The end of Internet Explorer
Poor old Internet Explorer… it’s taken a lot of stick in its old age.
A tired old browser, that is resource hungry and a little bit skippy on loading pages. In the age of mobile devices and cleaner browser experiences it’s no surprise that today 15th June 2022 Microsoft have withdrawn support from IE11.
But it wasn’t always bad – at its height Internet Explorer was pretty much the only browser, with an estimated 95% of web traffic being browsed through it in 2003. Microsoft had cleverly bundled it into the Windows Operating System, meaning that users had no need to install the rival Netscape Navigator onto their systems. As home PC’s became more popular it became an integral part of most people’s first forays onto the internet.
Despite lawsuits over bundling and some terrible security gaffs, this venerable browser ploughed on, Microsoft were confident that nothing would take the place of IE in the hearts and minds of the internet generation.
In 2007 there was a change in the air, cellular telephony had reached the smartphone age and with the introduction of the touchscreen iPhone, people suddenly wanted a sleek, thin browser that gave them the same experience as a touchscreen mobile on their desktops and laptops.
In 2008 Google released the Chrome browser with an uncluttered interface, fast loading time and the ability to synchronise tabs and favourites across multiple devices gave users the experience they were looking for and Internet Explorer began to lose favour with users.
Microsoft continued to develop the browser but at Version 11, this development ended and Microsoft had launched Edge for a cleaner browsing experience tied into the Windows user experience.
So farewell Internet Explorer, you were our childhood on the internet, we forgave you for your glitches and your chunky menus because you gave us access to the world.
On a serious note – from 15th June 2022 Microsoft will be producing no further Internet Explorer updates for consumers and most businesses – please talk to us about switching to a new browser for your enterprise, you can reach us using the Contact page in our header menu.