do not judge!”
The answers we received in our inbox varied.
“I was in high school,” commented one of our friends, “I thought it was so innovative because I hadn’t really had any experience with the Internet before then. It was kind of like my first time, you know? So it’s a bit sad to know that the way I was introduced to the Internet is no more. It actually makes me feel pretty old. Lol.”
“I’m fine with it,” responded another, “As time passes on, technology changes and, to be honest, IE was kind of out of date. It’s time to move on to bigger and better things. I’ve been using Firefox for years anyway!”
