End of an era: Microsoft completely disabled Internet Explorer

Microsoft Corporation on June 15 finally disabled the Internet Explorer browser. It was first used almost 27 years ago-in 1995.

On June 15, Microsoft finally disables the Internet Explorer browser. Instead, users are asked to install Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer was popular when Microsoft dominated the tech world (before Google, Facebook, and TikTok), when the browser had to be installed on computers using CDs, writes The Guardian. In 2003, the browser reached its peak of usage — it had 95% of the market. But it could not maintain its position — the number of users began to decline sharply. Microsoft said that the decision to abandon Internet Explorer is largely due to the fact that developers are less likely to make their sites compatible with it. Since 2015, the corporation has not released new versions of the browser. Microsoft encourages people to use Edge, which is built on Chromium and runs on all supported versions of Windows and macOS. If there is a relic site that still needs Internet Explorer to open, people using the Edge browser will be able to run it in "IE mode". Details

Despite the shutdown of Internet Explorer, it still has high brand awareness. A survey by Roy Morgan commissioned by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in September 2021 found that the browsers people knew the most about were Chrome (95%), followed by Internet Explorer (85%), Firefox (81%), Apple Safari (80%) and Edge (69%).

The same survey found that only 28% of people used Internet Explorer on their computers, while Chrome was preferred by 81% of users. The main reason people used Internet Explorer was because the browser was pre-installed on their computer and there was no reason to use anything else.